ST. LOUIS — Saturday’s Game Report: Cardinals 3, Marlins 1
A loss to the Braves in the third game of the 2023 season left the Cardinals one game above .500. Little did they know that the next time they would get back to that lofty status would be more than a calendar year later.
The win over the Marlins Saturday at Busch Stadium pushed the Cardinals to a 5-4 start to begin this season – exactly 369 days since they last had a winning record.
After losing the first two games of the season in Los Angeles, the Cardinals have won five of their last seven games, winning the series against both the Padres and Miami.
“Obviously we want to win but we’re not really concerned with what our wins and losses look like,” said Brendan Donovan. “We’re shrinking it. We’re worried about showing up, getting after it, taking care of the baseball, grinding out at-bats, throwing competitive strikes.
“I think that’s our thought process. I think if we do those things then we will really like where those wins and losses are at the end of the year. That’s a tough first road trip (to Los Angeles and San Diego). We came out of it wanting a couple more but I was like you know what, we’re in a good spot.”
Steven Matz worked five scoreless innings on Saturday, the offense manufactured three runs and another good defensive game all added up to the victory.
“To win back to back series is big and I think we played LA very tough,” Matz said. “We recognize they are supposed to be the top dogs and we played them tough. I think that gave us some confidence.
“We can win games many different ways and that’s kind of how it feels.”
Here is how Saturday’s game broke down:
At the plate: Donovan was back in the leadoff spot after missing Thursday’s home opener as he recovered from being hit by two pitches on Wednesday. He reached base three times with two bloop doubles and a walk, scoring one run … Jordan Walker drove in his first run of the season with a double in a two-run fourth inning, with the second run scoring on a Miami error … Ivan Herrera had a pair of singles, getting an RBI by beating out an infield hit in the fifth.
On the mound: Matz allowed four hits, walked one and struck out three before coming out of the game after throwing 85 pitches … The Marlins scored their run off Andrew Kittredge in the eighth, only the second run the Cardinals’ relievers have allowed in a combined 16 1/3 innings ovee the last five games … Ryan Helsley earned his third save, throwing only six pitches despite allowing a two-out single.
Key stat: The Cardinals tied their franchise record, set last year, by playing their ninth game to begin the year without an error. The only other team yet to commit an error is the Braves. The major-league record for most consecutive games to begin a season without an error is 16 set by the Padres in 2022.
Worth noting: Willson Contreras was in the original Cardinals lineup as the DH but was scratched about an hour before the game. The move was said to be precautionary as he was still suffering soreness in his left hand where he was hit by a pitch on Wednesday … Lars Nootbaar was scheduled to play for Memphis again Saturday night and on Sunday and then return to St. Louis, where he could be activated from the injured list on Monday … Sonny Gray threw a bullpen session on Saturday as the team tries to decide whether to have him make a rehab start in Memphis next week or put him back in the major-league rotation. As of now Zack Thompson is listed as the starting pitcher for Tuesday and Lance Lynn for Wednesday.
Looking ahead: Kyle Gibson will make his first home start for the Cardinals on Sunday as the Cardinals try to complete a sweep of the three-game series against the Marlins.
