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The first extended home stand of season brings two sides of the contending spectrum to Busch Stadium, with the Kansas City Royals in an upswing after some down years that have brought in high-end talent and then the Los Angeles Dodgers and how they can muscle their way into perpetual contention with financial might. Somewhere in the middle is where the Cardinals' must find their sweet spot -- not stomaching the downturn the Royals experience while unable to spend like the Dodgers do.

Post-Dispatch sports columnist Jeff Gordon joins the Best Podcast in Baseball host and baseball writer Derrick Goold do discuss and compare the building of contenders through various blueprints.

As the Cardinals rethink theirs, what can they borrow from each of the teams visiting this week, and what can they pull from their rival they're about to visit -- the Milwaukee Brewers?

Gordon presents a hypothetical about the draft and choosing between the high-ceiling high school pitcher and a surefire college starter. Goold offers a quick answer certain to disappoint but not so easily dismissed.

The podcast concludes with a discussion on whether the Chicago White Sox are about to do what no other National League Central team has been able to do: Push the Cubs to spend like their market suggests they should and now may have to in order to keep up with the South Side and the Sox new investor.

The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of ӣ����Ƶ, is in its 13th season as one of the first and most popular podcasts about the ӣ����Ƶ Cardinals. It is a weekly production of the ӣ����Ƶ, , and Derrick Goold.

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Nolan Gorman started at designated hitter Tuesday and rewarded the Cardinals quickly with a two-run home run to tie the game in the second inning against Kansas City.

The two pitches from two different Cardinals pitchers that shaped Friday’s game and bent the star-studded Los Angeles Dodgers into a shutout also happen to be two of the best, most sinister breaking balls in the majors.

So, the question thrown late that night toward pitching coach Dusty Blake, was between Sonny Gray’s sweeper and Phil Maton’s curveball, which is better?

Blake laughed.

“That’s like asking me which one of my kids I like the most,” the coach said. “They’re both exceptional. They’re both exceptional in their own way.”

In every way, the Cardinals’ 5-0 victory against the defending World Series champions at Busch Stadium hinged on Gray’s ability to navigate one of the most difficult lineups of the past decade and Maton’s ability to unplug it fast. Gray did it with his sweeper, which is considered one of the most-effective pitches in the majors, and Maton snapped off a curveball that one teammate likened to a yo-yo, as if Maton could yank the string on it and bring it back to his hand.

The Cardinals did not have to choose between two of the best breaking pitches in baseball at decisive moments.

They had both.

“They’ve been able to do it for awhile for a reason,” manager Oliver Marmol said.

Gray (7-1) held an opponent scoreless for the third time in his previous four starts, and he was able to bebop around eight hits allowed because he threw the Dodgers off any rhythm or pattern he established with his pitches. Gray struck out five, three with runners in scoring position. A feisty changeup helped as LA had to respect it – knowing full well that Gray was going to lean into his sweeping slider. Gray got 16 swings and misses in the game, and he led all major-league pitchers Friday night with those total whiffs. He got at least one on six of his seven different pitches.

Five, however, came on his sweeper.

He only threw 11 of them, and the Dodgers swung at nine, missing on five.

Maton entered the eighth with two runners in scoring position, and he used his sweeper to set up his signature curveball. He threw seven of them and got four swings and misses. Two of those ended strikeouts that did not advance either runner. The Dodgers only put one of his curveballs in play – for a meek, inning-ending groundout.

“Phil coming in there and crushing any type of momentum they could have garnered, they could have gained,” Gray said. “That was a huge, huge, huge spot in the game to stop them in their tracks and not let a team like that get going. To stop them before they start to get going was a huge three at-bats.”

The marvel was mutual as Maton raved about how Gray got through a lineup that started Friday with six batters who had more home runs than the Cardinals’ leader in home runs.

“It takes everything to get through that lineup,” Maton said late Friday night when asked specifically about Gray’s sweeper. “I don’t know how he throws it. The hand speed that he’s able to get behind it and then also get the movement, the depth, and the vertical break. I can do that at 70 mph, and he’s doing it at 85 mph, 86 mph, playing it off his four-seamer and cutter. You just don’t see that type of pitch with that velocity. And it’s really hard to get strikeouts on sweepers from lefties. He’s just out there doing it.”

And doing it against the best.

