That compelling, last-at-bat victory Monday that the Cardinals hoped would catalyze the desired blitz of wins faltered quickly Tuesday, tripped up by a trend too familiar, too alarming to ignore.
Michael Wacha’s grope for the command that made him so formidable so, so early in his career continued as the Chicago Cubs exploited his uncertainty for six runs in the first inning, then coasted for a 12-3 victory at Busch Stadium. The Cardinals’ righthander called his abbreviated start “discouraging.” It is also recurring. Manager Mike Matheny insisted that he saw enough in the waning innings of Wacha’s appearance to keep the rotation turning as scripted, and Wacha insisted health has not been a reason behind his prolonged malaise.
Timing is the trouble.
He doesn’t have it enough, and cannot keep it for long.
“In spurts,” Wacha said. “I feel it there. I feel like I’m on time for an inning, two innings, then something gets out of whack. I don’t know if I’m trying too hard. I’ve got to continue to work. I feel strong. I feel good. The arm feels great. The body feels good.”
The results don’t.
Wacha (2-5) lost his fifth consecutive decision and allowed at least six earned runs for the third consecutive start. He became the first Cardinals starter to allow that many in three successive starts since Mike Maroth in 2007. Those were the final three big-league starts of the lefty’s career. In his past six starts, Wacha has a 6.54 ERA and has allowed 55 baserunners in 33 innings. Seven of those came in the first inning Tuesday as the first-place Cubs sent 10 batters to the plate, three of whom doubled and two of whom walked. Wacha fell behind in the count to eight of the batters in the first inning, and just as swiftly plunged the Cardinals into a hole, vaporizing any spillover from the previous night’s euphoric win.
“It was just a bad start,” Matheny said. “You spot six, you’ve got a long way to climb.”
Matheny candidly stated that Monday’s victory — which included a late pinch-hit homer to tie the game and Randal Grichuk’s walk-off homer to win it — could be the ignition that ends the club’s idling. The baseball adage goes that momentum is the next day’s starting pitcher, and the Cardinals have proved that often this season — indirectly. The rotation has often been a pothole.
A leading reason the Cardinals have failed to generate a winning streak longer than two games at home is the erratic performance from the starters. Wacha’s start Tuesday was the fifth on this homestand that failed to provide an out in the sixth inning. Subtract two scoreless outings from Mike Leake and Adam Wainwright and a quality start from Wainwright, and the other three starters have an 11.51 ERA in 20 1/3 innings over five games on this homestand.
On the way to a 2.94 staff ERA last season — the lowest for the Cardinals in nearly five decades — the rotation was an assembly line of quality starts. The starters had few lemons. Once in April 2015 did they have a starter last five or fewer innings and allow four or more earned runs. They didn’t have their third start like that until the 58th game of the 2015 season.
They’ve had four starts like that on this home stand.
That’s how winning streaks dissolve.
“Our starting pitchers would be the first to make that statement,” Matheny said. “We just haven’t been able to go on that run that we need to go on. For us to do what we need to do as a club it starts with our starting pitching. Got to have that defensive support. That hasn’t been where we need it to be, yet. It’s a combination of things. We always put a high premium on those quality starts and guys giving us a chance right from the beginning. Six runs first makes it a hard hill to climb.”
Cubs starter Jason Hammel (6-1) held the Cardinals to one hit through five innings and didn’t allow his only run against until he had left the game. The Cardinals tightened the score with two runs in the ninth, but even those weren’t enough to answer the four the Cubs scored in the top of that inning. The Cubs gifted Hammel a 6-0 lead before the Cardinals took a swing, and added to the lead in the fifth with Jorge Soler’s two-run homer. Soler finished the game with three RBIs, two walks (both from Wacha), and the home run that chased Wacha in the fifth inning.
Wacha is at the nexus of the Cardinals’ rotation regression.
While veterans Leake and Wainwright have made strides and Jaime Garcia and Carlos Martinez have had hiccups, Wacha’s struggles extend back to last fall. In his past 16 starts, including one playoff start against the Cubs, Wacha has a 6.02 ERA and he’s 4-9. One of the roots of this decline is his rhythm. The clockwork of Wacha’s delivery is a tick off, costing him accuracy and minimizing the effect of his changeup. That’s how innings come unwound.
The righthander has worked to simplify his mechanics since spring, and he’s had the gears going right at times. He streamlined his arm swing, but he also described Tuesday how he’s created some “arm drag,” meaning his arm is a beat behind his lead foot. When that isn’t synched his pitches stray high, his fastball elevates, and hitters can ignore the changeup.
Wacha fell behind in the count, 2-0, to three of the first five batters he faced. Kris Bryant’s single scored the first run of the game, and Soler’s bases-loaded walk brought home the second. Wacha got a well-stung line drive to center that also could have been his escape. Dave Ross’s shot to center went off Randal Grichuk’s glove. A catch there — Cubs manager Joe Maddon thought Grichuk got it — and the Cubs’ lead is 2-0 and Wacha gets a rescue. Instead, Ross got a two-run double. Hammel followed with a two-run double.
The rout was on.
A few pitches away from not surviving the first inning, Wacha got through four. He struck out four in his final three innings and, Matheny stressed, “found something.”
He’ll get at least one more chance to see if that, unlike Monday’s vibe, carries over.
“Let’s just see what he does next start without having to start to map out how he has to fix (these things) and timelines,” Matheny said. “That’s not fair. He just has to go out there and make a good start next time. I think you’re going to see a much better start.”
Source :http://www.stltoday.com/
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