DETROIT — Days before he felt the velocity slip from his fingertips, Steven Matz experienced the soreness that would infiltrate his start Tuesday with each footfall on a run.
The Cardinals’ lefty experienced soreness in his lower back jogging this past week, and while he felt the discomfort abate he could not get it to alleviate entirely before taking the ball for Game 2 of a doubleheader against Detroit at Comerica Park. By the fourth inning it became clear that Matz did not have the same zip on his fastball, the same extension or finish to get the same command. Four runs, seven hits, and one strikeout later, he did not finish that fourth inning.
“Velo was down. Location was bad. Not a recipe for success,†Matz listed after the 11-6 loss late Tuesday that split the doubleheader. “Was hopeful I would go out there and give it a good effort. Just wasn’t the case. Wasn’t crisp out there.â€
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The binds this puts the Cardinals in are both imminent and in the distance.
The Cardinals have another game squeezed into this daylong span against the Detroit Tigers, and they have streak of 13 games in 13 days rapidly approaching without a clear alternative to tag into the rotation.
After heavy rainstorms forced the postponement of Monday’s series opener, the Cardinals and Tigers rescheduled for a doubleheader Tuesday. With a getaway-day afternoon game Wednesday, that meant each team would have to produce at least 27 innings in around 25 hours. Choices had to be made. The Tigers elected to promote a starter as the 27th man for Game 2 and got 4 2/3 innings from callup Matt Manning. The Cardinals opted to start Kyle Gibson in Game 1 to assure innings, and he provided seven stellar innings that allowed the Cardinals to come back for a 2-1 victory.
The Cardinals used Ryan Helsley to close Game 1, kept JoJo Romero and Andrew Kittredge available for Game 2, and then shelved that plan so perhaps all three will be available to hold a lead Wednesday. The Tigers scored seven runs off Cardinals relievers, including four off Giovanny Gallegos, in Game 2 to vaporize a short-lived lead taken with a five-run fifth.
By then the bullpen was already tasked with innings Matz left behind after throwing 3 1/3 and allowing four runs on seven hits.
“Didn’t look right,†manager Oliver Marmol said of the starter. “Didn’t have enough to finish guys. He’s been working through lower back (soreness) all week. You can just tell physically he could not finish."
An early sign of Matz’s trouble was the velocity on his fastball. He was not downshifting for movement or command. Rather his delivery wasn’t able to produce the same explosiveness because of the limitations on his back. His sinker that can often hum at 95 mph or 96 mph – enough horsepower for a sinker to actually be effective elevated in the zone – dipped as low as 88.5 mph. The average on his velocity was down 3.1 mph.
His max (94.0 mph) Tuesday was lower than his average this season (94.3 mph).
“I wasn’t able to finish like I normally do,†Matz said. “Kind of weird thing. Usually I’m easy through the ball and velocity is there, and today just couldn’t get it.â€
The Cardinals will meet with Matz on Wednesday and gauge how he recovers after the start and what he must do to be ready for his next start. The club was not ready late Tuesday to comment on whether the injured list was a possibility. An off day Thursday gives them some flexibility to move Gibson ahead Matz in the rotation and remain on a five-day schedule.
This past week, Matz had to go through several checkpoints just to be cleared to start Tuesday. He completed his between-start bullpen session without issue and did not have troubles the next day. He responded well to various treatments. Monday’s rains even stole him an extra day off so that he benefited from one more bit of rest. Even during the start Tuesday the back did not worsen with each passing inning, his manager said.
“He says he can go, (and) you’ve got to trust that he can go,†Marmol said.
And the Cardinals needed him to go.
As their offense has searched for runs and their bullpen has locked down slim leads – like it did in Game 1, like it has on the road trip – that approach rests on starters providing reliable innings. It becomes a necessity with three games crammed essentially into a day.
“Going into the game, that was the mindset – go as deep as you can, make pitches, execute,†Matz said. “It just didn’t go that way. They put some good swings on it. My stuff wasn’t there. I need to do a better job. If I’m going to go out there and grind through it, I’ve got to do a better job.â€
As the Tigers promoted Manning for Game 2, the Cardinals recalled Kyle Leahy from Class AAA Memphis. Brought into the game in the fourth inning, Leahy was pressed into pitching a second inning and rewarded with a lead. Alec Burleson’s three-run homer in the top of the fifth inning completed a reversal as the Cardinals went from four runs down to a 5-4 lead. It did not survive the next 10 to 15 minutes. Rookie outfielder Wenceel Perez hit his second home run of the game and this one, off Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez, broke a tie and slingshot the Tigers toward their evening romp.
Gallegos’ abbreviated appearance and inability to get an out meant another reliever had to cover his innings, and still the Cardinals avoided dipping into Wednesday’s reserves or calling on any of their late-game locks. Lefty John King was purposefully avoided to be available for length and strikes if necessary.
What Matz’s availability looks like is uncertain.
What isn’t is the question. Because if the soreness in his lower back doesn’t calm that question will remain the same: Can he pitch through it, or will he again pitch with it?
“Stuff comes up during the season,†Matz said. “It’s a long season. I thought this is something I could deal with and just get through it and get it better for my start. That was my mindset.â€