Left-handed-hitting Freddie Freeman entered Friday’s game 5 for 14 against Gray in their careers for a .357 average and a .429 slugging percentage. In the first inning, after a double by Mookie Betts, Gray tied Freeman up with a series of crafty pitches – and finished the at-bat with an 85-mph sweeper. In the third, Shohei Ohtani and Betts singled to start the inning and put Gray in his most difficult bind of the evening. Catcher Pedro Pages’ two-run homer in the second inning gave Gray and the Cardinals a 2-0 lead at that point in the game, and Gray would later explain that pitching with a lead “made it a lot easier, to be honest” to challenge LA’s hitters.

In that spot, with Ohtani and Betts on base, Freeman came up as the potential go-ahead run. Freeman started the day with a .363 average, and the former MVP is coming off a World Series MVP and is having an even better season so far this year.

Gray struck him out again and it was on the same sweeper Freeman fished for. Gray came back against right-handed-hitter Teoscar Hernandez with another sweeper, at 86 mph, to finish that at-bat with a strikeout and neutralize any threat from that inning.

Those three outs started a run of 10 consecutive Dodgers retired.

Gray has the second-most outs in the majors on his sweeper this season, and no sweeper in either league has more strikeouts than Gray’s 40.

Maton has 17 strikeouts on his curveball.

That puts him in the top 25, but it requires context. As a reliever, he has the most strikeouts on his curveball of any right-hander with fewer than 400 curves thrown. For comparison, the noted curveball maestro Charlie Marton has thrown 962 curves in his 53 2/3 innings and has 24 strikeouts on the curve. Aaron Nola has thrown 863 curves in 49 2/3 innings and has 19 strikeouts. Maton has thrown 384 curves in 24 innings and has 17 strikeouts.

“It’s probably the highest spin rate curveball in the league,” Blake said. “If it’s not the highest, it’s definitely top 2% or 3%. And the shape of it is really unique based on how he spins it. The shape of his curveball – I don’t know another one that has that. The sweeper? Same thing. The depth of the sweeper Sonny throws with that horizontal movement plus the velocity – people aren’t throwing that big of a shape that close to their fastball.”

Gray yielded the mound to JoJo Romero in the seventh when Ohtani came up for a fourth time and the Dodgers had another runner on base.

Romero coaxed a double play groundout from the reigning National League MVP and maintained the shutout Gray started for his fourth consecutive quality start. Romero returned for the eighth inning and was quickly greeted by a single from Betts and a double from Freeman the moment Gray was no longer defying his bat with sweepers.

Enter Maton.

Encouraged by the shape and effectiveness of his sweeper in recent outings, Maton used that breaking ball to set up his curveball by giving the Dodgers another darting pitch to consider. The first pitch he threw was a sweeper and then three consecutive curveballs to strike out Hernandez. Max Muncy saw two sweepers, fell behind in the count, and then Maton spun him with back-to-back curveballs for a strikeout. Only four pitches in the entire game had a vertical break of 60 or more inches.

All four were Maton’s curveball.

“They knew what was coming,” shortstop Masyn Winn said in the team’s postgame ‘shoutout’ line filmed for the team’s social media. “Still couldn’t hit it.”

“Probably one of the biggest moments our bullpen has had this year, honestly,” closer Ryan Helsley told the Post-Dispatch. “I feel like Maton’s curveball gets to the plate and stops and goes back to the mound. It seems like it never gets there.”

So, which would he want to add to his mix?

“I’m going with Sonny’s sweeper,” Helsley said. “It’s electric.”

What the two elite breaking balls shared Friday night were pivotal strikeouts of hitters from both sides of the plate. In the third, Gray zipped the sweeper past left-handed Freeman and right-handed Hernandez for back-to-back strikeouts. In the eighth, Maton dropped curves past right-handed Hernandez and left-handed Muncy.

The best person to choose between the two breaking balls was then the person who called those pitches.

Pages paused.

“They’re both great pitches,” the catcher said eventually. “That’s a tough question.”

He then took a deep breath and looked to the ceiling.

With no answer there, he exhaled.

“I don’t think I can pick one, honestly,” Pages continued. “They’re both great, they both work differently, and it depends on the hitter at that point. That’s a hard one. That’s a really hard one. Ask me again tomorrow. I’ll probably say Sonny’s. Tonight, I’ll take Phil’s.”

