Brendan Donovan anticipated Mitch Keller's next move. He didn't miss: Cardinals Extra (2024)

Once he found himself ahead 2-1 in his at-bat against Pittsburgh Pirates starter Mitch Keller in the sixth inning Thursday, Cardinals utilityman Brendan Donovan had an idea of what might be thrown his way next.

Facing Keller for a third time in the series finale, Donovan knew Keller could challenge him with a cutter in that spot. He saw the righty do that on the first pitch of their duel in the fourth inning, then once again on the third pitch he saw in the sixth inning, which he fouled over the screen behind home plate.

Anticipating he could see the pitch once more, Donovan knew he couldn’t miss it.

He didn’t.

When another Keller cutter was thrown his way, Donovan lifted a fly ball to right field for a leadoff home run that proved to be the deciding run in a 4-3 Cardinals win.

“He came back with it,” Donovan said. “I was just thinking, ‘I got to be a little bit more out in front on it,’ and I caught it good.”

The home run was Donovan’s fifth of the year and first since providing a go-ahead home run on May 7 against the Mets. It bookended a strong homestand for the 27-year-old.

Across seven games — four against the Colorado Rockies and three against the Pirates — Donovan went 9 for 26 (.346) with two RBIs. He hit safely in all seven games.

“There’s a calmness to him (Donovan),” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “He’s been working hard at just being hard through the middle. We saw several counts throughout this series where he’s picked his spot and took some aggressive swings. He ran into one today.”

The seven-game stretch at Busch Stadium lifted Donovan’s batting average from .236 to .248 as St. Louis travels for road games against the Chicago Cubs, Miami Marlins and a “home game” in Alabama — Donovan’s home state — to play the Giants at Rickwood Field in Birmingham.

Donovan feels the production that peaked through during the seven-game stretch has been present all season but limited by “tough luck.” The third-year player who ranks among MLB’s best in both whiff rate and strikeout rate batted .228 in his first 50 games. That start included a .255 expected batting average, per Statcast.

Donovan explained that he’s been committed to a “crisp” hitting routine and came into Thursday with a .333 average and a 54.1% hard-hit rate in 42 at-bats prior to the series finale.

The process has been “pretty frustrating” and included “little wins” along the way.

“You take little mini-victories and you can stack as many little mini-victories on top of each other and not worry about the results. I feel like the results will be there at the end of the year,” Donovan said.

Arenado OK after bruising pitch

Third baseman Nolan Arenado, who had three consecutive multi-hit games coming into Thursday’s finale, was struck on the right hand by a pitch in the eighth inning. Home plate umpire Phil Cuzzi ruled that Arenado swung through on the pitch and struck out instead of earning the base with a bruise.

Arenado had X-rays taken at the ballpark while the Cardinals secured the 4-3 victory, and they did not reveal any damage, Marmol said. Arenado was diagnosed with a bone bruise. His status for Friday’s series opener at Wrigley Field will be decided once the team sees that day if there’s any swelling or stiffness.

During the homestand, Arenado went 8 for 24 (.333) with three RBIs and a series of defensive plays, including two throws on the run from foul territory, that will be on the 2024 highlight reel.

Parade of pitchers heads to Springfield

Steven Matz’s start Sunday will conclude a weekend of rehab arrivals and appearances at the Cardinals’ Class AA affiliate in Springfield, Missouri.

By the time Matz aims for around 50 pitches Sunday in his next rehab game, two relievers recovering from injury will have pitched in games, and a third will be getting close to games after facing Springfield Cardinals batters in a controlled setting.

Nick Robertson (elbow inflammation) will throw a live batting practice Friday in Springfield. That night, Giovanny Gallegos (shoulder impingement) will continue his rehab assignment with an inning of work — and if he recovers well and pitches well, his next appearance could be in the majors. On Saturday, Riley O’Brien (flexor tendon) will officially begin his rehab assignment with an inning of work for the S-Cardinals.

The start on Sunday for Matz (lower back) is significant because how he recovers from the increase in pitches will determine if he repeats that target or increases it by 15 the next time out. That would put him closer to a baseball decision based on effectiveness.

Contreras, Nootbaar, etc.

