It was a game that had all the build up. Two high school teammates, two of the premier pitchers in the league, Jack Flaherty and Lucas Giolito, were facing off against each other for the first time. Only adding to the hype was the fact that their high school coach, Ethan Katz, now the White Sox pitching coach, was watching from their dugout.
But the narrative quickly changed in the bottom of the first. After Giolito retired the side, it was Flaherty’s turn to try and match his high school teammate and friend. Right off the bat, things began to snowball for the Cardinals.
Shortstop Edmundo Sosa made a fielding error that allowed his counterpart Tim Anderson to reach base. One hit batsman and error later, Chicago had jumped out to a 2-0 lead.
And it only got worse from there. The normally sure-handed Nolan Arenado also committed an error, allowing Anderson to once again reach base, and by the end of the second inning, St. Louis found themselves in a 5-0 hole, with only one of Chicago’s runs scoring via a base-hit.
St. Louis chipped away a little in the third and fourth, coming to within 5-2, but they gave those runs right back as Jose Abreu launched one into the left-field seats, making it 7-2. Flaherty was pulled shortly thereafter, leaving what would be his shortest outing of the season thus far, after allowing seven runs.
“I thought he made a lot of quality pitches, it just wasn’t a night where we helped him out,” said Mike Shildt. “That’s very atypical; typically we help our guys out, but tonight we weren’t as clean as we needed to be and some balls found some holes for some softer contact. I thought Jack was fantastic and kept his composure and pitched way better than the line.”
On the other side, it was much smoother sailing for Giolito, going six innings and striking out five, allowing two runs, one earned.
“I’m sure we’ll get our chance somewhere down the road,” Flaherty said when asked if he would like a rematch with his high school buddy. “He threw the ball well and he did what he’s good at.”
Flaherty is off to a historic start. Coming into last night’s game, he was 8-0, and was the first Cardinals pitcher to start with an 8-0 record since Bob Gibson. Despite taking his first loss last night, Flaherty’s ERA didn’t take too much of a hit, as only three of the seven runs he allowed were earned. Flaherty still leads the major leagues in wins and sports a 2.84 ERA.
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