Matthew Liberatore saw his ERA swell to 5.44 on Tuesday night after allowing eight earned runs and two titanic home runs as the Baltimore Orioles throttled the Cardinals 13-1 at Busch Stadium. Pete Alonso, who hit a 435-foot homer, was 4 for 4 with four RBI.
At this point in an otherwise forgettable season for Matthew Liberatore, the only thing keeping the Cardinals’ left-handed starter from having MLB’s worst ERA at 5.44 is him falling one inning short of qualifying statistically.
Sadly, that’s about the only thing that has gone right for the pitcher the Cardinals thought could lead their rotation this season.
Liberatore, 26, was awarded the Cardinals’ Opening Day start back in March when the club felt he was ready to finally fulfill his potential. However, it didn’t take long to tell that the lefty's inability to stay out of the middle of the plate would be a problem for him. His ERA was 5.33 in five April starts, while a 3-2 May with a 3.98 ERA would be his best month of the season. His ERA swelled to 8.27 in five June starts when he was hit especially hard, and it stayed north of 4.00 in July and August.
On Tuesday night, when Liberatore yielded 435- and 450-foot homers to Orioles' sluggers Pete Alonso and Christian Encarnacion-Strand, and eight earned runs over just four innings of work, Liberatore’s future as a starting pitcher in St. Louis likely is in question again. Baltimore’s runaway 13-1 win over the Cardinals at Busch Stadium on Tuesday night left Liberatore at 0-4 in August.
"There were some really crucial at bats where he couldn't finish guys," manager Oliver Marmol said. "I wish we would have played for the chase there with Alonso with the lefty behind him (Gunnar Henderson) that's on the ground (usually) when left-on-left, but unfortunately we gave up the homer there. It wasn't good enough today."
It was certainly not the kind of start the Cardinals were looking for as they began a six-game homestand after being on the road for much of the past two weeks. The Cards started that road trip in impressive fashion by winning two of three against the Cubs and three of five in Cincinnati, but it turned sour following a three-game sweep in Philadelphia. The hangover from the final loss – allowing six straight runs to the Phillies after two were out in the ninth inning – might have still be around on Tuesday.
The Cards’ losing streak has now hit four games. St. Louis has dropped four games in a row six times this season, but never five straight. Michael McGreevy (5-9, 3.54 ERA) will do battle against Kyle Bradish (7-12, 3.70 ERA) on Tuesday night at Busch Stadium.
Liberatore’s struggles come at a time when the club is already short on starting pitching with Andre Pallante (right elbow inflammation) and Hunter Dobbins (right forearm tightness) going on the 15-day Injured List last Friday. Quinn Mathews was promoted on Saturday, but he was hit hard by the Phillies in his third career MLB start.
After working out of a first-inning jam and breezing through the second inning, Liberatore was touched up in the third when Leody Tavares reached on an infield single and Jackson Holliday – son of Cards Hall of Famer Matt Holliday – scorched a liner into right-center. Then, after seeing Alonso foul off a slider in the middle of the plate, Liberatore’s changeup also got too much of the plate and Alonso crushed it for a 435-foot smash that left the bat at 111.3 mph. Three batters later, Encarnacion-Strand – who entered the game in an 0-for-15 skid with seven strikeouts – hit a ball even further. His 450-foot smash went three-fourths of the way up the bleachers and proved to be the longest homer of the season at Busch Stadium.
Nathan Church hit his 10th home run of the season for the Cardinals' lone run.
Things get even more miserable in the fifth inning for the Cardinals when Liberatore, Peter Strzelecki and Caleb Ferguson allowed the Orioles to score eight times and turn the game into a complete rout.
"He put himself in positions that weren't very favorable and he was able to pitch out of some of it with four punchouts the first time through and three punchouts the second time though," Marmol said of Liberatore. "But, overall, there was some really loud contact as well."
Holliday, who grew up taking grounders from his famous father in the Busch Stadium grass, had three hits and an RBI in the first MLB game he ever played in St. Louis. Alonso, long a Cardinals killer from his time with the Mets prior to signing with Baltimore this past offseason, was 4 for 4 with a double, homer, two singles and four RBI.