Willson Contreras (fractured arm), who has been described as “eager” to push the timetable for his return, took batting practice in the cages adjacent to the Cardinals clubhouse and will advance through a hitting program based on how he recovers. He said he’ll likely workout at Busch Stadium while the team goes to Wrigley Field so that he can get the necessary treatment and workouts with an eye on a rehab assignment on or around June 18.

• Lars Nootbaar (oblique strain) could be swinging a bat by this weekend after successfully going through a series of workouts and baseball activities this week that tested the recovery of his torso muscle.
• Pirates reliever Hunter Stratton left in the eighth inning after facing one batter with an apparent arm injury. After striking out Arenado on the pitch that hit the third baseman, Stratton pointed to his shoulder and biceps area to call for a trainer. The Pirates did not disclose the specific injury during the game.

Post-Dispatch reporter Derrick Goold contributed to this report.

The Cardinals find themselves in an unfamiliar spot — one they have not experienced in a quarter-century.

For the first time since 1998, when they selected outfielder J.D. Drew with the fifth overall pick, the Cardinals will make a top-10 selection in the MLB draft.

A 71-91 finish in 2023 regular season, the fifth-worst mark in the MLB, and thelack of lottery luckmeans the Cardinals will own the seventh overall pick in the 2024 MLB draft from July 14-16 in Fort Worth, Texas.

The selection will represent just the 12th time in team history the Cardinals have picked in the top 10. It'll also signify the highest draft pick Cardinals assistant general manager Randy Flores has made since he started overseeing theamateur draft as director of scouting in 2015.

Flores, brought in ahead of the 2016 regular season, has assisted in making 10 first-round selections, three of which were compensatory picks, for the Cardinals.

Four of those selections— Nolan Gorman (2018), Jordan Walker (2020), Dylan Carlson (2016) and Delvin Perez (2016)— were high school prospects. Each of the remaining selections were players from four-year universities but none of them currently reside on the Cardinals' major-league active roster.

There is an even split between pitchers and position players drafted across that span, but the Cardinals have selected three pitchers in the past five seasons with Cooper Hjerpe (2022), Michael McGreevy (2021) and Zack Thompson (2019)— who are all currently in the minor leagues.

Even with the talent that exists in the Cardinals' minor league system, the MLB pipeline rankings named the farm system the eighth-worst ahead of the season. Aiming to replenish their system, the Cardinals will turn to the seventh pick in hopes of landing an impact player for the future.

History of the 7th pick

A slugger inducted in 2014 to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and one of the most dominant left-handers this century headline the top talent selected with the draft's seventh overall pick.

Former White Sox star first baseman and designated hitter Frank Thomas (1989) and current Dodgers legend Clayton Kershaw (2006) were each taken No. 7, quickly becoming franchise cornerstones.

Shortstop Troy Tulowitzki (2005), outfielder Nick Markakis (2003), starting pitcher Aaron Nola (2014), first baseman Prince Fielder (2002) and left-hander Max Fried (2012) are among a number of additional players drafted in that spot who had major-league success this century.

Excluding the three most recent No. 7 overall picks, only 11 prospects who signed with a team failed to make the major leagues. Only one of those players — Trey Ball of the Red Sox (2013) — has failed to do so in the past 20 years.

In team history, the Cardinals have selected No. 7 overall just twice— 1966 and 1984.

The first of those selections was infielder Leron Lee, an infielder out of Grant Union High School in Sacramento, California. Lee played three seasons for the Cardinals with a .222 average, seven home runs, and 25 RBIs.

In 1984, the Cardinals plucked right-handed pitcher Mike Dunne from Bradley University. Dunne did not debut for the Cardinals, though, as he was included in a trade package to the Pirates for Tony Pena on April 1, 1987. Dunne debuted with the Pirates in 1987, compiling a 25-30 record with a 4.08 ERA in his five-year professional career.

Key trends

Although each draft and teams' preferences change from year to year, the seventh pick has a couple of interesting patterns that paint a picture of what to potentially expect from the Cardinals.

The No. 7 selection has become synonymous with pitching as of late, with 14 of the past 20 picks being pitchers. Of those hurlers, eight were left-handed pitchers and six were college arms.

