ST. LOUIS -- Matthew Liberatore threw what he felt was one of his best between-starts bullpen sessions of the season after his last appearance. He expressed to his manager that he was, physically, in as good a place as possible given the point of the season.
That, as much as anything else, added to his frustration on Friday night. The Cardinals fell, 6-5, to the Braves in the opening game of their three-game set at Busch Stadium, with Liberatore posting perhaps his worst performance in what has otherwise been a first half characterized by a major step forward in his young career.
“First fastball missed about four feet above the strike zone,” an exasperated Liberatore said. “I tried to take that as just a first pitch and move on, throw the next one. Tried to do that the rest of the game, and it just didn’t work out tonight.”
Liberatore’s three innings pitched matched his season low, set in Cincinnati on May 1, when he was forced from the game by a rain delay. His six earned runs allowed were his second-most in any outing this season, exceeded only by the seven he gave up in four innings on June 5 against the Royals.
It was his only game this season in which Liberatore did not record a strikeout and just the second game -- that same tough start against Kansas City -- in which he allowed two home runs.
“He was just fighting himself from the very beginning,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “Wasn’t synced up. Just [an] inability to command his stuff early in that game, and then it just continued.”
Removing Liberatore from the game after only three innings was a difficult decision for Marmol. But it was a muggy night, and Liberatore needed 73 pitches to complete those three innings. The manager found himself boxed into a corner.
If he was offered an escape, it came in the personages of Riley O’Brien and Matt Svanson, who followed Liberatore with 4 2/3 innings of scoreless ball from the bullpen, punctuated by seven strikeouts combined. With Erick Fedde set to start Saturday after having been unable to complete the second inning in his last outing, bullpen preservation was paramount.
“Being as efficient as they were and as effective as they were, they were able to kind of eat up more innings,” Marmol said. “It does help us moving forward.”
More than that, O’Brien and Svanson gave the Cardinals a real shot to draw even and pull out a victory, but an offense that nearly matched Atlanta punch for punch in the game’s first three innings went punchless for its last six.
The teams combined for all 11 runs and 18 of the game’s 22 hits in those first three innings, as Liberatore and Grant Holmes became the first pair of starters in the same game to each go three or fewer innings and allow nine or more hits since Colorado’s Peter Lambert and San Diego’s Nick Margevicius on June 16, 2019.
“I think consistency is the biggest thing,” O’Brien said about his steps forward this season, as he has posted a 2.18 ERA over 20 2/3 innings. “I think last year I flashed some good signs, but definitely wasn't consistent. I think this year I feel like I'm just bringing my best product every game, and the results have been good so far.”
Svanson, with a 3.12 ERA in 26 innings, chalked his own success up to, “just usage of all of my pitches.”
“Also having confidence in when to use them, too,” he added. “Doing scouting reports, talking to guys. I’m able to shake off confidently when I need to -- and also just trust Pedro [Pagés] or [Yohel] Pozo or whoever’s back there at the same time.”
The Cardinals have not been shy about utilizing the depth on their 40-player roster to fortify their bullpen throughout the season. Friday night’s standout righty duo has taken turns on the shuttle back and forth to Triple-A Memphis alongside Gordon Graceffo, Andre Granillo, Roddery Muñoz and Chris Roycroft.
That they have gotten the opportunities they have -- and that Marmol was able to lean on them with Friday’s game, as well as the rest of the weekend, on the line -- speaks to their ability to seize those opportunities when presented.
“I like the way everything lined up with those guys,” Marmol assessed. “They did a tremendous job. They really did.”