The Cardinals' Sonny Gray speaks with the media on Friday, July 26, 2024, after a game vs. the Nationals at Busch Stadium. (Video by Ethan Erickson, Post-Dispatch)
The costly misplay in the 10th inning certainly provides an ultimate turning point, the moment when the game ultimately got away from the Cardinals for good. After all, the deciding runs scored and the momentum — for those who believe in such things — tipped entirely in favor of the Washington Nationals.
Before right fielder Dylan Carlson misjudged a line drive off the bat of Jacob Young and couldn’t recover quickly enough to overcome a faulty route to the ball, the Cardinals were digging themselves a hole with miscues and mistakes that don’t show up as errors in the box score.
The Cardinals’ series-opening 10-8 loss to the Washington Nationals in 10 innings in front of an announced crowd of 41,382 at Busch Stadium, served as the culmination following a multitude of missteps. The loss dropped them to 5-8 in extra-inning games this season.
It also came at a time when the Cardinals (53-50) have slipped out of a playoff spot and must continue to win series or risk losing critical ground in their postseason chase. They'll enter Saturday 1 1/2 games out of the final wild card spot.
“You score eight against these guys, you’ve got to be able to put them away,†Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “Very uncharacteristic of us to walk eight, one intentionally, but seven free passes — that’s not something we’ve done all year. It’s actually a strength of ours, making the other side earn it.â€
The Cardinals led 5-2 after three innings, but the Nationals (48-56) outscored them 8-3 in the final seven innings just one day after they were the no-hit by the San Diego Padres.
Cardinals pitchers walked eight batters, including one intentional walk, in 10 innings. Reliever JoJo Romero (1 1/3 innings) was the lone Cardinals pitcher who didn’t hand out a single walk.
The Nationals also took advantage of their opportunities when on base. They stole six bases in seven attempts. Their ability to take extra bases contributed to the fact that they took 18 at-bats with runners in scoring position (5 for 18).
“Today, we just gave up free passes. They took advantage of it,†Marmol said. “A lot of balls they put in play early against Sonny led to hits, not a whole lot (hit) at people. The combination of that and our running game cost us that game.â€
Cardinals starting pitcher Sonny Gray allowed five runs on seven hits and three walks in five innings. He also struck out seven. This start marked the third time in his last four outings that he allowed five runs. Two of those starts came against the Nationals.
Gray turned a one-run lead over to the bullpen after five innings, but he undoubtedly hasn't been as sharp recently as he had been earlier this season.
Gray began the season with 17 scoreless innings and posted an ERA of 0.89 through his first five starts. He’d walked just six batters through his first six starts (35 1/3 innings).
“I know what I need to do,†Gray said. “I just have to do it. And I just have to commit to doing it, and I will.â€
Gray didn't get into specifics or shed light on what he felt like he needed to “do,†but he added, “You’ll see what it is.â€
After Gray struck out the side in the first inning on Friday night, he gave up a two-run second inning that started with a single by former Cardinal Juan Yepez.
Right after the Cardinals’ offense bashed its way to a 5-2 lead thanks to home runs by Masyn Winn (2 for 5, three RBIs) and Nolan Arenado (1 for 4, three RBIs) in the bottom of the third, Gray gave up another run in the top of the third. Then he gave up two more in the fifth, an inning fueled by a pair of walks and a Yepez RBI double.
The Nationals tied the score after John King walked the leadoff batter of the seventh inning. That run came around to score on a sacrifice fly by Yepez.
The Cardinals bullpen contingent of Andrew Kittredge, Romero and Ryan Helsley held the Nationals scoreless through the ninth inning.
With the automatic runner on second base to start the 10th inning, reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-3) came within a strike of stranding a pair of runners in scoring position and putting up another scoreless frame.
With two outs and the go-ahead run at third base, the Cardinals intentionally walked Garcia and chose to pitch to Nationals No. 8 hole hitter Trey Lipscomb.
Garcia took second base on defensive indifference, but he still got ahead in the count to Lipscomb 1-2. Then Fernandez threw back-to-back pitches out of the zone to make it a full count. Lipscomb then fouled off consecutive sliders from Fernandez to keep the at-bat alive. Fernandez’s third full-count pitch sailed wide of the strike zone for ball four and loaded the bases.
“Trey’s at-bat there at the end of the night, getting down 1-2 or 2-2 and to fight to get that walk, I mean you’re talking about a guy who hasn’t played 100 games and he’s doing stuff like that,†Young said. “It’s just awesome to see that resiliency.â€
Fernandez then fell behind the No. 9 hitter, Jacob Young. Fernandez threw a 2-0 slider in the strike zone, but Young lined it into right field where Carlson appeared to have initially broke in on the ball. Carlson retreated and made a leaping attempt at an inning-ending catch, but the ball sailed over him for a bases-clearing triple.
"When I first saw it, I thought ahh man,†Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. “But once I saw (Carlson) break, I thought 'get up, get up, get, up.' And it went over his head. (Young) smoked that ball. It was a great swing by Jacob."
The Nationals got Lipscomb in from third base with an infield single by leadoff hitter CJ Abrams, and that brought their total to 10 runs on 11 hits.
With the automatic runner on base in the bottom of the 10th, Cardinals first baseman Paul Goldschmidt (2 for 5) hit a two-run home run for his 2,000th career hit. It dressed up the final score slightly, but the Cardinals didn’t bring the tying run to the plate in the final inning.
After dropping the first two games, the Cardinals wrap up a home series Sunday against the Nationals. First pitch is set for 1:15 p.m.
Cardinals relief pitcher Ryan Fernandez gave up four runs in the 10th inning of his club's 10-8 loss to the Washington Nationals on Friday, July 26, 2024, at Busch Stadium.
ºüÀêÊÓƵ Cardinals outfielder Dylan Carlson watches as a line drive hit by Washington Nationals’ Jacob Young goes for a triple to score three baserunners at Busch Stadium in the tenth inning in a 10-8 Cardinals loss on Friday, July 26, 2024.
The Nationals’ CJ Abrams steals second as Cardinals second baseman Brendan Donovan applies a late tag in the seventh inning Friday, July 26, 2024, at Busch Stadium.