Only one non-pitcher has been selected with the seventh overall pick across the past six MLB drafts — Pirates shortstop Nick Gonzales in 2020, a draft shortened to five rounds due to the pandemic. A pitcher has been selected in that spot in each of the past three seasons with Rhett Lowder (Reds), Cade Horton (Cubs), and Frank Mozzicato (Royals).

In an MLB draft class that includes a handful of potential frontline starters, the Cardinals have an opportunity to land an impact arm. Wake Forest right-hander Chase Burns, Arkansas southpaw Hagen Smith, Saguaro (Arizona) High School lefty Cam Caminiti or East Carolina righty Trey Yesavage are potential options.

If the Cardinals opt to draft a player from a four-year university, it would continue a more recent trend of college selections over prep ones at the seventh overall pick.

A total of 32 high school players have heard their names called with the seventh overall pick, but only three of those have come in the past decade. In the past 20 drafts, nearly the same number of four-year college prospects (12) were selected as in the first 38 years of the draft (14).

Of the past eight prep players drafted with the seventh overall pick, each one was selected as a pitcher.

Under Flores, the Cardinals have selected five pitchers in the first round, all of whom came from a four-year university, two out of an SEC program.

Financial outlook

The Cardinals will have a draft bonus pool of $10,213,000 to sign their draft picks, which is the 17th-most in the MLB. Each team is given a bonus pool dependent on the value of the slot they pick at and how many selections they have in each draft.

In the 12 drafts with bonus pool rules, though, the Cardinals are one of the few remaining teams who have overspent their assigned purse each time. Clubs, like the Cardinals, that spend beyond allotted pay bonuses are assessed a 75% tax based on what percentage they spend beyond their allotted total. Penalties worsen if the overage exceeds 5%.

For their first round pick, in particular, the Cardinals are allotted a bonus pool of $6,823,700. The Reds, whohad a first round bonus pool of $6,275,200 last season, signed Lowder to asigning bonus of $5,700,000, the highest bonus for any seventh overall pick in history.

A common tactic by teams is to spend less than the assigned value for the top choices, allowing them to reallocate unused bonus to another player in a different round. That allows them to offer a player over-slot to woo them from a college commitment, as an example. The Reds did just that with their saved spending, and the Cardinals will be able to negotiate their own bonus with whoever they select at pick No. 7.

That high in the draft, teams prefer to be confident of the price and that a deal can be reached before making the pick. If unable to sign a pick that high, the team will get a similar pick the next year.

In the 2023 MLB draft, high school players edged out college draftees in their average bonuses. However, of the draft picks who were selected among in the top 28 of the first round, 12 signed at or above their slot value, with eight of them being players from four-year universities.

All the Cardinals relievers could count on for sure was if it was a close game Thursday, there would be no bells ringing, no AC/DC playing to herald the arrival of closer Ryan Helsley, and that it would be a close game.

Because they all inevitably are these days.

“Business as usual,” setup man Andrew Kittredge said.

A homestand that featured seven games all decided by four or fewer runs and three losses by a combined three runs reached its predictable conclusion with another tightrope for the bullpen to walk. Only, due to his recent usage, it would perform this high-wire act without its headliner, Helsley. The stage belonged Thursday to the understudies — and they shined.

Five relievers, including two rookies, pitched 4⅔ scoreless innings to first stall the Pirates and then preserve a 4-3 victory against Pittsburgh at Busch Stadium.

Paul Goldschmidt hit a two-run homer in the third for the early lead that was misplaced. Brendan Donovan’s tie-breaking solo home run in the sixth made a winner of rookie Chris Roycroft for the first time in the majors, just two years after the former college basketball player was pitching in an independent league. Kittredge closed out the ninth for his first save as a Cardinal a day after collecting his 18th hold.

The vulcanized bullpen secured a series win for the Cardinals against the Pirates for the first time since 2022 and bound it tight with the narrative thread of 2024.

The Cardinals improved to 10-9 in one-run games and played in their 53rd of 67 games decided by four runs or fewer. Of their 33 wins, 30 have come by four runs or fewer.

Close games mean a busy bullpen.

The relievers may have changed Wednesday. Their task did not.

“It makes you better for when it matters,” manager Oliver Marmol said. “It allows you to learn how to play in close games. And when you go down the stretch, that’s what matters. Your ability as a team to not panic when you’re down one or down two or you have to hold a one-run lead from the fifth inning on. I think it does build character, and we will benefit from that here in the next several months.”