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FRIDAY’S BOX SCORE

Cardinals 5, Dodgers 0

Los Angeles AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

Ohtani dh 4 0 1 0 0 0 .294

Betts ss 4 0 3 0 0 0 .268

Freeman 1b 4 0 1 0 0 2 .361

T.Hernández rf 4 0 1 0 0 2 .272

Muncy 3b 4 0 0 0 0 1 .221

Pages cf 4 0 2 0 0 0 .293

Conforto lf 3 0 1 0 0 0 .169

E.Hernández ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .224

Edman 2b 4 0 1 0 0 0 .243

Rushing c 3 0 0 0 0 2 .212

Rojas ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .207

Totals 36 0 10 0 0 9

ӣ����Ƶ AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

Nootbaar lf 3 1 0 0 1 0 .247

Winn ss 4 0 1 0 0 0 .272

Donovan 2b 3 0 1 2 1 1 .315

Contreras 1b 4 1 1 1 0 1 .250

Herrera dh 4 0 0 0 0 1 .321

Arenado 3b 4 1 3 0 0 1 .238

Vilade rf 3 0 0 0 0 2 .000

Pagés c 2 2 1 2 1 0 .218

V.Scott cf 2 0 0 0 0 0 .242

Totals 29 5 7 5 3 6

Los Angeles 000 000 000 — 0 10 0

ӣ����Ƶ 020 020 01x — 5 7 0

LOB: Los Angeles 9, ӣ����Ƶ 4. 2B: Betts (7), T.Hernández (15), Freeman (20). HR: Pagés (5), off Wrobleski; Contreras (7), off Stratton. RBIs: Pagés 2 (22), Donovan 2 (26), Contreras (37). SB: Winn (3). S: V.Scott. DP: Los Angeles 1; ӣ����Ƶ 1.

Los Angeles IP H R ER BB SO ERA

Wrobleski, L, 1-2 6 6 4 4 3 5 7.20

Banda 1 0 0 0 0 0 4.08

Stratton 1 1 1 1 0 1 6.75

ӣ����Ƶ IP H R ER BB SO ERA

Gray, W, 7-1 61/3 8 0 0 0 5 3.35

Romero 2/3 2 0 0 0 0 3.15

Maton 1 0 0 0 0 2 2.25

Matz 1 0 0 0 0 2 2.52

Inherited runners-scored: Romero 1-0, Maton 2-0. T: 2:20. Att.: 40,071.

When the word “stopper” is thrown around to describe a starter, it often refers to the pitcher who halts losing skids, who gives his bullpen a break and his team a lift.

The title needs to be expanded when referring to Sonny Gray.

The Cardinals’ top pitcher has not only stopped some recent losing stumbles, he’s flat out stopped opponents. Gray authored his second consecutive scoreless start by stymying those high-flying Los Angeles Dodgers in a 5-0 shutout Friday night at Busch Stadium. Gray had the backing of a two-run homer from catcher Pedro Pages for the majority of his start and superb infield defense for the entirety of his start. He scattered eight hits through 6 1/3 innings and struck out five. Since a bruising outing in Philadelphia, the Cardinals’ right-hander has pitched four consecutive quality starts.

Three of the four have been scoreless outings.

Gray improved to 7-1 with the win.

Willson Contreras set the final score with his solo homer in the eighth inning, and the Cardinals’ pair of homers in the game only highlighted what Gray was able to do. Six starters in LA’s lineup had more homers than the Cardinals’ leader, and that group – which included three former MVPs – could not crack Gray. Nolan Arenado added three singles and a handful of defensive gems to back Gray in front of a nearly packed Busch.

For the first time since opening day against the Twins, the Cardinals sold more than 40,000 tickets for a game, drawing 40,071 for Friday night’s game. Large crowds are expected all weekend during the Dodgers visit.

Dodgers’ starter Justin Wrobleski was part of a series of roster moves made ahead of Friday’s game that also included a swap of former Cardinals. LA has had to flex and explore its depth due to a rash of injuries in its pitching staff, and Wrobleski took the spot of Landon Knack, who started an earlier game the week. The churn for fresh arms continues, and later in the day Friday the Dodgers designated reliever Ryan Loutos for assignment shortly after promoting him. LA plucked Loutos off waivers from the Cardinals this past month, and then on Friday they needed his roster spot to clear room for former Cardinal Christ Stratton.

He was picked up by the Dodgers after a release from Kansas City.

The churn is real.

