ST. LOUIS -- A fixture of the Cardinals' future, left-hander Matthew Liberatore took another major step on Wednesday night when he held his velocity and flashed some stellar swing-and-miss stuff against an Athletics team that has feasted on lefties for most of 2025.
Liberatore pitched 5 1/3 scoreless innings and struck out seven to earn his first victory since June 29 in the Cardinals' 5-1 defeat of the Athletics in the finale of the three-game series at Busch Stadium.
“That was fun, and I love when I can punch some guys out,” said Liberatore, who was landing his curveball and slider for strikes to keep the Athletics guessing. “And I feel like I had more to give if I had been able to stay in that game. So, I felt like I left that game in a good spot.”
Fittingly enough, Liberatore -- who was making the 50th start of his young MLB career -- got plenty of help from third baseman Nolan Gorman, his childhood friend from the Phoenix area. The two have been friends since they were big enough to grip a baseball or swing a bat.
Gorman homered in the seventh as part of a three-hit night and he had two stellar defensive plays late in the game -- one to end the eighth inning and starting a double play in the ninth inning.
It was the 14th time Gorman has homered in a game that Liberatore pitched in and the ninth time he hit a long ball in a Liberatore start. Fittingly enough, Liberatore is 4-0 in the starts where Gorman homers.
“It’s always fun playing behind him and trying to supply runs for him,” Gorman said of Liberatore, with whom he played youth ball and faced off against in the Arizona high school state championship game. “He pitched great tonight and it was great to see. I’m happy for him.”
Usually known for his enormous home run power, Gorman raised eyebrows with his stellar defense on Wednesday. Willson Contreras, who had three hits and four RBIs, pointed out the improvement that Gorman has made in finding his release point on a throw that is dramatically different from third than it is from second base, his primary position earlier in the season. Gorman even playfully joked about the uber-athletic play he made on Darell Hernaiz’s chopper to end the eighth when the Athletics were threatening.
“I almost took a screen recording of that play and sent it to [10-time Gold Glove winner Nolan Arenado] to ask him if there’s any way to make it a little easier on me,” Gorman said. “After going back and looking at it, I think I could have made it a little bit easier. But I feel good coming in on that ball and making a strong throw.”
Liberatore, 25, pitched out of trouble in the second inning when he struck out Zack Gelof and Lawrence Butler. He fanned standouts Shea Langeliers and Nick Kurtz in the third inning, and he pitched around a leadoff single to Brent Rooker in the fourth.
Liberatore thrived by cunningly mixing six pitches to keep the A’s guessing. He got 10 swings-and-misses -- four on his curve, three on his slider, two on his four-seam fastball and one on his sinker.
“The more weapons, the better. And the more offerings that they have to respect, those are things that they can’t count out,” said Liberatore, who lowered his ERA to 4.15 for the season. “I think that makes [all of his pitches] play up. So, having both of those breaking balls tonight was awesome.”
Added manager Oliver Marmol, who will welcome Cardinals icon Yadier Molina back into the dugout this weekend as a guest coach: “Not only holding the [velocity], but the slider was a really good pitch for him. The shape of it was a lot closer to what we wanted. He mixed well, especially against a lineup that threw a decent amount of righties against him and he navigated it well.”
Liberatore, who was 0-5 with a 5.77 ERA and four no-decisions between wins, registered his highest strikeout total since fanning eight on May 6 against the Pirates. Additionally, the 5 1/3 innings pitched were his most since he went six innings on June 29 in his win against Cleveland.
Afterward, no one was happier for him than Gorman.
“I’ve seen him do this pretty much my whole life,” Gorman said. "So, seeing him get the opportunity to show he can do this, it’s really cool. He’s been given a very good opportunity this year and he’s made the most of it.”