Certain they would avoid Helsley and wishing to go a day without needing lefty setup man JoJo Romero, Marmol, pitching coach Dusty Blake and other members of the staff discussed before the series finale the different scenarios and “lanes” for available relievers.

Marmol has been gradually ratcheting up the pressure of Roycroft’s appearances because of how intrigued the coaches are with his stuff. Opponents, too. Houston’s Alex Bregman asked Roycroft “who he is and where he’s coming from because he’s gross,” said lefty Matthew Liberatore.

Ryan Fernandez, the Cardinals’ Rule 5 pick plucked from Boston’s organization, and Liberatore would have a prominent late-inning spots.

The preference was for starter Lance Lynn to pitch so deep he made those decisions.

“Left a decent outing on the table by not getting out of the fifth,” the veteran starter said after his third consecutive start without completing the fifth inning. His outing ended a streak of four consecutive quality starts for the rotation. “Bullpen picked me up, like they’ve been doing all year.”

Lynn did not allow a hit until the fourth inning and had the Pirates scoreless going into the fifth. Walks to the Nos. 7 and 9 hitters began to unravel the inning, and by the time one ball became an RBI single when it hit him, Lynn’s outing was at its end. The Pirates had a run in and the bases loaded for No. 3 hitter Oneil Cruz. The choice was to reach into the bullpen in that moment and pull out lefty John King to face the left-handed-hitting Cruz, who greeted the lefty with a two-run single and a tie game, 3-3.

The ex post facto question was posed by the manager after the game.

“If I’m being completely honest, I wish I would have let him work through it and see what that looked like,” Marmol said of Lynn. “I felt like he could have walked off the mound himself with the score still in our favor. But I don’t mind the matchup of a high-ground-ball guy in King getting the double play there. That’s a spot there where there’s an argument for letting him work through it.”

The Cardinals’ innings-eating rotation has been decidedly average when it comes to ingesting its helpings. A handful of short starts and an abundance of close games have shifted much of the leverage to the bullpen. Cardinals relievers’ total innings are slightly below average in bulk and their 49 holds — the save equivalent for middle innings — are the most in the National League. There are only three relievers in the majors with more than 17 holds this season. Romero (19) and Kittredge (18) are two of them.

Of the ways to keep a bullpen fresh and vital and avoid ruptures, the most obvious is more innings from the starters. But alternatives exist. A bullpen with interchangeable talent that does not have to rely on a three-man recipe for late innings, that doesn’t encounter turbulence when relievers must try new roles can help save its peers.

When the show must go on, understudies are essential.

“That’s the goal because you don’t want it to be sects of the bullpen,” Kittredge said. “You want it to be one unit and everyone is pulling for everyone no matter what the situation is. I think when you get guys who can get into the experience of leverage, it makes the whole unit so much better because it doesn’t have to be a certain way. A lot of times, games don’t go the way you plan them to. It helps when guys have had that opportunity to pitch in those situations when they’re asked to do it again.”

After King allowed two of his inherited runners to score and knot the game, the Cardinals bullpen barely blinked again.

Assigned the eighth inning of a one-run game, Fernandez walked the third batter he faced, but he struck out the other three. Once King got an inning-ending double play in the fifth and Roycroft (1-0) came in for the sixth, the Bucs did not get a runner safely to second. And not a pitch was thrown by Romero or Helsley.

“We have everybody down in that ’pen who can get in any of the situations that we put them in,” Fernandez said. “All the guys are throwing really well down there. We’ve got a lot of dogs down in that bullpen. We’re backing it up.”

Said Donovan: “I’m just glad I’m one of the ones playing behind them and not the one in the box. You’ve got some funk. You’ve got some power. It’s just a different look from each guy.”

It’s so much of the same look from each game.

The Cardinals finished the homestand 4-3, with their wins coming by one-, two-, three- and four-run gaps. Through 67 games and back again on the precipice of .500, the Cardinals have the smallest average margin of victory in the National League at 2.53.

They’ve played 48 games (71.6%) decided by three or fewer runs. That ties for the most in the majors with ... the Cubs, who host the Cardinals for three-games this weekend at Wrigley Field. Where close can be a given.

Confines is in the place’s nickname.

Maybe the practice can pay off.

