Cardinals pitcher Steven Matz talks about his long relief outing after a series-ending loss to Seattle on Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024, at Busch Stadium in ºüÀêÊÓƵ. (Video by Ethan Erickson, Post-Dispatch)
While watching a women’s quarterfinal match in the year’s U.S. Open between No. 13 Emma Navarro and No. 26 Paula Badosa, Cardinals pitcher Steven Matz took note of Navarro’s composure in her win and saw how he could apply that to himself when he steps onto the mound.
“I think it’s huge not showing frustration out there. ... I’ve been kind of learning from the tennis players is that you see them get frustrated and the wheels just fall off,†Matz said. “I’m like, that could happen to me out there, and it’s happened to me in my career. I think you see the ones that are good and they just kind of stay with it the whole time and not worry about the last thing that happened. I think that’s a big part of something I’ve been focused on.â€
But the Cardinals, who entering the weekend having won six of their previous eight games to keep their faint playoff hopes alive, lost the series this weekend to Seattle, and their postseason chances are fading fast.
After their loss Sunday, they are six games behind the Atlanta Braves and the New York Mets in the standings for the National League’s third, and final, wild-card playoff spot. The Chicago Cubs also are ahead of the Cardinals, by a game, and all four of those clubs have just 19 contests remaining.
Their chances in the NL Central are even more grim. They trail division-leading Milwaukee by 10 games.
After Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas gave up seven runs on nine hits and lasted just two innings in a 10-4 loss to the Mariners at Busch Stadium, Matz made his first appearance from the bullpen this season. In front of an announced crowd of 41,302, he allowed two runs in four innings and collected four strikeouts.
The runs Matz allowed came in the fifth inning, on a two-run home run from Jorge Polanco. The 32-year-old retired four of the five batters he faced after the homer. He collected two of his four strikeouts in that span.
“His stuff looked good. He mixed well,†Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “(There was) the homer to Polanco, but outside of that, I felt like he did a really nice job. Navigated that lineup well. Had good life to it. I liked what we saw today. I really did.â€
Matz, who returned from the injured list a week ago and made a start on Tuesday in Milwaukee, was moved to the bullpen in advance of Lance Lynn’s planned start on Wednesday against the Reds, which would mark Lynn’s return from the IL. Matz pitched out of the bullpen briefly last season, and Sunday marked his first day available from that spot since the move was announced on Friday.
The lefty began to prepare for his first relief appearance of the year as Mikolas could not contain Mariners hitters in the opening inning of Sunday’s series finale.
Mikolas faced nine batters then and allowed hits to each of the first five he faced before he could record an out. The Mariners pushed across three runs, with RBI hits from Cal Raleigh and Luke Raley. Mikolas struck out Polanco and J.P. Crawford but could not escape further damage as he allowed a two-out, two-RBI single to Mitch Garver.
An inning later, Mikolas allowed a leadoff single to Julio Rodriguez and a two-run homer to Randy Arozarena that put the Cardinals in a 7-0 deficit.
“He’s a strike thrower,†Marmol said of Mikolas. “There are days he’s going to get hit, and there are days those are going to be at people. (He) just didn’t have the ability to execute and get some of his pitches glove-side the way he wanted to, and they ran back over the plate, and they hit it hard.â€
The seven runs (six of which were earned) were the most Mikolas surrendered in a start since he allowed 10 (nine earned) on July 27 against the Reds. Of the nine hits Mikolas allowed, five were hard-hit (those being hits with exit velocities at or above 95 mph). Of those five, four had exit velocities above 100 mph, per Statcast.
Through his first two outings in August, Mikolas has allowed 12 runs (nine earned) in six innings. He departed Sunday’s game with a 5.55 ERA this season.
“They (the Mariners) didn’t miss a whole lot,†Marmol added. “They took some big swings and connected on quite a bit of them. (At the) end of the day, they beat him.â€
The Cardinals (72-71) received their runs on hits from Jose Fermin and Jordan Walker, who each drove in two runs. Fermin’s two-run single provided him with his first RBIs of the season.
With the four innings and two runs allowed Sunday, Matz has allowed five runs in 8 2/3 innings since making his first appearance following four months on the IL because of a herniated disc in his back. He has struck out 11 batters and kept hitters to a .167 batting average and 0.81 walks plus hits per inning in the two outings.
As a reliever last year, Matz sported a 2.81 ERA and totaled 16 innings in eight outings. The lefty said his experience in that role and being on what would be regular rest following his Sept. 3 start helped him on Sunday.
Matz’s experience and the reinforced mindset could prove beneficial in his usage and what he does to make the most of the opportunities as the regular season winds down.
“He’s getting after guys, if you look at it,†Marmol said of Matz. “He attacked. His first strikes were good. Better than what we’ve seen in the past. When he’s in that mode where he’s just attacking the hitter, he’s got good enough stuff to get anybody out. We saw some good swing-and-miss with just about everything. His couple outings up to this point have looked good. They really have.â€
Cardinals catcher Ivan Herrara, left, confers with pitcher Miles Mikolas in the first inning of a game against Seattle on Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024, at Busch Stadium. Mikolas allowed five runs in the inning and seven (six earned) overall in his two innings of work.