Whether Brendan Donovan remains atop the St. Louis Cardinals’ batting order is to be determined, but his contributions in a recent cameo can’t be overlooked.
Donovan enters Wednesday night’s visit to the Chicago White Sox with six hits in his past two games, including a 4-for-5 effort during St. Louis’ 12-2 rout in the series opener Tuesday.
Traditional leadoff man Lars Nootbaar returned to the lineup and scored a run from the No. 7 slot but recently was held out as he tries to halt an extended skid.
Nootbaar is 5-for-51 with 20 strikeouts in his last 13 games.
“When you go in a slump and you try to hit your way out of it, you end up swinging your way out of it — which is different,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “Every player is going to go through it, especially where he’s at in his career (age 27). This will be a good learning experience for him. Let’s stick to the things that make you good. It’s hard to do at time. Especially when you’re not getting knocks and it’s not going your way.”
Donovan, tops among National League second basemen in hits (83) and doubles (21), sparked a 13-hit attack Tuesday.
Rookie right-hander Sean Burke (3-7, 4.71 ERA) will start on Wednesday as the White Sox try to even the series amid a six-game losing streak.
After delivering three consecutive quality starts, Burke struggled through one of his most frustrating outings of the season last Wednesday. He allowed seven runs and eight hits in 3 2/3 innings with one walk and four strikeouts in a 10-2 loss at Houston.
Burke lauded his stuff while saying it was “probably the best physically I’ve felt in a little bit.”
While that didn’t amount to results against the Astros, Burke is eager to transfer the lessons he learned from that game.
“So, kind of taking the positives of feeling good with the stuff but obviously working on the results aspect of it,” he said. “And try to make better pitches and then sequence guys a little bit better.”
Chicago manager Will Venable said he is confident that Burke, 25, has the mental makeup to get the most from the rough experience.
“That’s what it’s all about, being a Major League Baseball player and performing in this league. You are not going to be good all the time,” Venable said. “How do you make the adjustments and get back on track? The guys who can do that better are the ones who last in this league.”
Burke will face the Cardinals for the first time in his career.
Righty Sonny Gray (7-2, 3.84 ERA) will start for St. Louis as he aims to win for the third time in four starts. He had delivered four consecutive quality starts before surrendering six runs on eight hits in 4 1/3 innings in a 6-0 loss to Milwaukee on Thursday.
Gray is 7-2 with a 3.26 ERA in 14 career appearances against the White Sox covering 77 1/3 innings.
Alec Burleson and Victor Scott II each homered on Tuesday for St. Louis.
–Field Level Media
