Wow. Just wow.
A solid start by right-hander Johan Oviedo put him in position to pick up his first ever Major League win.
A six run outburst, including homers from Nolan Arenado, Tommy Edman, and Jose Rondon, helped with that as well. Solid performances by Genesis Cabrera, Ryan Helsley, and Justin Miller made that lead stand after Oviedo’s exit in the sixth.
And so it was onto the ninth. With a 6-1 lead, manager Mike Shildt turned to Luis Garcia, who despite struggling with his command, was able to get a strikeout and a ground ball. But neither were meant to be as the third strike got past Yadier Molina, allowing Patrick Wisdom to reach first.
Then, on a grounder to short, Paul DeJong’s throw to first was not only late, but wild, which allowed Nico Hoerner to reach first and Wisdom to advance to third.
Garcia proceeded to walk Jake Marisnick to load the bases, which prompted Shildt to go to his All-Star closer Alex Reyes. Reyes, however, was no help, as despite picking up a strikeout, he walked in two runs before allowing four more on back to back hits by Javier Baez and Ian Happ, which put the Cubs ahead to stay as Reyes had his first career blown save and St. Louis squandered what would have been Oviedo’s first big league win.
“It’s really a gosh darn shame that this guy didn’t get his first Major League win tonight. He earned it. He pitched extremely well,” said Shildt. “I mean he was really, really good. Gave us five strong innings and left with the lead, you can’t ask for much more than that.”
“I was happy, one, because I gave the team a chance to win the game,” said Oviedo. “I’ve still got a lot of games to pitch, and I’ll always have my chance. If I always give my team a chance to win, that’s all that really matters.”
The loss also marked a missed opportunity to gain ground on the Brewers in the Central and go back over the .500 mark for the first time since June 20.
Instead, the Cardinals fell back below .500 and remain 8 ½ games out of first. They now turn to Adam Wainwright, once again needing him to be the stopper, and get them back into the win column.
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