Another hiccup for Cards' struggling bullpen

ST. LOUIS -- For all the angst about the spotty starting pitching and a lineup that has either piled on runs or has completely sputtered, the Cardinals need not look any further than the titanic struggles of their bullpen to find a primary culprit for their standing as the National League Central’s last-place team for consecutive months.

When setup man Giovanny Gallegos was taken deep by Astros star Jose Altuve for a three-run go-ahead homer and victimized by a third multi-home run effort of the season, it amounted to the Cards blowing their 16th save opportunity in a 10-7 loss on Wednesday night at Busch Stadium.

To put that fully in context, St. Louis squandered only 17 save chances last season en route to winning the NL Central title going away.

The squandering of a late lead has been a sour taste the Cardinals have had to try and stomach far too often this season. When Gallegos left a 1-2 pitch over the inside corner of the plate and Altuve drilled it into the Astros’ bullpen beyond the left-center wall, it allowed the Astros to rally and force a rubber game in the series on Thursday.

It was yet another gut-punch kind of loss for a Cardinals squad that has been hampered by a slumping bullpen.

“They haven’t [been effective simultaneously], and that’s part of it,” manager Oliver Marmol said of the staff-wide issues in closing out games this season. “If you look at it, we’ve blown a lot of leads after the seventh. You give different people an opportunity at it, and it just hasn’t gone well.

“You score seven [runs], you have to win a ballgame, bottom line.”

Gallegos, who has struggled throughout the season with location and effectively landing his slider, has already been victimized by seven home runs this season -- one more than all of 2022.

Of the nine home runs the Cardinals’ bullpen has surrendered, seven have come with the former closer on the mound. Gallegos, who signed a contract extension late last season, has converted just eight of 12 save opportunities thus far.

“It’s hard because when I go back to my [home], it’s hard for me to fall asleep,” said Gallegos, who gave up a career-high nine home runs in 2019. “It’s hard to fall asleep thinking about how I didn’t do the job when we were winning.

“It hurts a lot, but it’s baseball and you have to keep going, and prepare for the next day.”

The Cardinals are still without 2022 All-Star closer Ryan Helsley, who received medical clearance on Tuesday to resume throwing following a three-week stint of no baseball activities because of tightness in his right forearm.

By Helsley’s estimation, he will likely need two weeks of ramp-up time and a week of rehab outings before he is ready to return.

Hard-throwing reliever Jordan Hicks reemerged as St. Louis’ closer in the past 10 days, saving five games. On Tuesday, Hicks recorded his first save at Busch Stadium since June 6, 2019. The Cards’ plan on Wednesday was to try and get the ball into the hands of Hicks for another save, but that didn’t happen because of further troubles by Gallegos.

This season, Gallegos has allowed multiple home runs to the Angels, Pirates and Astros. The one time he surrendered just one homer was on June 14, when Mike Yastrzemski hit a two-strike, two-out home run that propelled the Giants past the Cardinals at Busch Stadium.

The three games with multiple home runs tied fellow reliever Genesis Cabrera for that infamous mark this season. Only five others in franchise history have allowed at least three multi-homer games in a season, including Hall of Famer Lee Smith (1993).

“I feel really frustrated because I really want to help this team win games,” said Gallegos, who was tagged for five earned runs when José Abreu went deep against him later in the eighth inning. “I felt like I failed my teammates. I prepare myself to try to give the team the best chance to win the game and obviously it didn’t happen.”

The leaky bullpen cost the Cards on a night when Nolan Arenado hit a three-run home run in the first inning and Paul Goldschmidt and Brendan Donovan smacked solo shots off Houston standout Cristian Javier.

The Cardinals are now 23-5 when leading after seven innings, but those five losses have been of the crippling variety.

“I feel like if you score seven runs in this league, you should win a ballgame,” said Marmol, who debunked the notion that he should have removed Gallegos from the game following the Altuve homer and before the Abreu clout.