ANAHEIM, Calif. — When the Angels had action on the base paths and pushed a run across in the bottom of the eighth inning after Ƶ leaped to an 8-4 lead on Monday night, rookies Kyle Leahy and Pedro Pages turned to perhaps one of the oldest superstitions in the book to preserve a Cardinals win and milestone moment for Leahy.
The rookies turned to each other and knew they should knock on wood as the Cardinals looked to finish a series-opening victory with Leahy in line for his first career win.
“We literally knocked on the bench. Knocked on the bench just to keep it going, and worked out,” Pages said on Monday night.
Aided by an eight-run seventh inning and 2 2/3 scoreless innings of relief work from the 26-year-old Leahy, the Cardinals closed out a 10-5 comeback win to open a three-game road series vs. the Angels. With his scoreless performance from the bullpen after starter Matthew Liberatore allowed four runs in 3 1/3 innings, Leahy secured his first win in the majors in his eighth career game.
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“All the time I think about helping this team win,” Leahy, a former 17th-round pick, said when asked if earning his first career victory had been on his mind. “That’s what I wake up to try to do every day. So to be able to actually do that today, it feels really good.”
The former 2018 draftee and product of Division II Colorado Mesa University kept the Angels hitless in his relief appearance after entering the ballgame with his club down 4-0. Leahy struck out three batters and did not walk anyone in the longest outing of his young big league career. The 26-year-old’s effort to keep the Angels silenced marked his third time in four appearances in May during which he’s held opposing hitters scoreless for two or more innings.
“Extremely valuable,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said of Leahy’s relief outing in the road win. “He’s done a really nice job. He’s under control.”
Leahy debuted in the majors last July after he pitched in 117 minor league games following his professional debut in the same summer he was drafted. The righty logged 1⅔ innings of relief work across three games while in the majors. He allowed four runs, walked five and hit a batter in his brief stay. Half of the first 58 pitches he threw in the big leagues missed the strike zone. He returned to Class AAA Memphis less than three weeks after his call-up and spent the rest of the 2023 season in the minors, where he held a 6.26 ERA and tallied 92 strikeouts in 83⅓ innings in mostly a bullpen role.
After posting a 1.50 with five strikeouts in six innings in the Grapefruit League as a non-roster invitee to big league camp this past spring, Leahy opened the season with Memphis and held a 5.84 ERA in 12⅓ innings as a reliever before his contract was selected on May 3.
In his second big league stint, Leahy has a 5.59 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP in 9⅔ innings from the bullpen. He has collected seven strikeouts and walked three batters .
“Getting some experience last year really helped as well,” Marmol said on Monday night. “You’re seeing a guy that’s slowing it down out there. He did a really nice job of pitching with confidence and using his stuff appropriately. But what he did today was pretty impressive.”
It’s comfort the 26-year-old native of Boulder, Colorado, believes has come with experience.
“Every time you put a good outing together out there, it helps build your confidence, but I think you’ve got to be able to stay confident through the bad outings,” Leahy said. “It’s got to come from within. You can’t just build confidence based on results. It definitely helps and it feels good though.”
The feeling from his first career victory came with traditional customs for such milestones.
Leahy received a baseball from the win that he plans to give to his parents to “keep it safe for the time being.” In the visitors clubhouse at Angel Stadium, the 26-year-old received a “beer shower” from his teammates. He shared the milestone with those he’s shared the field with across the minors, like Pages, who was the one to alert Leahy during that game that the righty was in line for a win.
“It’s honestly amazing,” said Pages, who has been teammates with Leahy in Double-A, Triple-A and the Arizona Fall League. “We were talking about it after. We’re like, ‘Hey, man. We’re here, man.’ He looks good out there. He did a great job today. And it’s just huge to see him out there succeeding and going about his business the way he is. He’s worked a lot, especially in the offseason, for this. It’s been fun to watch.”
Along with the souvenirs and the feeling of cold beer poured on him, the memory shared with those around him is one of the aspects of Monday night that will stick out to Leahy.
“I have a lot of close friends that I’ve come up with through the minor leagues with on this team, and we have a lot of really good veterans that help this clubhouse keep on going,” Leahy said. “So hopefully we get on a roll here.”