ST. LOUIS CARDINALS NOTES:
COASTAL CARDS: The St. Louis Cardinals continue their season-long 11-day, 10-game road trip along the Pacific coast through Seattle (1-2), San Francisco (0-2), and Los Angeles Dodgers (April 28-30) with the third game of a four-game series tonight at San Francisco’s Oracle Park … Since the Padres joined MLB as an expansion team in 1969, this marks just the 13th road trip in the Cardinals history to feature 10 or more games across three cities on the Pacific coast, but first involving an AL team.
FLIGHT PATTERN: St. Louis enters today tied for 4th place in the NL Central, 7.0 games behind first place Pittsburgh … Tonight’s game is the 9th of 16 straight against opponents from the NL and AL West Divisions (St. Louis is 67-58 combined vs. both West Divisions since 2019).
WALKER OPTIONED: Prior to today’s game, the Cardinals announced that they optioned rookie outfielder Jordan Walker to Memphis (AAA) and resigned utility infielder Taylor Motter to a Major League free agent contract after he had cleared waivers … Motter was previously designated for assignment on April 23 and outrighted to Memphis on April 25.
THE CITY BY THE BAY: St. Louis holds a slim 358-357 lead over the Giants in the all-time series since the franchise moved from New York to San Francisco in 1958.
A SAN FRANCISCO TREAT: The Cardinals have won the season series over the Giants for seven straight seasons (2015-22) and have either split
or won its series at Oracle Park in nine of the last 10 years (excluding 2019).
APRIL SHOWERS: Since MLB expanded to six divisions in 1994, the Cardinals have been in first or tied for first 11 times at the end of April in 28 seasons (excluding 2020) … Of the 17 seasons not in first place at the end of April, the Cardinals have appeared in seven postseasons (2022, 2021, 2014, 2004, 2002, 2001, 1996) … The largest deficit out of first at the end of the month was 6.0 games in 2016 to Chicago, with St. Louis being eliminated from postseason on the final day of the season … The furthest the Cards have been out of 1st place and still made the postseason was 2014, sporting a 15-14 record and 5.5 games back of Milwaukee, before holding off Pittsburgh on the final day of the season to win the division at 90-72.
…BRING MAY FLOWERS: The 2002 Cardinals began 12-14 in April before rebounding to go 18-10 in May and make the postseason … The 1985 Cards started 8-11 in April, then went 93-50 to end their regular season.
CORNERSTONE COMBO: Paul Goldschmidt’s 13 career homers at Oracle Park are the most by an opponent in stadium history (2000-present), while Nolan Arenado (33 HR) is the only active player with 30+ home runs against the Giants, his most against any opponent … Goldy has reached base safely in 27 straight games at Oracle Park since 2017, longest active & tied for the 13th-longest in stadium history (Barry Bonds is 1st-3rd with 52, 50, and 44).
SEEK & DESTROY: The Cardinals (274) rank 3rd in MLB in hard-hit balls (95+ mph) behind Pittsburgh (277) and Tampa Bay (282), and are tied with the Pirates for 3rd in average exit velocity (90.2) behind the Angels (90.3) and Braves (90.9).
TWIN KILLINGS: The Cardinals lead the Majors with 28 double plays turned defensively this season, including 27 groundball twin killings induced by pitchers … Jack Flaherty and Baltimore’s Kyle Gibson share with MLB lead with 8, while Steven Matz has induced 4 double plays (T-8th in MLB).
LATE BIRDS: Since divisional play began in 1994, the Cardinals are 142-146 in night games in the Pacific Time Zone.
HITCHIN’ A RIDE: With the introduction of MLB’s new balanced schedule this season, the Cardinals are scheduled to travel 8,752 more miles (including trip to London) than they did in 2022, 2nd-biggest increase in miles behind San Francisco (+11,094)
TONIGHT’S STARTING PITCHER: LHP STEVEN MATZ (0-2, 6.48)
TONIGHT’S GAME
NL Ranks: Losses (3, T-5th), Earned Runs (16, T-9th),
• Makes his 161st career appearance (151th start) and 15th start as a Cardinal.
• Surpassed 800 career innings pitched in his last start at SEA (4/21).
• Is 5-6 with a 5.66 ERA in 14 starts (19 app.) with the Cardinals, posting a 10.03 strikeouts/9 IP, highest among Cardinals starting pitchers since the start of 2022.
