PITTSBURGH — How the Cardinals want to utilize left-hander Matthew Liberatore ran headlong Wednesday into what they needed from him, again.
Something as uncontrollable, unpredictable and tempestuous as an evening rainstorm in Atlanta led to a series of events that, by Wednesday in Pittsburgh, had thrust Liberatore once more into a spot start. A missed catch in center field added to a problematic second inning, and all of the runs in the Cardinals’ 5-0 loss to the Pirates at PNC Park came against Liberatore. He was out of the start in the fourth, two innings before the game offered an opportunity they sure would like to use him in for relief.
“Absolutely. We’re at our best if he’s part of that lefty equation,†manager Oliver Marmol said. “There would have been two spots based on usage where he could have a sixth inning (assignment). We’re at our strength when he’s in relief and part of the three-lefty mix.â€
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A series previously defined by close games — alternating 2-1 decisions — capsized for the Cardinals in the finale with the shutout. Pirates slugger Rowdy Tellez, a last-minute addition to the lineup to replace injured Bryan Reynolds, stung Liberatore with two RBI hits, including a 447-foot homer that reached the Allegheny River. Tellez’s solo homer came on Liberatore’s 69th and final pitch.
The bullpen allowed one hit from there, but the Cardinals could not manage to get one breakthrough hit against Bucs starter Martin Perez. A day after clawing for two runs against one of the pitchers with the lowest ERA in the majors and edging Paul Skenes, the Cardinals could not get a run against one of the pitchers with the highest ERAs for the Pirates. That cost them the series and winning road trip, and it allowed the Pirates (52-50) to inch within a game of the Cardinals (53-49).
“We just haven’t produced against lefties, plain and simple,†Marmol said. “Our righties have been about average, and our left-on-left production is fairly low. It’s been all year. We’re battling through it. There have been some games that are better than others. This is one that didn’t go our way.â€
With less than a week before Tuesday’s trade deadline, the Cardinals are shopping, and their list is crystallizing, even as the market is not.
Only a few teams have identified themselves as sellers, elevating the asking price at the moment when demand is clear and supply is not. The Cardinals are interested in starting pitchers who they believe would upgrade their rotation, according to sources.
They also intend to look for an addition to fortify the bullpen — an annual reliever hunt for almost any contending team. The lineup and roster are stacked with left-handed bats — they started Wednesday’s game without a right-handed bat on the bench — and while there is some internal sentiment to add a right-handed bat, the Cardinals feel that production must come from the same place, within.
Surges toward career norms from Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado would help counterbalance troubles against lefties like Perez (2-5). He walked five Cardinals but held them 0 for 3 overall on three groundouts with runners in scoring position. The middle of the order, all right-handed hitters, went 1 for 7 with two walks vs. Perez and his 5.61 ERA.
While the Atlanta series that added another doubleheader to the schedule did not invite much work for the Cardinals’ left-handed relievers, the Pittsburgh series did, giving a window into how that side of the bullpen is shifting and what Liberatore would provide.
“What he has in the past,†Marmol said. “He’s been able to give you two out of three (vs.) lefties. He can also give you multiples based on the lineup. In a perfect world, he’s part of that three-lefty mix, and he can do what we’ve seen him do whenever he’s not having a spot start.â€
As a reliever this season, Liberatore has a 3.62 ERA, and he’s struck out 23 against 27 hits allowed in 32⅓ innings. Lefties are batting .211 against him and slugging .290 with more strikeouts (17) than hits (16).
The Cardinals turned to John King in a decisive spot Monday against the Pirates to give them a different look and see how the ground ball-getting lefty did. He misplaced a wild pitch that decided the game in a 2-1 loss.
On Tuesday, the Cardinals turned to lefty JoJo Romero, one of the leading setup lefties in the majors and their top strikeout lefty. He allowed a double and the game-tying run.
Liberatore would have given the bullpen a third look from a lefty to throw at the Pirates if not for needing him to start.
Three doubleheaders in the span of 10 days disrupted the normal turn of the rotation, and rather than press a veteran into a start on short rest, the Cardinals opted Wednesday for the bullpen game. They did not go into it with a pitch limit for Liberatore, preferring instead to watch his velocity for clues of fatigue. Liberatore pitched around a walk in the first inning. He pitched into a mess in the second.
Six batters into the inning, Liberatore hit a Pirate, walked two and allowed two singles. Still, he had an escape hatch after allowing two runs when Connor Joe lifted a ball into the left-center gap. Center fielder Dylan Carlson dove to make the catch — and he had it until landing on the turf and dislodging the ball.
Instead of the Cardinals getting a third out, the Pirates added two runs. Tellez, who entered the game a .148 hitter against lefties, had two hits off Liberatore, including the homer that cleared the stands and cemented the score. The homer came on a fastball that lacked the zip and signaled Liberatore’s exit.
The 40-pitch second inning caught up with him.
“I came out with the same mentality,†Liberatore said of pitching like his previous start, a strong six innings with eight strikeouts on June 26. “Felt like the velo(city) was there to start, for sure, most of the way through that second inning. And then I just lost some steam.â€
“Running into a little bit of a wall,†Marmol said.
It’s a wall that he would not have to climb coming out of the bullpen gate. Last year, Liberatore was yo-yoed between levels, and this year, the Cardinals readily admit he’s been volleyed between roles. The start Wednesday was his sixth in 34 appearances. In a “perfect world,†as Marmol said, it would have been his 34th appearance in the middle of a closer game. But it hasn’t been perfect.
Rainouts happen. Needs surface. Wants must wait.
“I think the path of my season so far has not been easy, but I enjoy that,†Liberatore said. “And I’ve certainly learned a ton about myself in this game and how to prepare, how to compete when you don’t feel your best. It’s been a very valuable experience for me, for sure.â€