The Dodgers’ visit was also Tommy Edman’s first appearance on the field at Busch since the final game of the 2023 season. An injury kept him out of the lineup for all of last season until he was traded in a three-team deal that took him to the Dodgers and October glory. Edman received an ovation in his first at-bat and he singled in his third against Gray. That single didn’t generate much as JoJo Romero got Shohei Ohtani to bounce into a double play to keep Gray’s line spotless.

Gray ices LA's MVP (no the other one)

Freddie Freeman, the reigning World Series MVP, entered Friday night’s game with a .363 average and ample success against the Gray. In his 14 at-bats against the right-hander, Freeman hit .357 and slugged .429, and he reached 33% of the time he’s seen Gray in their overlapping careers. But trapped within those 14 at-bats were indicators of how Friday was going to go.

Freeman struck out five times.

Make it seven.

Gray got Freeman swinging awkwardly at a sampling of pitches in the first inning before ending the at-bat with a 85-mph sweeper that Freeman couldn’t reach. In the third inning, Ohtani and Mookie Betts – the fellow MVPs batting ahead of Freeman – singled against Gray to open the potential rally. Gray had no outs and the middle of the Dodgers’ lineup looming. The right-hander was at his best from there.

He struck out Freeman on a 85.2-mph sweeper.

He then struck out Teoscar Hernandez with a 86-mph sweeper.

The back-to-back strikeouts defused the inning, and it ended with a fly out to right field to keep Gray’s scoreless cooking.

Freeman grounded out in the sixth against Gray, and he did not reach base until one inning after Gray had turned a four-run lead over to the bullpen. Freeman’s double off Romero moved two runners into scoring position without an out in the eighth inning. But the Dodgers fizzled from there as right-hander Phil Maton entered and extinguished the inning with two quick strikeouts and a meek grounder to first base.

Maton's strikeouts quashed the Dodgers' last, best chance to be the Dodgers.

The Dodgers were 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position through the seventh, 1 for 13 in the game.

Pages takes lead, helps Donovan double it

The first pitch Pages saw in the game that he wasn’t trying to catch, he clobbered.

The Cardinals’ starting catcher got his first at-bat of the game with two out and Arenado on base in the second inning. Wrobleski challenged the No. 8 hitter with a 93.5-mph, first-pitch fastball, and Pages sent it deep into the seats beyond the visitors’ bullpen. Pages’ fifth home run of the season lifted the Cardinals to an early 2-0 lead. The home run traveled an estimated 422 feet.

Three innings later, Wrobleski greased the bases for another Cardinals’ rally with a couple off walks, and again Pages was involved. So too was a near miss of Victor Scott II’s face with a fastball.

Pages drew a leadoff walk.

The next batter, Scott, turned to bunt – and Wrobleski’s pitch went up and in and toward Scott’s face. The Cardinals’ center fielder got his bat between the pitch and his nose, and the ball stayed fair so that he was thrown out and credited with a sacrifice bunt. The scoring decision was almost too accurate. With Pages at second, Lars Nootbaar also saw a series of pitches up and in, and he eventually took the walk.

With two outs, Brendan Donovan lined a 95-mph fastball up the middle for two RBIs and a 4-0 lead. 

Arenado delivers hits, steals outs

In the sixth inning, Arenado consolidated the two things he did all evening.

He ranged in every direction to find outs.

He flipped a single to the outfield to reach base.

By the end of the inning, Arenado had his third single of the game, and he had once again helped Gray out of an inning with a vintage defensive play. With two outs and two on – including a runner at third base – Arenado raced into foul territory when Michale Conforto popped up a pitch. As he neared the Dodgers’ dugout, Arenado made the basket catch and then slid to halt himself from crashing into the railing. No seat was threatened by this play. He covered 74 feet to make the catch, per Statcast data. And then he retraced his steps on his way back toward the Cardinals’ dugout to receive congratulations from teammates.

Earlier in the game, Arenado cut in front of teammate Masyn Winn to make a play on a groundball that was the first out of the second inning.

Arenado almost had a barehanded play, but Andy Pages outran the throw.

At regular intervals through the game, Arenado sprinkled in some singles, too. He singled to center and scored in the second inning. He pulled a single to left in the fourth, and the flared a single down the right-field line in the sixth. The three hits through six innings Friday gave him five over the previous two games, including his home run in Thursday’s evening game.

