ARLINGTON -- The Cardinals have held their own against aces so far this season. They’ve handed the Pirates’ Paul Skenes a couple of losses, while they have also knocked off the likes of the Twins' Pablo López and the Astros' Framber Valdez.
The Cards had an opportunity to add two-time Cy Young winner Jacob deGrom to the list on Sunday afternoon, but despite a solid start from Erick Fedde, they fell short in an 8-1 loss to the Rangers at Globe Life Field.
“We just weren’t good enough to win a Major League Baseball game today,” manager Oliver Marmol said. “Just some non-plays is what it came down to.”
It had little to do with Fedde, who delivered his first quality start since posting a shutout at Washington on May 9. Fedde allowed two runs on four hits with three walks and five strikeouts over six innings, exiting with the Cardinals trailing just 2-1.
“Obviously when you’re going up against deGrom, you have to be pretty sharp,” Fedde said. “I’m a little upset at myself for giving up runs in the second inning with two outs, especially walking the nine-hole, but overall I was pretty happy with the stuff.”
The second inning is the only time Fedde couldn’t work his way out of trouble. Fedde retired the first two batters before giving up a single to Marcus Semien on a 2-0 cutter. Fedde issued a five-pitch walk to Sam Haggerty, the Rangers’ nine-hole batter, and then gave up a two-run double to Josh Smith making the Cardinals' early 1-0 lead a short-lived one.
“When you get two quick outs, then you go to 2-0 to Semien and give up a hit, walk the nine-hole, you’re putting yourself in a chance for not having success,” Fedde said. “I would’ve liked to have finished that inning quicker.”
Fedde rebounded with four scoreless innings, reaching 700 career frames in the process. He has posted a quality start in six of his 12 outings this season.
Outside of the second inning, Fedde felt pretty good about his day.
“I thought my changeup was good. I got a lot of outs with it,” Fedde said. “I felt like I commanded the fastball pretty well. Obviously, I want to keep the walks down, but overall I felt like I had all four pitches today and that led to some success.”
However, as Fedde mentioned, the margin for error is slim when going against pitchers such as deGrom.
St. Louis trailed just 2-1 when both starters exited after the sixth inning, but Texas poured it on late. The Rangers scored one run in the seventh and five more in the eighth to put it out of reach.
The final innings featured some uncharacteristic defensive miscues from the Cardinals. The team failed to record an out on a ground ball back to reliever Kyle Leahy in the seventh, and there was a throwing error by catcher Yohel Pozo on a fielder's choice in the eighth.
Offensively, St. Louis had just two baserunners reach the final five innings. deGrom retired the final seven batters he faced, and the Cardinals managed just a single and a batter reaching on an error against a trio of Rangers relievers in the final three innings.
“At the end of the day, I just felt like we weren’t good enough to win,” Marmol said.
But Marmol said the game will be dissected in detail to ensure the same mistakes aren’t made going forward.
“What’s allowed us to be good is exactly that. When we do make a mistake, these guys are open to the feedback of what actually went down and making sure we correct it,” he said. “We’ll continue to do that. It’s worked out well.”
St. Louis lost just its second series in its last 11, closing a six-game road trip with a 3-3 record. Now, the Cardinals face a stretch in which they’ll play 29 games in 30 days following an off-day on Monday.
Marmol was succinct when asked about the upcoming stretch.
“We’re ready for it. Is that too short of an answer?” he said. “We’re ready for it.”