Carpenter’s homer spoils Mikolas’ strong outing in intrasquad matchup
The St. Louis Cardinals’ pitching staff has dominated intrasquad games thus far, but Matt Carpenter‘s timely swing was the difference in Friday’s matchup.
Carlos Martínez took the hill for the red squad and was opposed by Miles Mikolas and the Cardinals blue team.
Martínez threw three solid frames and had some spectacular help from his defense early on.
In the first inning, Paul DeJong channeled his inner Derek Jeter with a fantastic throw in the hole to nail Austin Dean at first base.
The best defensive play of the season! pic.twitter.com/5oyoBD7GWM
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) July 18, 2020
The very next inning, the Gold Glover Kolten Wong flashed an equally as specular of a play by ranging to his right, throwing off balance, and gunning out Edmundo Sosa.
Stop it pic.twitter.com/XAfdHpvdnX
— Brenden Schaeffer (@bschaeffer12) July 18, 2020
Despite Wong’s solid defensive play, Justin Williams moved into scoring position at second base. John Nogowski then knocked in Williams with a two-out double, giving the Cardinals blue squad the second-inning lead.
In the bottom of the second, Matt Carpenter drove Mikolas’ pitch into the right-field bullpen for a two-run shot and the Cardinals red squad took the lead.
Carp to the ‘pen! pic.twitter.com/7HyytAfdso
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) July 18, 2020
Mikolas’ mistake to Carpenter proved to be costly in what was otherwise a strong outing. The righty threw just 60 pitches over five innings while allowing two hits.
Miles Mikolas got through five innings against the #stlcards presumptive opening day lineup on 60 pitches with two hits allowed, though he does leave trailing 2-1.
— Jeff Jones (@jmjones) July 18, 2020
Andrew Knizner was a perfect two-for-two in throwing out potential base stealers. He threw out Wong as part of a strike-em-out, throw-em-out in the third inning, and later caught Tyler O’Neill stealing in the eighth inning.
Dylan Carlson manned center field and made a pair of great plays in the eighth inning. He was able to track down back-to-back well-hit balls in the gap and nearly collided with Williams on the second play.
Carlson looking exceptionally comfy as a CF throughout Summer Camp. pic.twitter.com/paKz1xBz9u
— Brenden Schaeffer (@bschaeffer12) July 18, 2020
With a 2-1 lead, Tyler Webb pitched a perfect inning in the ninth to secure a victory for the red team.
The Cardinals will not play an intrasquad game on Saturday but are planning to hold a matchup on Sunday. Details and start time will be released tomorrow by the Cardinals.
