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Roundtable Sports' John Denton discusses another rocky outing for Cardinals' left-hander Matthew Liberatore, who allowed five hits and five earned runs in Tuesday's first inning.
Over a six-batter stretch of the first inning, Cardinals’ left-hander Matthew Liberatore repeatedly changed his pitch mix and threw four-seam fastballs, cutters, changeups and curveballs. The common denominator of those pitches, however, was that each one found the heart of the plate – usually thigh high – and were throttled by Angels' hitters.
Zach Neto and Mike Trout hit a four-seam fastball and a cutter for singles that left the bat at 100.8 and 106.5 mph. Jorge Soler drilled a middle-middle changeup for a double. Vaughn Grissom smacked a four-seamer 99.3 mph for another run-scoring hit. Then, Jo Adell delivered the biggest blow of them all by hitting a curveball that popped up out of Liberatore’s hand and split the plate some 110 mph for a 405-foot, two-run homer.
Pitching for the first time in 10 days, Liberatore left far too many pitches over the middle of the plate, and the Angels made him pay time and again in a big first inning of a 5-1 defeat of the Cardinals in Anaheim.
"The start of that game, (Liberatore) was off in all areas," manager Oliver Marmol told Cardinals TV. "He hadn't pitched in a while, but timing, (velocity) and shape were all off. He was able to settle in and punch out seven after that, but the first six got on and it was tough for him to put anybody away in that first (inning)."
The Angels had five hits, five runs and a walk against Liberatore to set the tone for a forgettable night for the Cardinals. Liberatore did settle down and hold LA scoreless over the next 4 1/3 innings, but the first-inning damage was too much to overcome.
Cardinals Work to Save Bonus Money to Sign 17-Year-Old Shortstop, UCLA Closer
Much like last season, when the Cardinals saw a promising start disappear with massive struggles after the break for the MLB All-Star Game, the Cardinals are seemingly stuck in neutral. St. Louis lost four a fourth straight time and for the 10th time in the past 14 games before and after the All-Star break. The Cards are in a grueling stretch of 20 games in 20 days before of Thursday’s makeup game at Busch Stadium against the Dbacks.
That slide was made worse by late-game collapses on Sunday in Arizona and Monday night in Anaheim. The Cardinals squandered a seven-run lead on Sunday and lost 8-7 in 10 innings. On Monday, the Angels went into the ninth inning 0-48 when trailing after eight, but they rallied for two runs against Cardinals closer Riley O’Brien, who retired just one of the six batters he faced.
Alec Burleson had three hits, but he didn’t have much help against rising LA pitcher Walbert Urena, who lowered his 2026 ERA to 2.78 with six innings of one-run baseball. Mixing a 100 mph four-seam fastball and a darting changeup, Urena struck out five and allowed just six hits.
Homer Run Derby champion Jordan Walker extended his hitting streak to 12 games and his on-base streak to 23 games with literally with a base hit in the ninth inning. Walker pulled a smash down the line that bounced off the third base bag for a hit in his final at bat of the night.
The Cardinals will try and avoid a fifth straight loss and a sweep at the hands of the Angels on Wednesday when they send right-hander Hunter Dobbins to the mound for another spot start. Dobbins, who was acquired from the Red Sox in December in the trade centered around All-Star first baseman Willson Contreras, is 1-1 with a 4.03 ERA in five games (three starts) in 2026 with the Cardinals.
Remember to join our CARDINALS on ROUNDTABLE community, which is FREE! You can post your own thoughts, in text or video form, and you can engage with our Roundtable staff, as well as other CARDINALS fans. If prompted to download the Roundtable APP, that's free too!
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Over a six-batter stretch of the first inning, Cardinals’ left-hander Matthew Liberatore repeatedly changed his pitch mix and threw four-seam fastballs, cutters, changeups and curveballs. The common denominator of those pitches, however, was that each one found the heart of the plate – usually thigh high – and were throttled by Angels' hitters.
Zach Neto and Mike Trout hit a four-seam fastball and a cutter for singles that left the bat at 100.8 and 106.5 mph. Jorge Soler drilled a middle-middle changeup for a double. Vaughn Grissom smacked a four-seamer 99.3 mph for another run-scoring hit. Then, Jo Adell delivered the biggest blow of them all by hitting a curveball that popped up out of Liberatore’s hand and split the plate some 110 mph for a 405-foot, two-run homer.
Pitching for the first time in 10 days, Liberatore left far too many pitches over the middle of the plate, and the Angels made him pay time and again in a big first inning of a 5-1 defeat of the Cardinals in Anaheim.
"The start of that game, (Liberatore) was off in all areas," manager Oliver Marmol told Cardinals TV. "He hadn't pitched in a while, but timing, (velocity) and shape were all off. He was able to settle in and punch out seven after that, but the first six got on and it was tough for him to put anybody away in that first (inning)."
The Angels had five hits, five runs and a walk against Liberatore to set the tone for a forgettable night for the Cardinals. Liberatore did settle down and hold LA scoreless over the next 4 1/3 innings, but the first-inning damage was too much to overcome.
Cardinals Work to Save Bonus Money to Sign 17-Year-Old Shortstop, UCLA Closer
Much like last season, when the Cardinals saw a promising start disappear with massive struggles after the break for the MLB All-Star Game, the Cardinals are seemingly stuck in neutral. St. Louis lost four a fourth straight time and for the 10th time in the past 14 games before and after the All-Star break. The Cards are in a grueling stretch of 20 games in 20 days before of Thursday’s makeup game at Busch Stadium against the Dbacks.
That slide was made worse by late-game collapses on Sunday in Arizona and Monday night in Anaheim. The Cardinals squandered a seven-run lead on Sunday and lost 8-7 in 10 innings. On Monday, the Angels went into the ninth inning 0-48 when trailing after eight, but they rallied for two runs against Cardinals closer Riley O’Brien, who retired just one of the six batters he faced.
Burleson provided three hits in loss
Alec Burleson had three hits, but he didn’t have much help against rising LA pitcher Walbert Urena, who lowered his 2026 ERA to 2.78 with six innings of one-run baseball. Mixing a 100 mph four-seam fastball and a darting changeup, Urena struck out five and allowed just six hits.
Homer Run Derby champion Jordan Walker extended his hitting streak to 12 games and his on-base streak to 23 games with literally with a base hit in the ninth inning. Walker pulled a smash down the line that bounced off the third base bag for a hit in his final at bat of the night.
The Cardinals will try and avoid a fifth straight loss and a sweep at the hands of the Angels on Wednesday when they send right-hander Hunter Dobbins to the mound for another spot start. Dobbins, who was acquired from the Red Sox in December in the trade centered around All-Star first baseman Willson Contreras, is 1-1 with a 4.03 ERA in five games (three starts) in 2026 with the Cardinals.
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Remember to join our CARDINALS on ROUNDTABLE community, which is FREE! You can post your own thoughts, in text or video form, and you can engage with our Roundtable staff, as well as other CARDINALS fans. If prompted to download the Roundtable APP, that's free too!
Continue reading...
