SAN DIEGO — When he wasn’t rounding second base with his back to the home run he’d just hit that changed the game, catcher Willson Contreras had the best vantage point in the ballpark to watch the Cardinals’ 2024 plan come together.
There will be variations along the way.
It’s not possible for Miles Mikolas to always be the starter, and the Cardinals hope Contreras isn’t the only source of power. Some nights, it won’t be Masyn Winn and Michael Siani with the key defensive plays or Brendan Donovan with the savvy base running. Andrew Kittredge won’t be available daily out of the bullpen. The agitating speed isn’t going to be Victor Scott II every game, though it probably, mostly will be when he gets on base.
The Cardinals will have different players doing these same things because if they’re going to contend this season, if they’re going to win, a lot of times it will be exactly as they did Tuesday night against San Diego at Petco Park.
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The Cardinals had sharp defense to deny the Padres runs and clever base running to create runs in a 5-2 victory. Mikolas provided a quality start for their second in as many nights. A rally aboard Contreras’ two-run homer in the sixth inning gave the Cardinals their first series victory of the season and provided a snapshot of the team they are designed to be this season.
“We’re going to have to play good defense,†manager Oliver Marmol said. “We’re not going to give in offensively. We had a plan. We’re going to stick to it. When you look at some of our guys in our rotation, we’re looking for innings and then it lines up for what we did today (in the bullpen). Everyone will get their innings and it lines up perfectly. Today was a good day.â€
Said Contreras: “I think we’re just hungry for winning games, and it shows. And it shows when the ball is put in play. The defense is right there.â€
That is a good place to start the five things that shaped the game and, if the Cardinals have their way, will drive their season.
It was defense from the start.
5. Defense
The first ball put in play against Mikolas on Tuesday night was a line drive by Xander Bogaerts toward left field. As he sought to get every position player on the opening day roster a start, Marmol put Siani in left, and by complete coincidence, the gifted fielder stole a base hit from Bogaerts for the first out in the bottom of the first inning.
Siani would have another dashing catch in left to take away a base hit later in the game, and in the seventh inning, the game hinged on a defensive play by Winn.
Reliever Giovanny Gallegos tumbled into trouble with a walk allowed and a single by Fernando Tatis Jr. The tying run was at the plate with one out when Gallegos faced Padres No. 3 hitter Jake Cronenworth. Against right-handed pitchers, Cronenworth put only about 1 out of every 3 balls in play on the ground. Gallegos fell behind in the count 3-1 and had to come in the zone with a fastball.
Cronenworth stung it.
The ball left his bat at 106.3 mph.
But it was on the ground.
And up the middle.
And right to Winn for the double play.
“Charts!†hitting coach Turner Ward shouts when an infielder is positioned in the right spot to make a play as Winn did to end the inning.
As Mikolas navigated around base runners and the Padres’ early lead, he remained aggressive with his pitches in the zone. That’s his style as a pitcher — to invite contact. But it’s also possible with an improved defense behind him.
“It’s no secret: I’m not striking a ton of dudes out,†Mikolas said. “I’m getting some weak contact, a couple of broken bats, this and that. To have the defense there is great. We joke about it all the time. Give me a couple of runs and Gold Glove defense and, you know, win a lot of ballgames.â€
4. Base running
The fleet feet of Scott against the arm of a Platinum Glove winner created the Cardinals’ first run.
In the third inning, Scott led off with a line drive to right field. A former shortstop who has reinvented himself as one of the game’s top right fielders, Tatis cut off the ball and did what would hold almost every other runner in the majors to a single. But not Scott. The Cardinals rookie tested Tatis, who won a Platinum Glove this past season as the finest fielder at any position in the National League. Scott slid in ahead of throw and into scoring position.
A sacrifice bunt put him at third base.
A sacrifice fly tied the game 1-1.
The other run created by Cardinals base running was more subtle. In the eighth, Nolan Arenado had a chance to break the game wide open with the bases loaded. He nudged a pitch down the third-base line that did not get past the mound. That brought third baseman Tyler Wade in with a chance for the force-out at home. He tossed the ball to home plate on time and on target for the out. One issue: Catcher Luis Campusano’s view was obstructed by Donovan.
The Cardinals leadoff hitter established his lane to the plate on the inside edge of the baseline. And he stayed upright, running through home and sliding across it. That changed the angle Campusano had on Wade’s play, and as a result, Campusano pulled his foot off the plate to make the catch. Donovan was safe with a welcome insurance run. The inning continued to produce another run and set the final score.