“Yeah, if we win them,” Goldschmidt said. “Hopefully, (in) some of these close games we can find a way either to come back or open them up. We are getting used to it. It’s not by design. Tight game is something we’re definitely getting used to.”

You no longer have to look at the schedule to know when the Cardinals and Cubs are about to clash.

If there’s Willson Contreras slander — subtle or straightforward — coming out of Chicago, chances are a meeting between the baseball rivals is around the corner

Apparently even if an injured Contreras isn’t playing in the series.

Some quick news before silly talk.

If it was up to Contreras alone, he probably would be playing when the Cardinals take Wrigley Field starting Friday.

The catcher said Wednesday afternoon that he hopes to be catching in a minor league rehab game as early as next Tuesday. He wants to catch some. He wants to hit some. Then he wants to be back in the majors. Soon.

Now, we’ll see if the Cardinals and their doctors are as optimistic about that as Contreras, but his bold prediction that a broken left ulna would be ready to roll before the All-Star break is looking good so far. And lifting spirits, too.

“The guys love knowing that he is willing to come back as soon as possible,” manager Oli Marmol said. “That’s what you want to see. That you’re smart. That when you come back you’re able to be healthy and ready. But that you’re eager to come back and help. That goes a long way.”

Add it to the list of ways Contreras’ fire — to play, to compete, to win — has benefited the Cardinals since he arrived as a free agent the Cubs let walk. The Cubs do remember they let Contreras walk, right?

It’s worth asking because days before the Cardinals and Cubs play in Chicago, there is a new spin about the same fire the Cubs used to celebrate, too.

Chicago broadcaster David Kaplan had this to say about Contreras out of the clear, blue sky this week.

“Willson was so volatile in the clubhouse, he would literally pick up the iPads and start smashing them,” Kaplan said on Chicago’s ESPN 1000. “Like, I’m not talking about one iPad one day. I’m talking about all the time. Smash the iPads. Go crazy.”

Why, Kaplan was asked.

“Because he has an anger management problem” Kaplan continued. “Bad at-bats. How he was playing. How the team was. All of it. And they (the Cubs) finally went, ‘OK, that’s enough. We cannot have this volatile presence in here.”

For those keeping score at home, fire is good when it plays for your team. It’s a corrosive anger management issue only after the fire switches sides. The Cubs and those who speak negatively on their behalf about Contreras are having a hard time keeping their stories straight. The old narrative was that he wasn’t wanted in Chicago anymore because of his defensive miscues. Maybe his improved defensive play this season before his injury scratched that.

Hey, there’s no debating Contreras can run hot. He freely admits it. Somewhere in a St. Louis-area scrapyard there’s a dented dugout door and a smashed-to-pieces cooler that Contreras has, um, vented on during his time with the Cardinals.

And?

Hitters snap bats over their knees like toothpicks regularly. Good luck finding a dugout that lacks dents. Breaking stuff? It’s not breaking baseball news. And it doesn’t tear clubhouses apart.

Contreras can be hard on stuff. He doesn’t boil over or fight with teammates or coaches. His debut with the Cardinals actually was a pretty good lesson in how to handle a massively frustrating situation with great grace. Before last season’s last-place Cardinals came to their senses about pulling Contreras out from behind the plate, the catcher kept his cool through a scapegoating attempt. He had a stellar second half and was the Cardinals’ best hitter this season before his injury, while also showing significant improvement behind the plate before his adjustment to move closer to hitters — too close in the case of J.D. Martinez — caused his injury.

The Cardinals have missed him and can’t wait to get him back.

As for the Cubs, they seem to miss him. And he’s not coming back.

Since Contreras became a Cardinal, the Cardinals rank second in all of baseball in catcher-produced on-base plus slugging percentage (.773). The only team getting more pop from the squat is Milwaukee, where Willson’s brother, William, is the starting backstop. Since Contreras became a Cardinal, the Cubs rank 25th in catcher-produced OPS (.637). Contreras has out-homered Cubs catchers 26-20 since the start of the 2023 season despite having 325 fewer at-bats than them and a new home ballpark that can drain power.

Before the Cubs crowd liked to beat up on Contreras for beating up on iPads, it liked to pick at his catching. That territory took a hit this season, when he vastly improved his pitch framing before one regrettable reach produced the broken forearm he’s rushing to return from.

