On pace to finish a second straight season with a losing record, the St. Louis Cardinals plan on leaning into their much more successful past as the Chicago White Sox come to town Friday night to start a three-game set.
The Cardinals will celebrate their World Series championship of 2006 on Friday. Albert Pujols, Yadier Molina, Adam Wainwright, Jim Edmonds, Chris Carpenter, manager Tony La Russa and others are scheduled to appear.
A day later, the Cardinals will induct Pujols and Molina into their Hall of Fame. Both perennial All-Stars will become eligible for enshrinement in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., in the class of 2028.
The contemporary Cardinals (72-75) are coming off a 4-5 road trip against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Colorado Rockies and San Francisco Giants. St. Louis has dropped seven of 11 overall.
“We did some things well, we did some things that weren’t that good — no different than any other road trip,” said manager Oliver Marmol, whose team is 6 1/2 games outside of a playoff spot with 15 games to go.
St. Louis left-hander Matthew Liberatore (5-14, 5.57 ERA) takes the mound in the series opener having dropped six straight starts since Aug. 8, posting a 7.71 ERA in that span. In his past nine outings, Liberatore is 0-8 with a 6.75 ERA.
Liberatore has 1-0 record and a 2.79 ERA in two career appearances against the White Sox, including a victorious start in June 2025.
The White Sox, another team La Russa used to manage, fell to 3-6 in September after getting swept at home by the Pirates. Pittsburgh capped the series with a 2-0 win Thursday night. Though the White Sox rank seventh in the majors in runs scored, they put up just five runs in the three-game series.
Chicago’s American League Central lead has shrunk from 5 1/2 games on Aug. 16 to 1 1/2 games over the second-place Cleveland Guardians (74-73). The White Sox (75-71) could earn a first-round bye in the postseason after losing more than 100 games in each of the past three seasons.
“We’re still in a good spot as far as energy, the way the guys are showing up to the field, the environment and vibe,” White Sox manager Will Venable said. “We just ran into some tough pitching and didn’t have any answers for it.
“We’ve got some work to do, to cover some fastballs and start scoring some runs.”
Anthony Kay (9-8, 4.47 ERA) is set to start for the White Sox. The left-hander will be making his first career start against the Cardinals and his first appearance against them in three years. In three relief outings vs. St. Louis, Kay allowed three runs in 3 1/3 innings.
Like Liberatore, Kay is looking to end a winless streak. He is 0-3 with a 6.84 ERA in his past five appearances.
Kay took a loss against the Minnesota Twins on Saturday. After throwing three shutout innings, he gave up two runs in the fourth, then three more in the fifth, exiting after 4 1/3 frames.
“We got in a groove early and then kind of fell apart,” Kay said. “… It comes down to execution and maybe some pitch-calling that we can work on second time, third time through. They’re clearly seeing something that we have to work on.”
–Field Level Media