“It’s perfect. It’s perfect,†Marmol said. “Ran on the inside. Stayed tall all the way through. He did it the right way. Those are the little things — they matter and our guys are doing those little things really well.â€
3. Timely offense
San Diego starter Yu Darvish entered the game with an ERA hugging 1.00 and pitched even better through five innings. He did not throw his 10th ball of the game until his 43rd pitch, and by then, he already had two outs in the fifth inning. It took him fewer than 50 pitches to get the first 15 outs of the game, and at-bat after at-bat, he turned the Cardinals’ aggressiveness against them.
That shifted in the sixth when Donovan had a third look at Darvish.
Donovan fell behind 0-2 on back-to-back off-speed pitches. Darvish made six pitches with two strikes and could not retire Donovan. The left-handed batter fouled off a 94.9 mph fastball to keep the count 1-2. Two curves and a cutter followed, and Donovan ignored all three for of the lengthiest plate appearances vs. Darvish and a one-out walk. It was a crack in Darvish’s dominance that the Cardinals could capitalize.
Two batters later, they did.
Darvish threw one too many split-finger fastballs to his former Cubs teammate and former Cubs catcher, and Contreras drilled one 420 feet and beyond center field.
“When he swings the bat, it’s very special,†Mikolas said. “It’s fun to hear the ball come off his bat. He swings the (expletive) out of it. And I think I was in the dugout secretly wishing for him to homer right there in that at-bat.â€
Only secretly?
“I’m not yelling it,†Mikolas explained. “Everyone wants him to hit a home run. I’m sitting there thinking this would be a really nice time for him to hit another home run, and then he did.â€
The two-run homer reversed the score, launching the Cardinals from a run down to a run ahead. It also was Contreras’ second homer in as many days. On Monday, he hit a two-run shot that traveled 419 feet to just about the same spot at Petco Park.
He put this one a foot farther.
“He’s locked in. He’s strong,†Marmol said. “He’s having fun in the box, I’ll tell you that.â€
2. Quality start
The operating theory for the Cardinals rotation is if they can provide a quality start — at least six innings, no more than three earned runs — the offense will be good enough to provide a lead and the bullpen will be rested enough to hold it. The approach was the team’s direct response to last season’s innings scramble, which was just a sinkhole the Cardinals patched over the previous two seasons but did not repair.
The first two games in San Diego have been proof of concept.
Veteran right-hander Kyle Gibson pitched seven strong innings Monday night and allowed two runs, both on solo homers. The Cardinals outpaced the scoring, and Gibson left only six outs for the bullpen to get. Two relievers did on 15 pitches. That reset the bullpen before Mikolas went to work Tuesday. He allowed seven runs, hopscotched around trouble in almost every inning and remained efficient and aggressive. Mikolas even showed off an emerging breaking ball — a sweeper — a few times. Mikolas (1-0) pitched deep enough into the game to be rewarded with the win because he didn’t buckle under early traffic.
He finished six innings for the Cardinals’ second quality start in as many games.
“I think it’s big,†Mikolas said. “Gibby — that’s the biggest start of the year so far. Giving our bullpen some life back, eating up those innings. For me, to get six, that’s big, too. That is the kind of think I think our rotation is going to be good at — keeping the bullpen fresh, being able to eat up innings when we need to. Bullpen came out. Locked that game down.â€
1. Bullpen
All of this is funneling games to what the Cardinals want to be one of their strengths.
The relievers.
The bullpen, with so little margin for error, squandered leads on back-to-back days in Los Angeles this past week. One of the games turned into an extra-inning victory. The other fell apart in the eighth. On Tuesday, the Cardinals had their relievers on the runway, lined up for takeoff exactly as designed. Helsley’s six pitches Monday night to retire the best Padres hitters in order meant he available Tuesday to secure his first save of the season.
With help from the double play, Gallegos got the game to the eighth. Kittredge continued his expeditious start to the season with a perfect eighth. In four appearances, the right-hander has thrown 3 2/3 scoreless innings with 11 outs on 44 pitches. Helsley handled the ninth.
In LA, after a game went upside down on the Cardinals, their manager insisted how much he likes the team, likes where “they’re at,†likes how they’re playing.
After seeing how they intend to win, Marmol clarified.
“That’s an understatement,†Marmol said. “I love this bunch. We’re in a good spot in a lot of different areas. We’re taking a lot of pride in our defense and how we’re running the bases. The small details — those little things add up over 162 games — and our guys are locked in on them. There are a lot of different ways to win a ballgame.â€