St. Louis Cardinals right-hander Ryne Stanek noticed a change in his team since the trade deadline earlier this month.
And not just from a shuffling of personnel, with the Cardinals trading away right-hander Dustin May for prospects.
Among those who remain, Stanek said the attitude is different.
“I feel it,” Stanek said. “You see the guys playing looser, they’re playing with a lot more energy. Not that we weren’t playing with energy before, but this is fun energy.”
Masyn Winn broke a scoreless tie with an RBI single in the seventh inning Tuesday night, the key hit in the Cardinals’ 2-0 victory against the Philadelphia Phillies. The teams will play the decisive contest of the three-game series on Wednesday afternoon in St. Louis.
Although the Cardinals have three teams to hurdle in the standings, they jumped back to .500 and within 3 1/2 games of the wild-card after a strong collective pitching performance.
Stanek was a standout, entering in the eighth inning with the bases loaded and no outs after left-hander Caleb Ferguson walked three batters. Luis Arraez hit into a double play that cut off a runner at the plate and J.T. Realmuto flied deep to center for the third out.
“That was really cool,” Stanek said of the four-pitch sequence. “Those are tough situations but it feels good to come in and pick up Ferg and help the team.”
It will be tough for Wednesday’s starting pitchers to top Cardinals righty Andre Pallante and Phillies lefty Cristopher Sánchez, who combined for 12 scoreless innings on Tuesday.
The results have not been there in the past three starts for Phillies right-hander Zack Wheeler (10-3, 2.69 ERA), Wednesday’s starter.
He allowed four runs and walked a season-high five batters against the Blue Jays in his previous turn Friday. A rain delay a week ago Sunday washed out all but two innings for Wheeler. On July 27, he allowed five runs — including two homers — over three innings.
Wheeler is 4-4 with a 2.98 ERA in nine career appearances (all starts) against the Cardinals.
Right-hander Kyle Leahy (8-4, 3.45) has a 1.49 ERA in eight outings since June 23, but St. Louis has won just four of those starts.
Leahy is 1-0 with a 2.25 ERA against the Phillies over three relief appearances from 2024-25. Brandon Marsh owns the Phillies’ only extra-base hit in 14 at-bats against Leahy among current batters.
No matter who pitches, the Phillies will need to execute better at the plate. They worked a lot of long counts Tuesday night but went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position. They also hit into four double plays, with Bryce Harper responsible for two.
“I still liked our at-bats,” Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly said. “Obviously you want to get a hit in there with guys on base, but we still put the pressure on.”
Stanek said he likes how the Cardinals are applying pressure to their opponents this month.
“The guys have responded well and we’ve played good baseball since then,” Stanek said. “It’s a sign of good things to come.”
–Field Level Media
