Category: St. Louis Cardinals

Cardinals' Willson Contreras Injures Arm in Catcher's Interference Incident
8 May 24 Jimm Sallivan

Cardinals’ Willson Contreras Injures Arm in Catcher’s Interference Incident

St. Louis Cardinals catcher Willson Contreras exited Tuesday's game against the New York Mets after taking the full force of a swing from J.D. Martinez to the left forearm. Contreras was diagnosed with a fractured left arm and will need a lengthy stay on the injured list as a result.

Contreras was visibly in pain as the Cardinals' medical staff attended to his arm. To make matters worse, the play was ruled as catcher's interference, meaning Martinez was awarded first base.

Replay of the incident showed that Contreras was positioned remarkably close to Martinez. According to John Denton of MLB.com, the team had encouraged Contreras to move closer to the plate as a means of getting more low strike calls from umpires. With Contreras positioning himself particularly close to the plate, he put himself in harm’s way of Martinez’s swing, resulting in Tuesday's scary arm injury.

Iván Herrera replaced Contreras, who had doubled in his lone plate appearance of the game. On the season, Contreras has six home runs and 12 RBI to go with a .931 OPS.

J.D. Martinez, MLB, St. Louis Cardinals, Willson Contreras
0
Mets' Brett Baty Hilariously Fell Over an Umpire While Trying to Make a Throw
7 May 24 Jimm Sallivan

Mets’ Brett Baty Hilariously Fell Over an Umpire While Trying to Make a Throw

The New York Mets beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-3, on Monday. The Mets were able to overcome a close call that was upheld on replay and disagreed with on the broadcast as they stopped a three game losing streak. The Mets seemed to be at odds with the umpire crew throughout the game. Just look what happened in the bottom of the first inning when leadoff hitter Jose Fermin bounced one down the line to third baseman Brett Baty.

Baty fielded the ball cleanly and was considering one of those cool jump throws that Derek Jeter used to do all the time, but instead straight ran into third base umpire Doug Eddings. Rather than throw the ball, Baty ate it as he fell on top of a backpedaling Eddings and Fermin ended up safe at first.

There are just some things in life that are satisfying. People falling down without getting hurt is definitely one of them. It's so awkward and funny. Keith Hernandez described it as Edding, "doing the moonwalk," while Gary Cohen compared his moves to the Cha-Cha Slide. Whatever ill-advised wedding dance move you want to reference, it's hard to contain the giggles.

Once everyone finished laughing the game continued with Baty going 0-for-4 at the plate with two strikeouts. Knocking over an umpire was unquestionably the highlight of his day.

Brett Baty, Doug Eddings, Gary Cohen, Keith Hernandez, New York Mets, St. Louis Cardinals, Umpires
0
Cardinals' Sonny Gray Credits Odd Ritual for In-Game Improvement in Win vs. White Sox
4 May 24 Jimm Sallivan

Cardinals’ Sonny Gray Credits Odd Ritual for In-Game Improvement in Win vs. White Sox

St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Sonny Gray improved to 4-1 on the season after throwing seven scoreless innings of three-hit ball with six strikeouts in a 3-0 victory over the Chicago White Sox.

The 34-year-old Gray continued his torrid start to the season, improving his ERA to a stunning 0.89 through five starts, establishing himself as an early National League Cy Young candidate as the calendar turns to May.

While Gray put together another sterling start, a high-stress third inning caused him to reevaluate things in the dugout. Gray credited an odd in-game ritual for his turnaround and efficiency on the mound throughout the rest of the game.

"I've done this before," Gray told reporters after the game. "I just came in here after the third and took all my clothes off and got redressed with new cleats, socks, underwear, pants, belt, jersey and hat and said, 'You're a new guy, now start over.' So that's kind of how I reset it."

Nothing like a mid-game wardrobe change to get the mind right!

St. Louis improved to 15-17 on the season and sits in fourth place in the NL Central.

Chicago White Sox, Sonny Gray, St. Louis Cardinals
0
Tigers Pitcher Jack Flaherty Dials Up Historic Performance vs. Cardinals
30 Apr 24 Jimm Sallivan

Tigers Pitcher Jack Flaherty Dials Up Historic Performance vs. Cardinals

Detroit Tigers right-handed pitcher Jack Flaherty had an afternoon to remember Tuesday against his former team at Comerica Park.

Flaherty whiffed the St. Louis Cardinals' first seven batters to start the game, tying an American League record shared by four pitchers. He came up two strikeouts short of the MLB record, set in 2021 by Pablo López when the then-Miami Marlins right-hander fanned the first nine Atlanta Braves batters he faced.

Flaherty finished the outing with a career-high 14 strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings, holding the Cardinals scoreless and allowing just two hits and one walk. He is the fifth pitcher in MLB history to tally at least 14 strikeouts and allow no runs in less than seven innings of work, joining Max Scherzer (2010), Mike Fiers ('14), Yu Darvish ('19) and Shane Bieber ('20) on that list.

The Tigers, however, lost to the Cardinals 2–1 after Shelby Miller surrendered two runs in the ninth inning to rob Flaherty of the win.

Flaherty, who was drafted by St. Louis in 2014 and pitched there from 2017 to '23, signed a one-year contract worth $14 million with the Tigers this offseason.

In six starts this year (36 innings), Flaherty has logged an 0–1 record, 4.00 ERA and 50 strikeouts.

The Tigers and Cardinals will play the nightcap of Tuesday's doubleheader at Comerica Park.

Detroit Tigers, Jack Flaherty, St. Louis Cardinals
0