• Has not earned a winning decision as a member of the Cardinals since Sept. 17. 2022 vs. CIN, pitching one inning in relief. Last win as a starter was 7/23/22 at CIN.
• Only win as a starting pitcher as a member of the Cardinals at Busch Stadium came on May 2, 2022, a rescheduled game tossing 6.0 scoreless innings in a 1-0 win.
• Missed 102 games on the Injured List with a left shoulder impingement (5/23-7/16) and strained left knee (7/24-9/16). Was activated from his second stint in mid-September and was added to the bullpen where he made five appearances.
• Prior to the 7/23/22 start at Cincinnati, Matz had missed approx. two months with a left shoulder impingement.
• Ranks 4th in MLB in Pitch Tempo with bases empty (11.9 sec/pitch) and 7th with runners on base (15.4 sec/pitch), leading all Cardinals.
• Allowed his first hit to a left-handed batter in his last start at SEA (4/21), a single to Jarred Kelenic. Opposing left-handed batters are hitting .071 (1-14) this season.
• Has the 3rd-highest opponent BA against (.264) with two-strike counts, trailing teammate Miles Mikolas (.339, 1st) and Giants’ Alex Cobb (.300) min. 50 opponent AB
• Ranks 13th among active MLB left-handed pitchers with 8.70 SO/9 IP (min. 700 IP).
• Went 2-0, 1.53 ERA in four Grapefruit League appearances (three starts).
LAST TIME OUT
• Allowed only four hits, but accounted for four runs in a 5-2 loss at SEA (4/21). Tied his season-high with seven strikeouts. Suffered his 3rd loss of the season, while the Cardinals dropped to 0-4 in his starts in 2023.
DATE vs. RESULT DEC IP H R ER BB SO HR NP-S
4/21 @SEA L 5-2 L-3 5.1 4 4 4 2 7 1 94-58
2023 SEASON
• Surrendered a lead-off home run to Ke’Bryan Hayes, then settled in allowing just one run on two hits over the next 17 outs. Matched his career-high with five walks. Received a no-decision in a 6-3 Cardinals loss in 10 innings vs. PIT (4/15). Threw a season-high 110 pitches, 2nd most in MLB this season at the time (Ohtani, 111).
• Allowed a season-high six runs on nine hits in a 7-4 loss at COL (4/10). Allowed only three doubles of his nine hits for extra bases.
• Struck out a season-high seven batters over 5.1 innings in a 4-1 loss vs. ATL (4/4). Allowed a career-high 10 hits (6th time) for the first time as a member of the Cardinals. Surrendered two home runs, including a 479-foot blast to Austin Riley, the 2nd-longest opposing HR at Busch Stadium III in the StatCast Era
SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS NOTES:
TODAY’S MATCH: The Giants will try to clinch their first series victory here at home tonight after taking a 2-0 advantage for the first time this year with last night’s walk-off win…yesterday’s 5-4 win over St. Louis lifted the Giants to a four-game winning streak, their first time winning four consecutive contests since winning five straight last season from September 25-30.
DO ADJUST THAT TELLY: Tonight’s game has been moved from NBC Sports Bay Area to NBC Sports Bay Area+ due to Golden State Warriors playoff coverage.
VIDEO ASSISTANT REFEREE: After review, an official scoring change was announced regarding last night’s game…in the bottom of the 9th inning, OF/DH Joc Pederson reached on what was originally scored an error…this has been changed to a base hit, and as a result, all runs in the inning are now earned.
WONDER KID: Last night’s win came off the bat of C Blake Sabol, who slugged his first career walk-off home run with a two-run homer in the 9th-inning…according to Sarah Langs, the lefty became just the fifth Giants rookie to hit a walk-off home run in the Wild Card era and first since Jaylin Davis did so on September 25, 2019…Sabol was also the first Giants catcher to hit a walk-off homer since Nick Hundley also hit one against St. Louis on September 2, 2017.
I BELIEVE IN BELIEVE: Sabol’s game-winning home run came on a 1-2 count with two outs….since Baseball Reference started tracking pitch data in 1988, there have only been three instances where the Giants won when hitting a walk-off home run with two outs and two strikes with the team trailing (see chart below)…prior to last night, the Cardinals had allowed only one other such home run in that time, a three-run shot from TB’s Taylor Walls on off Drew VerHagen on June 7, 2022 (SIS).