Already, the Cardinals have been reminded that his throwing arm gets overlooked and underrated. Of the 50 stolen bases the Cardinals have allowed this season, 27 occurred in the 30 games after Contreras got hurt. The Cubs have allowed 56 this season.

Soon after Contreras made his heel turn between rivals, he made some pro-Cardinals comments that were interpreted as a dig at the Cubs. Those quotes understandably burned Cubs fans. But Contreras moved on a long while ago. Some in Chicago apparently haven’t.

While the Cubs lack answers at his old position, he’s become a fan favorite here for his production, his character and, yes, his fire.

Even if a bat or occasional iPad — gasp! — gets smashed.

Eight pitches and six balls into his start Wednesday night, Cardinals right-hander Sonny Gray had two Pirates in scoring position, no outs, and that wasn’t even the worst bind he was in. He felt a real dilemma sticking to his word after spending several days telling his coach and his catcher this is exactly what they would not do.

Gray stepped to the back of the mound for a moment.

“Now is the time: You’re either going to put up or shut up,” Gray recalled telling himself. “You’re either going to live by the words that you said and the plan going forward or you’re going to shy away from it. You said if you’re going to get beat, then get beat. The way you approached the first two hitters of the game is not what you said you were going to do.

“Do what you say you’re going to do, or don’t say it.”

He struck out the next two batters on six pitches.

He struck out three on his next 10 pitches.

Faced with the exact start to the game that he wanted to avoid, Gray besieged the strike zone from there and put the finishing touches on one of his finer starts for the Cardinals. So far. The first two batters of the game reached base and then did not budge as Gray got three of his nine strikeouts. He retired a dozen consecutive Pirates and, for the first time since his starts began to shrivel over the past month, completed seven innings. Nolan Arenado and catcher Ivan Herrera each contributed three hits and an RBI to Gray’s excellence for a 4-2 victory against Pittsburgh at Busch Stadium.

It was Gray’s first quality start since May 3, his forceful and direct response to a trend that not only had his results adrift but his pitches drifting to the edges of the strike zone and out of it.

“It was a mentality shift through the week, to be honest,” said Gray (8-4). “It was a mentality shift and then the game starts and it wasn’t there. It was time to practice what you preach.”

Coming out of his loss earlier in the home stand to Colorado, Gray bluntly assessed his pitching as “like (poop)” and suggested he felt that way over several starts, not just one. Since his assertive outing a month ago in Anaheim, Gray has seen his innings and his efficiency recede and the results follow. After walking four Rockies in a 4 2/3-inning dud, Gray spent the past few days prepping himself more than prepping for the Pirates.

He wrote a note in a journal he keeps:

“Pitch to win the game.”

“When I pitch to win the game and not worry about anything, I’m just pitching to win the game,” he elaborated. “Good things tend to happen.”

In conversations with catcher Herrera and pitching coach Dusty Blake, the trio also adjusted how Herrera would set up for Gray and present a target. Gray wanted an assist from the catch to focus on wedging pitches in the strike zone, so wherever the pitch was called to go, Herrera would start often with his mitt in the middle of the plate. Before the game, Gray, Blake and Herrera agreed that they would challenge the Pirates in the strike zone rather than tease them out of it and invite walks.

“Attack the middle of the plate,” Gray said. “That’s what Ivan and Dusty and we talked (about). Said, ‘Listen, if we’re going to get beat, we’re going to get beat.’ We’re not going to continue to do the same thing that we’ve been doing. We’re not going down like that.”

And then Gray missed on four of the first five pitches to walk the Pirates’ leadoff hitter and former MVP Andrew McCutchen.

And then Gray fell behind 2-0 to the next batter.

Six of his first eight pitches were balls.

One of his two strikes Bryan Reynolds skipped for a double.

“He’s been struggling getting the ball in the zone a little bit, and after that he was just a different guy,” Herrera said. “He just started pitching like he used to. … He brings the whole Sonny. Same thing we talked about. Stay aggressive in the zone. We don’t want to walk guys. I know he hates it.”

Herrera explained how he aided.

“I just sat in the middle,” he said. “Sit in the middle and let the ball move.”

