Unable To Solve Reds Rookie, Cards Drop Game 2

Editor’s note: Curt had this recap written yesterday, but it didn’t post! So here it is now!

It was a tough day for the Cardinals.

The Reds busted out early against Miles Mikolas and gave young left-hander Andrew Abbott the cushion he needed to earn the win in the second game of the series. Abbott went 5.2 innings and didn’t allow a run. He struck out four batters and walked three.

Mikolas fortunately got through six innings, but he surrendered five runs, some of which I think shouldn’t have been charged to him. More on that later. The Cards didn’t score until the seventh inning, when Paul Goldschmidt drove in a run with a double to make it 7-1. Dylan Carlson brought them to within 7-3 with a two-run homer in the eighth, but Genesis Cabrera struggled in the ninth and the Cardinals ultimately were not able to overcome the deficit as the Reds won 8-4. The fourth run came on a solo shot by Nolan Arenado.

Let’s get into some takeaways from today’s frustrating loss.

Bad Defense From Walker

Jordan Walker missed a key fly ball early that resulted in the Reds tallying a few runs off of Miles Mikolas. That was on Luke Maile’s three-run double in the second. In my opinion, Walker should have had that ball. If he makes that play, then Mikolas more than likely only surrenders two runs.

I’m not going to start complaining and say that Walker should be sent back down. Personally, I was hoping for a long time that they would call him back up, and they did. I don’t think he needs to go back down, but his outfield defense is clearly an issue, and it reared its ugly head today.

Offense Stymied Again

The Cardinals didn’t have many chances against Andrew Abbott, but they were threatening in the bottom of the fifth with two outs before Nolan Arenado popped out to end the inning.

At that point, I was fairly certain that the game was over. I was encouraged to see them rally late and score a couple of runs, but it wasn’t enough as the Cardinals dropped back to 11 games under the .500 mark.

The Cardinals had another chance in the bottom of the eighth with one out when Oli Marmol tapped Nolan Gorman to pinch hit for Andrew Knizner, but Gorman popped out and Tommy Edman proceeded to do the same, though for a minute it did appear that he had gotten a hold of one.

The Cardinals will try and bounce back tomorrow with Adam Wainwright on the mound against Hunter Greene. St. Louis has not won a series since the Dodgers were in town.