ONE FOR NELSON ROAD: Last night’s 9th inning rally marked SF’s first walk-off homer since IF Wilmer Flores hit one on September 4, 2022 vs. Philadelphia…the walk-off win was the Giants’ first overall since October 2 of last season, when IF David Villar hit a single in the 10th inning to beat the Diamondbacks in SF’s final home game of the season.
HEADSPACE: RHP Anthony DeSclafani takes the hill for SF tonight to face a very familiar rival…the veteran, whose 18 career appearances against the Cardinals mark the most games he’s played against any single opponent, is 7-5 with a 3.80 ERA and 87 strikeouts vs. St. Louis…his 87 strikeouts against them are the eighth-most among active pitchers.
BISCUITS: OF Joc Pederson’s single in the 1st inning last night had a 116.6 MPH exit velocity, his hardest hit ball in the Statcast era…the hit was also the second hardest hit ball by a Giant in the Statcast era, trailing only the 116.8 MPH exit velocity out hit by OF Mac Williamson on July 3, 2016.
HE’S HERE, HE’S THERE, HE’S EVERYWHERE: OF Mike Yastrzemski launched his fifth homer of the season last night, improving his OPS vs. the Cardinals to 1.055…since 2019, Yastrzemski’s debut season, his OPS against the Cardinals is the third-highest in MLB (min. 20 games), with teammate Joc Pederson ranking seventh (.958)….according to Sports Info Solutions, both his home run and double last night came
against pitches at the top of the zone…he’s hit three homers on high pitches this year after totaling two high-pitch homers last year.
BASEBALL IS LIFE: Yesterday’s homers from Sabol and Yastrzemski placed the Giants at 36 this season, fourth-most in the Majors…three of SF’s five runs last night were scored on homers, making it the most home run reliant team in the Majors with 58.7% (61/104) of their runs coming via the home run.
GOOD EYE, SMALL FRY: The Giants have maximized production against sliders this season…according to SIS, SF ranks fourth in MLB in offensive production against them, with its two best hitters being IF/OF Thairo Estrada (6×18), two doubles, three HRs) and IF/OF LaMonte Wade Jr. (5×10)…alas, the Giants rank 22nd in production against fastballs and sinkers (SIS).
BE A GOLDFISH: The Giants face LHP Steven Matz this afternoon, the ninth lefty they’ve faced in their last 14 games…lefties have been a tough draw for the Giants as their platooned lineup has a .587 OPS, the lowest in MLB, and is batting .210, which ranks 25th.
TODAY’S STARTER – ANTHONY DeSCLAFANI RHP #26
2023 RECORD: 1-1, 2.63 ERA
TODAY’S OUTING: Gets the nod to make his fifth start of the season tonight against the Cardinals…the veteran, who returns from an injury-plagued 2022, is embarking on his ninth Major League season and third in a Giants uniform.
LAST TIME OUT: Suffered his fist loss of the season last Friday in SF’s 7-0 defeat to the Mets…threw a season-low 5.0 innings and allowed four runs (one home run) on seven hits…DeSclafani walked two batters, his first time issuing a walk since June 26, 2022 vs. the Reds, and struck out five in the start.
VS. ST. LOUIS: Is slated to face the Cardinals for the 19th time in his career (18th start), the most games he’s played against any
single opponent….the right-hander is 7-5 with a 3.80 ERA and 87 strikeouts over the 18 appearances…his 87 strikeouts against the Cardinals are the eighth-most among active pitchers, with his seven wins tied for fifth-most and the 90.0 innings ranking 10th…last faced them on July 17, 2021 at Busch Stadium, when he suffered the loss after allowing three hits on five runs (two homers) over 6.0 innings.
LUCKY CHARM: Since joining the Giants in 2021, SF is 26-14 (.650) when DeSclafani takes the hill, winning 10 of his last 15 starts.
YOU SHALL NOT PASS: DeSclafani has been in control around the zone all season, allowing just two walks – both of which came in his last outing – with 21 strikeouts in his first four starts this year…according to Stats, LLC, his 10.50 strikeout-to-walk ratio is the second-highest for a Giants pitcher in their first four starts of the season since 1984…DeSclafani has a 0.88 WHIP this year, fourth-best in the NL
EARLY BIRD: Is holding opposing batters to just one hit in 13 at-bats with six strikeouts in the first inning…in his first time through
the order, opponents are just 6-for-36 (.167) with 10 strikeouts.
RIGHT THIS WAY: Right-handers have just five hits in 38 at-bats (.132) against DeSclafani this year with 10 strikeouts.