The next pitch after Reynolds’ double was an 88.7-mph cutter. He followed that with a curveball, and then ahead 0-2 he got to access his sweeping slider for the strikeout. The next batter, Oneil Cruz took a curve, fouled off a four-seam fastball, and found himself in an 0-2 count. He was vulnerable to one of the most effective pitches in the majors, Gray’s sweeping slider. Gray came one pitch shy of finishing the first inning with McCutchen and Reynolds watching as three teammates struck out on nine pitches.

Gray missed with an 0-2 sweeper to Ke’Bryan Hayes.

He returned to the sweeper at 1-2 to get Hayes swinging.

It was the only time to close that inning Gray threw the same pitch consecutively.

“When he’s got it going, oh my god, it’s tough,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “I mean, you got to make sure not to miss the mistakes, and he did not make a lot of them. He just pitched really well.”

Said Hayes: “We swung at some pitches that we didn’t want to swing at.”

They just had less and less choice as Gray blitzed through the middle innings, using his fastball to get ahead, his cutter to keep the Pirates aware, and the sweeper to sink them. Gray got a dozen swings and misses total, seven on his sweeper. He landed six different pitches in the start, five of them at least 10 times. Not one of his curveballs or changeups was put in play. He threw 84 pitches and 24 of them were either called a strike or a swing and miss.

Forty of his first 57 pitches were strikes.

But that needs context.

Given that six of his first seven were balls, that means Grey went several innings force-feeding the strike zone with 39 of 50 pitches for strikes.

“We talked about it through (the week),” Gray said. “Let’s just stay through the middle of the plate. Be aggressive through the middle of the plate. Trust that the stuff is going to do this.”

He zigged and zagged his hands in front of his face to illustrate.

“Very rarely throw a straight ball,” he continued. “It’s hard for me to throw it down the middle even if I’m trying. See where it goes from there.”

Where it went was a three-run lead handed to the bullpen for the final six outs of the game and closer Ryan Helsley’s 22nd save.

Gray tied his season-high for innings in a start with seven and struck out at least nine for the fifth time in 12 starts. His wins (eight), strikeouts (91), and average against (.202) are all top seven in the National League, and his strikeout rate per nine innings (11.93) is second-highest among starters.

He stood at his locker late Wednesday with a hat that read “Darlin’” and offered all these details of his moment on the mound, his message in his journal, and his pledge to Blake and Herrera. While he explained how they all centered around fixating on the middle of the plate and letting the movement on his pitches work for him instead of against him, Gray’s youngest son sat in a chair in front of his dad. He was playing a baseball video game.

When he was pitching, of course, it was his dad on the pixelated mound.

Yes, virtual Sonny was pelting strikes just like real Sonny after his reboot.

“You kind of tell yourself this situation could go one of two ways: You continue to do the same thing, or you can flip it and go the other way,” Gray said. “I chose to go the other way with it. That’s who I am when I’m at my best. I would like to get back to there as much as possible.”

Post-Dispatch baseball writer Daniel Guerrero and Rick Hummel Memorial Intern Brandon Haynes assisted with interviews for this article.

Major League Baseball on Wednesday unveiled the uniforms teams will wear in next week's game at historic Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama, as they pay homage to Negro League teams.

The Cardinals will wear St. Louis Stars throwback uniforms, and the Giants will don San Francisco Seals threads.

The Cardinals face the Giants on Thursday, June 20, at Rickwood Field, the nation’s oldest professional ballpark.

The first MLB game at the park, it's dubbed “MLB at Rickwood Field: A Tribute to the Negro Leagues."

Rickwood Field was home to the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro Leagues from 1924 through 1960, and Willie Mays began his pro career there with the Black Barons in 1948.

Baseball Hall of Famer and Alabama native Mule Suttles played for the Stars.

More than 100 Hall of Famers have played at Rickwood over the years.

Dedicated in 1910, the park was initially home to the minor league Birmingham Barons.

Capacity will be about 8,300 for next week's game, so it'll be a tough ticket, though tickets are available.

Making his first Class AA start after receiving a promotion from Class High-A on Tuesday, Cardinals prospect Cooper Hjerpe allowed five runs on four hits and walked four batters in 2 2/3 innings in his debut with Springfield. Hjerpe, 23, threw 73 pitches and struck out three batters before he exited Wednesday’s 7-2 loss to Northwest Arkansas with runners on first and second base and two outs in the third inning.