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Despite the five seasons he played with the Cardinals, Tommy Edman felt somewhat unfamiliar when he returned to Busch Stadium for the first time in nearly a year on Friday.

Edman, the Dodgers’ primary second baseman this season, said he walked through the same entrance from the parking lot as he did during his time in ӣ����Ƶ. He was introduced to new sights like the visiting clubhouse, which he had never seen before, and had to ask around to find the training room and indoor batting cages for visiting teams.

Though he had to get to know parts of a stadium that was once his home ballpark, the memories and his experience were recognizable.

“From getting called up here to all the postseason runs we had, and all the great people we met along the way. It's been great so far,” Edman said from the visiting team’s dugout while dressed in Dodger blue. “I'm looking forward to playing some games here and seeing the fans out here and reconnecting with some old buddies.”

Drafted by the Cardinals in 2016, Edman, 30, debuted for the Cardinals in 2019 and appeared in 596 games before he was dealt to the Dodgers last July ahead of the trade deadline. While with the Cardinals, Edman won a Rawlings Gold Glove award as a second baseman in 2021 and produced a 6.2 WAR season in 2022 as their primary shortstop.

When the Cardinals sought a starting pitcher and a right-handed bat they could bring off the bench as they pushed for the playoffs in 2024, Edman and pitching prospect Oliver Gonzalez were sent to Los Angeles in a three-team deal that sent starter Erick Fedde and outfielder Tommy Pham from the White Sox to the Cardinals.

Only Fedde remains a Cardinal.

At the time of the deal, Edman had been on the injured list to rehab his right wrist after requiring surgery the offseason prior. Edman had been viewed as the Cardinals’ starting center fielder heading into the season but opened the year on the IL and did not come off it until he was with the Dodgers. The emergence of Michael Siani’s stability as a defender in center field and Brendan Donovan's flexibility to play left field made Edman available.

“I definitely didn't enjoy being on the injured list the whole first half last year,” Edman said. “I didn't get a chance to compete with these guys. With guys that I played several years with. It definitely was not ideal the way that my time ended here, but obviously it ended up being a great situation.”

Edman appeared in 45 games in the regular season with the Dodgers and made 16 appearances in the postseason. He was awarded National League Championship Series MVP honors after batting .407 with 11 RBIs and a 1.022 on-base plus slugging percentage in six games during the Dodgers’ run to their eighth World Series title in franchise history.

Following his postseason heroics, Edman inked a five-year, $74 million extension with the Dodgers that will keep him under contract through at least 2029.

“It really was crazy. Kind of a surreal moment, especially going back to Southern California, where I grew up, and contributing for the team there,” said Edman, who grew up in San Diego. “I definitely wouldn't have thought that that would happen with the way that the year started. At the end of the year, I was happy that I was just getting on the field and getting to play. To have the success that I did in the playoffs was pretty unbelievable.”

The latest on Liberatore

Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said starter Matthew Liberatore was “fine” after exiting his start in Game 2 of a Thursday doubleheader vs. the Royals following dips in his velocity.

The average velocity on Liberatore’s sinker, cutter, changeup, and curveball were all over 1 mph lower than their respective season averages, per Statcast. Ahead of Liberatore’s exit in the fifth inning, the lefty’s fastball dipped to 89.5 mph, which prompted Marmol and a team trainer to visit Liberatore.

Liberatore was said to be experiencing issues related to fatigue. He said he did not experience any pain in the out and linked the drops in velocity to being "out of sync" with his mechanics.

Extra bases

Outside of naming Fedde as the Cardinals’ starter for Saturday, Marmol did not announce who they planned to start Sunday vs. the Dodgers. The Cardinals have explored expanding their starting rotation to a six-man staff with one off-day through the rest of June. Prospect Michael McGreevy remains an option and on turn for a Sunday start if he is recalled from Class AAA Memphis.

Riley O’Brien was returned to Class AAA Memphis after he served as the 27th player for Thursday’s doubleheader vs. the Royals. O’Brien struck out one batter in 1 2/3 scoreless innings during Game 1.

The Cardinals named right-hander Tekoah Roby and catcher Rainiel Rodriguez as their minor league pitcher and player of the month for May. Roby, 23, went 2-1 with a 3.86 ERA, 33 strikeouts, and four walks over five starts in Class AA during May. The 18-year-old Rodriguez slashed .370/.520/.852 with seven home runs, and 16 RBIs in 18 games in the rookie-level Florida Complex League.

