CHICAGO — The fact that Jack Flaherty gave up two runs before he allowed a hit should have been an indication of how Tuesday night was going to go for the Cardinals.
By the time the second inning was over, Flaherty had allowed five runs – only one of which was driven in by a hit. The four other runs for the White Sox scored on a groundout, an error, a walk and a wild pitch.
The Cardinals committed a season-high three errors, two in the first inning. Of thr seven runs allowed by Flaherty only three were earned, two coming on a home run by Jose Abreu in the fourth.
“There’s no doubt we let Jack down a little bit there,” said Nolan Arenado, who committed one of the errors. “He did his job in getting ground balls and we expect to make those plays but we didn’t; I didn’t, and have got to be better there. Jack pitched fine, we just didn’t help him at all.”
The loss was the first of the season for Flaherty in his 10 starts, ending an eight-game winning streak, as he lost the showdown with his former high school teammate, Lucas Giolito.
Here is how Tuesday night’s game broke down:
At the plate: The Cardinals streak of failing to score more than one run in an inning reached 48 consecutive innings. They scored in the third on a sacrifice fly from Dylan Carlson, in the fourth when Arenado hit a leadoff double and later came home on a wild pitch, and in the seventh on Max Moroff’s first hit with the Cardinals. The single drove in Matt Carpenter, who led off the inning with a double. Carpenter also had a single and walked, his first two-hit game this year … The Cardinals loaded the bases with nobody out in the ninth, but the White Sox brought in closer Liam Hendricks at that point and he struck out Lane Thomas, Moroff and Tommy Edman to end the game.
On the mound: Flaherty had to throw 54 pitches to get through the first two innings and came out of the game after 3 2/3 innings. He had worked at least six innings in his last six starts and had allowed just six total runs in his previous five starts, covering 32 innings. Flaherty allowed six hits, walked two, including the Cardinals’ 13th walk this season with the bases loaded. He also hit two batters and threw two wild pitches … Tyler Webb had his most effective outing in weeks, getting five outs and allowing one run, which scored after he left the game and was replaced by Junior Fernandez, who covered the final 2 2/3 innings, giving up three hits.
Key stat: The Cardinals three errors were committed by Edmundo Sosa, Edman, playing right field, and Arenado, who has now been charged with seven errors in 48 games. The eight-time Gold Glove winner committed three total errors in the 48 games he played last season for the Rockies.
Worth noting: More imaging on Tuesday found that Harrison Bader suffered a hairline fracture of his right ribs on Monday night as he attempted to make a diving catch. He was placed on the injured list, the fifth player currently on that list. John Nogowski, who started in left field for Memphis on Saturday and Sunday, was recalled to take the roster spot … The only healthy outfielders on the 40-man roster are Carlson, Lane Thomas and Justin Williams. Both Scott Hurst and Austin Dean are on the injured list at Memphis … The pre-season projected starting outfield of Tyler O’Neill, Bader and Carlson has only started 13 of the team’s 48 games this season … Andrew Miller made a rehab appearance for Memphis on Tuesday night at Gwinnett, needing just 14 pitches to work a 1-2-3 inning. He struck out one and got two groundouts.
Looking ahead: The Cardinals will conclude the series with the White Sox with a 1:10 p.m. game on Wednesday. John Gant will get the start as they try to avoid the sweep.