The left-hander and former first-round pick from the 2022 MLB draft needed 27 pitches to get through the first inning. Ten of his first-inning pitches missed the strike zone. A one-out walk and a double after an eight-pitch at-bat against Northwest’s Luca Tresh plated the game’s first run.

After Hjerpe stuck out two batters in a scoreless second inning, he allowed a single and back-to-back walks to load the bases with one out in the third. A 1-2 changeup from the 23-year-old was sent to center field and one-hopped the wall for a bases-clearing double with one out in the frame.Hjerpe retired the next batter he faced following the double but had his outing end after a four-pitch walk to Northwest Arkansas’s Leonel Vera.

Before his promotion to Double-A, Hjerpe sported a 3.35 ERA and struck out 56 batters in 37 2/3 innings while with High-A Peoria. He walked 20 batters and kept hitters to a .189 average in his first 11 starts.

Here are other Cardinals prospect performances:

Outfielder Chase Davis, Class Low-A Palm Beach: The Cardinals’ 2023 first-round pick started in center field in both games of Palm Beach’s doubleheader against Daytona and combined to go four-four-six with two doubles, a home run, and three RBIs. Davis’s first hit on Wednesday was a two-run double he lined to center field in the fifth inning of the PB-Cards’ 4-3 loss in Game 1 of the doubleheader. The 22-year-old doubled to right field in the seventh inning and represented the potential go-ahead run, but did not score. Hitting from the sixth spot in Palm Beach’s lineup for the second consecutive game, Davis singled in the second inning and hit a solo home run to right-center field in the sixth. Davis's homer run was his fourth in 170 at-bats this year. It broke a 1-1 tie and helped Palm Beach to a 3-2 win. The four-hit day improved Davis to a .206 average. He’s doubled five times, driven in 10 runs, and owns a .310/.375/.690 slash line in his last eight games.

Right-handed pitcher Sem Robberse, Class AAA Memphis: Looking to bounce back from his most recent outing, which came in relief after big leaguers Steven Matz and Giovanny Gallegos made rehab appearances with Memphis, Robberse allowed four runs on three hits and walked five batters in five innings in Memphis’s 5-4 loss to Norfolk. Robberse began his start in Norfolk by completing three scoreless innings and striking out five of the first 12 batters he faced. But a 91.9 mph cutter left high-and-in to Norfolk’s Hudson Haskin was belted for a three-run home run in the fourth inning after Robberse began the frame by allowing a leadoff single and a one-out walk. Robberse's loaded the bases in the fifth by issuing two walks and allowing a double. He escaped the inning by allowing one run on a sacrifice fly. The 22-year-old did not return to the mound to pitch the sixth. Robberse’s ERA has jumped to 4.65 as he’s allowed 23 runs in his last 24 innings after starting the year with a 2.64 ERA in his first eight starts.

Outfielder Travis Honeyman, Class Low-A Palm Beach: Honeyman was added to Palm Beach’s roster and batted leadoff in Game 1 of the PB-Cards’ doubleheader. From the leadoff spot and as Palm Beach's designated hitter, Honeyman went two-for-three with a pair of singles in his Low-A debut. The former third-round pick from the Cardinals’ 2023 draft class did not appear in a minor league game last year because of a shoulder injury suffered while at Boston College. He opened the year on the injured list and did not get into a professional game until May 29. Honeyman, 22, went nine-for-20 (.450) with four doubles and five walks in eight games with the FCL Cardinals before joining Palm Beach.

Right-handed pitcher Inohan Paniagua, Class High-A Peoria: The 24-year-old threw five scoreless innings and struck out eight batters as Peoria’s starter. He did not walk a batter in the outing. Paniagua’s eight strikeouts gave him 16 in his last nine innings. During Peoria’s 6-2 win over South Bend, Paniagua surrendered two singles to the first two batters he saw to begin the fifth but worked out of the jam by inducing a flyout and notching back-to-back swinging strikeouts vs. the last two hitters he faced. He’s allowed one run over that span and lowered his ERA from 4.02 to 3.47. He’s completed 49 1/3 innings across 12 outings (seven starts) and has a 3.66 ERA as a starter.