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A series of sharp starts from right-hander Tekoah Roby and the strong stateside debut from catcher Rainiel Rodriguez’s earned the two recognition as the top Cardinals minor leaguers for the month for May.

Roby, 23, earned Cardinals minor league pitcher of the month after he struck out 33 of the 94 batters he faced across five starts for Class AA Springfield. He maintained a 3.86 ERA in 23 1/3 innings, limited his walks to four, and kept opposing hitters to a .227 batting average allowed as he continues a bounce back season aided by consistent health.

In the Florida Complex League, the 18-year-old Rodriguez batted .370 with a .520 on-base percentage and had an .852 slugging percentage in 18 games to earn him Cardinals minor league player of the month.

While with Class AA Springfield for a third consecutive season after two seasons limited by injuries, Roby completed five or more innings in each of his final three starts of May. He struck out a season-high 11 batters in a May 16 outing against Amarillo and followed that with a quality start, his first of the season, on the road against Tulsa.

He’s continued that momentum into June.

On Wednesday, the right-hander tossed a season-high 6 2/3 innings and allowed one run to Frisco. The outing was Roby’s longest since completing 6 1/3 innings on May 16, 2023, for Frisco, when he was a prospect in the Rangers farm system.

“They're multiple days apart, but each start in itself is a day to stack on the last one,” Roby said during  a Zoom call. “It just feels good to reinforce my approach by taking the ball every time and going out and attacking hitters. That's the natural process. You have a plan, you execute it, you see where the cards fall. You do that over and over and over again. It's like stacking days, and then all of a sudden, you've got a couple good ones under your belt, and you feel pretty good.”

Limited to 38 1/3 innings a season ago because of an elbow injury, Roby has totaled 143 2/3 innings since the Cardinals acquired him from the Rangers in 2023 in the Jordan Montgomery trade. That deal also included infield prospect Thomas Saggese and left-handed reliever John King.

Roby entered the year with 40-man roster status after the Cardinals protected him from being vulnerable to last December's Rule 5 Draft. A healthy start to 2025 has provided an opportunity for Roby to build “confidence” in his on-field capabilities and with his health.

“It's been great” said Roby, who dealt with a shoulder injury in 2023. “... I feel like it's a blessing to be able to do this. That's kind of the mentality that you get from being hurt a lot is every time you take the ball, it's a blessing.”

A standout during his introduction to professional baseball in the Dominican Summer League a year ago, Rodriguez made his stateside debut on May 3 in the Florida Complex League. He collected a single in his final at-bat of his FCL debut to give him his first hit and hasn’t slowed down since.

Through 54 at-bats in May, the 18-year-old had 12 of his 20 hits go for extra-base hits. Two of his homers came in back-to-back games. Another four came in consecutive games.

The strong start earned Rodriguez a promotion to Class Low-A Palm Beach at the start of June. He debuted for the PB-Cards on Tuesday and made his presence felt with a two-run home run that had a 106.8 mph exit velocity in his first at-bat.

Since the Cardinals signed Rodriguez as an international free agent out of the Dominican Republic last April, he has batted .346 with 18 home runs and a 1.195 on-base plus slugging percentage in 62 games.

“Rainiel’s early season success has not come by chance. One of our hardest working players in Florida, his daily processes and routines are extremely intentional, thorough, and effective,” Cardinals farm director Larry Day said in a press release. “Whether he is training in the gym, the cage, or behind home plate, Rainiel is on a mission to improve. We are very happy that Rainiel is yielding in-game success from his hard work.”

The extent to which Cardinals starter Matthew Liberatore felt “out of sync” with his mechanics on Thursday against the Royals was an experience the left-hander said he can't recall feeling in previous outings.

The issues led the 25-year-old to have dips with his velocity as he allowed a career-high seven earned runs before exiting alongside a team trainer because of “fatigue-related issues.”

Liberatore lasted four-plus innings in the Cardinals' 7-5 loss to the Royals in Game 2 of a doubleheader at Busch Stadium. Along with the season-high seven runs allowed, Liberatore matched a season high in hits allowed with eight. The outing left his ERA at 3.82.

“Over the course of the season, you're going to have times where you feel synced up and kind of lose the feel for it and find it again. I just didn't find it again tonight,” Liberatore said.

While Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said his concern with the fatigue Liberatore dealt with was “not high,” Liberatore said he “wasn’t concerned” with any health-related issues. Liberatore said the mechanical issues he worked through make it difficult to maintain velocity and leads to a quicker feeling of fatigue. The lefty did not undergo imaging, but he went through “standard” testing with the team’s medical staff.

Before he began the fifth inning, Liberatore said he told the Cardinals coaching staff that “nothing hurts.”

With the Cardinals (34-28) and Royals tied 5-5, Liberatore’s fastball velocity dipped to a low of 89.5 mph when he faced Maikel Garcia. Liberatore’s average fastball velocity (93.9 mph) was a half mile per hour lower than what it has averaged this season. He experienced a 1.6 mph drop in his average cutter velocity compared to his season average and had dips in the average velocity on all six pitches he flashed against Kansas City, per Statcast.

The drop in Liberatore’s fastball during the fifth inning prompted Marmol and a team trainer to visit Liberatore. Liberatore was lifted from his start after 71 pitches following the visit.

"In talking to him (Liberatore), he said he felt really good. Even when we took him out, he said he felt good. Just out of sync with his mechanics," Marmol said.

Liberatore allowed two runs in his first inning and three runs in the third inning, which put the Cardinals in a 5-1 deficit. Before the Royals reclaimed their lead with runs in the fourth and fifth innings, the Cardinals tied the game with two runs on a double from Willson Contreras and another two on a homer from Nolan Arenado.

Liberatore allowed two homers and three doubles in the start. Four of the eight hits he gave up had exit velocities above 105 mph. Two of those were hit above 110 mph, per Statcast.

“He (Liberatore) doesn't have his main stuff,” Marmol said. “It was a little easier to hit, but with the doubleheader, you try to stick with him as long as possible, especially if... nothing is wrong. It's just not coming out the way he wanted to. That was the main thing.”

Marmol said Liberatore will continue to be monitored on Friday. The Cardinals feel Liberatore’s drops in velocity and fatigue are not linked to a serious injury.

Coming off an outing that was his shortest of the season not influenced by weather and one that marked his second consecutive outing with four or more earned runs allowed, Liberatore noted the Thursday start left him with moments he could learn from as he puts a focus on fixing the mechanical issues that plagued him in the coming days.

“I'm not concerned about it. I don't think anybody else is overly concerned about it” Liberatore said. “It's just a matter of finding it again and being able to stay consistent with it.”

Before their offense was slowed by Royals relievers Angel Zerpa and Steven Cruz, both of whom completed three scoreless innings in Game 2 to relieve starter Cole Ragans, the Cardinals found success against Kansas City’s bullpen on Thursday afternoon. That effort to complete a comeback in Game 1 was capitalized on a clutch hit from Contreras in the 10th inning.

Playing in the 1,000th game of his major-league career, Contreras lined a single to left field in the 10th inning of Game 1 that scored Lars Nootbaar from second base to seal a 6-5 win in a game the Cardinals trailed 3-0 through six innings.

Contreras jump-started the Cardinals offense in the seventh inning by hitting a leadoff double that had a 113 mph exit velocity vs. John Schreiber.

When Game 1 reached the 10th inning following a two-run homer from Herrera and a blown save by closer Ryan Helsley, a ground out from Masyn Winn pulled the Cardinals into a 5-5 tie. An intentional walk to Brendan Donovan with first base open put Contreras in a position to put an exclamation point on his 1,000th game in the major leagues.

“I was waiting for it,” Contreras said of the intentional walk. “I was watching the game... I'll say that the game the dictates that he was going to walk Donovan, but that fired me up. It's not an insult because it's part of the game, but it's kind of like, ‘I want you to roll over for a double play.’ I was like, 'Eh, not me.' I'm glad that I was looking for some pitch right down the middle, and I got one of those.”

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Photos: Cardinals drop second game of doubleheader, series to Royals

With all due respect to the Texas football heritage and the state’s latest and greatest gunslinging quarterback prodigy, Patrick Mahomes, this week at Busch Stadium served as a reminder that the baseball diamonds down there in the Lone Star State also produce more than their share of athletic wunderkinds.

Kansas City Royals superstar Bobby Witt Jr. and Cardinals rising star Masyn Winn, two ubertalented young shortstops from Texas, took turns patrolling the infield at Busch Stadium during this week’s I-70 series.

