St. Louis Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol spoke Sunday of the team’s need to display resilience after absorbing a weekend series sweep at home against the Seattle Mariners.
It’s safe to say that Marmol has liked his team’s response.
After 4-2 and 11-7 victories in the first two contests of a four-game set at the Pittsburgh Pirates, St. Louis can earn a series win on Wednesday night.
“In spring, you have to create some framework for how you want this group to operate mentally,” Marmol said. “What you have to build into that framework is we can’t care about gut punches and let them last longer than a night.”
In this series, the Cardinals have been throwing all of the important punches.
After scoring four runs in the ninth inning on Monday night for a stunning comeback, they enjoyed their first double-figure scoring output of the year by getting 12 hits on Tuesday.
There was production up and down the lineup, including three RBIs each for Jordan Walker, Alec Burleson and Nolan Gorman. Walker has gotten off to an encouraging start this season after struggling the last two years, getting more balls in the air to properly use his tremendous power.
Burleson was mired in a slump until delivering an RBI single and a two-run double Tuesday, while Gorman started the scoring in the second inning with a long homer to right field.
It’s the type of progress Marmol and St. Louis are seeking in what many claim is a rebuilding year.
“Now you stack those on top of each other over time,” Marmol said. “That’s what’s important.”
Right-hander Andre Pallante (2-2, 4.26 ERA) will take the mound for the Cardinals, hoping to bounce back after a 3-2 loss Friday at home against Seattle. He was charged with three runs, four hits and three walks while striking out eight in 5 1/3 innings.
Pallante is 1-2 with a 3.33 ERA in 18 career games against Pittsburgh, five of them starts.
The Pirates will turn to right-hander Bubba Chandler (1-2, 4.88 ERA) on Wednesday in an effort to halt a three-game skid.
Chandler is coming off a 6-1 defeat Thursday vs. Texas, permitting seven hits and six runs in four innings with three walks and four strikeouts. He won his only prior outing against St. Louis, throwing four shutout innings in relief last August.
Chandler said a lack of execution hurt him against the Rangers.
“They hit the ball well,” he said. “Flush it. Don’t care about it. Move on. That’s about all I can do. I didn’t execute a lot of pitches.”
After winning three straight road series against National League Central opponents in the first two months of the season, Pittsburgh must bounce back on Wednesday to have a chance at a series split. Manager Don Kelly said he hopes to see some of the same push-back that Marmol talked about with the Cardinals.
“We’ve been able to do that after tough days,” Kelly said. “We’ve been able to bounce back. We’re in the middle of a tough stretch … they continue to work.”
The Pirates did get Oneil Cruz’s ninth homer of the year Tuesday, as well as three RBIs from Ryan O’Hearn.
–Field Level Media