Witt, 24, and Winn, 23, provide as big an endorsement as imaginable for Major League Baseball teams leaning into youth and athleticism and making allowances for on-the-job learning at the big league level.

That’s true even if you only look at their respective defensive impacts.

“It gives the team a difference level of success when you have good defense, when you’re not giving away runs, (not having) missed plays, taking away hits,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said.

“It helps in a lot of different ways because you lower pitch counts — that guy can go a little bit further, and it doesn’t tax your bullpen — it’s this compound effect that you probably don’t into account on a daily basis, but it’s real.”

Winn, selected in the second round of the 2020 MLB draft out of Kingwood High School in Kingwood, Texas, played in 148 games (143 starts) as a rookie last year in his first full season in the majors. He led all MLB shortstops in defensive runs saved (14).

Winn also earned the Field Bible Award as the best defensive shortstop in the majors as recognized by Sports Info Solutions. Winn was a finalist for the National League Gold Glove Award in 2024 but did not win.

Meanwhile Witt, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2019 MLB draft out of Colleyville Heritage High School in Colleyville, Texas, is the son of 16-year big league pitcher Bob Witt (17 games with the Cardinals in 1998). Witt has led all major league shortstops in outs above average (39) as well as runs prevented (29) since the start of the 2023 season.

Witt won his first American League Gold Glove Award in 2024, finished second in the AL MVP voting, won a batting title and became the first shortstop in MLB history with multiple 30-home run, 30-stolen base seasons.

Even though they were a year apart as far as their draft classes, Witt and Winn crossed paths in Texas thanks to the summer showcase circuit and Area Code Baseball.

“I always remember he could hit, he could play shortstop, had a cannon, but when he was on the mound, he was just so much above,” Witt said of Winn. “He was throwing 98, 99 as a junior or sophomore in high school. It was one of those things where it’s like he’s kind of a smaller dude, but he’s throwing this hard. He’s just a true athlete.

“You didn’t really know, could be a big league pitcher? Maybe. It was one of those things where he had options, I feel like, because of how good he was pitching, how good he was a position guy and how good of a hitter he was.”

On his climb to the majors, Winn’s defense seemed likely to carry him even if his bat lagged behind.

Despite early struggles at the plate when he got his feet wet in the majors in 2023 (he batted .172 with a .230 on-base percentage in his first 37 games), Winn turned himself into a top-of-the-order presence last year.

After an early funk at the plate this year, Winn worked his way back up to the No. 2 spot in the Cardinals lineup and posted a slash line of .281/.356/.438 with six home runs through his first 49 games of this season.

Witt broke into the big leagues playing third base at the start of his rookie season (2022) before he took over at shortstop midseason due to a season-ending injury to Adalberto Mondesi.

That year, Witt ranked near the bottom of all MLB shortstops (35th out of 37) in outs above average and runs prevented. There were even some questions within the organization about whether current Royals third baseman Maikel Garcia might’ve been the best option, defensively, at shortstop.

“A lot of it was Bobby understanding what his strengths and weaknesses were,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said of Witt’s improvement. “He’s always been elite going to his backhand. He needed work going to his left. He and (infield coach) Jose (Alguacil) addressed that. They did a ton of work on it.

“He’s playing in positions where he’s more comfortable now, as far as how he shades hitters. He’s reading swings better. His anticipation has been better. More so Josie working with him on how he breaks to his left and his glove presentation. All those things have factored in.”

Witt credited Vance Wilson, the third base coach and infield coach Witt’s rookie season, for helping him adjust and prepare to play defense in the majors. When Wilson became the major league field coordinator and Alguacil took the role as infield coach, Witt’s focus turned to specific improvements and gearing it toward success at shortstop.

“It’s just now understanding what you need to be able to do to make the routine plays routine, make sure you’re in the right spot, right position, and doing the work you need to do that you need to get better at rather than just kind of going through the motions, taking ground balls.

“What do we need to do? Do I need to get my first step better? Little things to try to get better and try to get that edge to try to make more plays, save pitchers and get more outs.”

Winn and Witt taking their play to new levels after they reached the big leagues is a testament to their own desire to be great and their work ethic.

It’s also the reason teams are banking on getting long-term value out of throwing young talented players into the deep end of the water and forcing them to swim, even if it’s early.

Now, both the Cardinals and Royals are in position to reap the benefits for a decade or more.

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