Reyes yields walk-off, Cards to 'look at' role

PITTSBURGH -- Change could be coming. If one pitch resulted differently, it might not be. But the Cardinals, playing with the nimblest of margins as they try to make up ground from their midseason fall-off, know that they cannot let chance decide their future.

That’s at least the conversation that will follow after Sunday afternoon’s heartbreaking 4-3 walk-off loss to the Pirates at PNC Park. Alex Reyes, who has struggled in August, blew his third save and took his third loss in a span of three weeks when he saw Yoshi Tsutsugo’s blast soar its way towards the Allegheny River in right field.

Asked if Reyes might be moved from the closer role, manager Mike Shildt didn’t commit to it, though he stated that he will sit down with the 27-year-old and see what the best pathway forward is for the pitcher and the club.

"You always have to consider it. I'll have a conversation with [Reyes],” Shildt said. “We've got to look at it. He's done a good job. We have some candidates back there to be able to do it."

Such change might not be necessary if the Cardinals had breathing room -- both in the myopia of each game they play and in the grand scheme of the deficit they have made for themselves. The two games they lost in Pittsburgh came after the bullpen blew a lead, Génesis Cabrera’s six-run blowup on Thursday and Reyes’ latest slip-up on Sunday, his 27th birthday.

Sunday was a slight lead, just a two-run cushion after blasting off for 13 runs the day prior. Thursday was less so -- a bona fide implosion that seemed to represent the Cards' most crushing loss of the season given the stakes attached.

And then Sunday came and went.

“We played about 34 of the most flawless innings of baseball you can play. And really, those are two half-innings,” Shildt said. “Guys were put in the right spot, guys were competing, we got guys that have been good for us all year. …

“But we just don't create a lot of margin for error. We did last night, and tonight we weren't able to and it bit us. I don't really know what more to do to get out of this group. I think this group’s playing as good as baseball as you can play, and unfortunately, the game is not always fair.”

The Cardinals (66-63) were two outs -- or one double-play ball -- away from entering arguably their most pivotal series of the season with momentum in the form of a three-game winning streak by way of washing Thursday away. They had the chance to arrive in Cincinnati with their heads held firmly high, set to take on a Reds (71-61) team that lost to the Marlins, relinquishing the chance to make up ground in the NL Wild Card chase.

Instead, the Cards find themselves looking inward, potentially searching for an arm to replace their uber-decorated All-Star closer.

Asked why Reyes may be finding himself in an August slump, with a 7.84 ERA over 11 appearances in the month, Shildt pointed to a struggle in repeating quality pitches.

Reyes has had his command issues this season, second among qualified relievers with a 17.1 percent walk rate and tied for the lead in wild pitches (10) among all NL pitchers. That seemed to be corrected over his latest stretch, with no walks in his last eight appearances entering Sunday since his four-walk back-breaker against the Braves on Aug. 5.

But painfully, questionably and regrettably in the sense of team standings, the results have not come.

“He’s lived to tell about it,” Shildt said. “He didn't today. … The walks are what, you know -- [Tsutsugo] hits a solo homer there, it doesn’t hurt you.”

The Cardinals will now decide who might close. Two options -- Giovanny Gallegos and Luis García (who owns the third-longest scoreless streak in the Majors) -- pitched a scoreless outing on Sunday. But it doesn’t change Reyes’ hope-for future with the club.

Reyes has been one of the Cardinals’ most intriguing storylines to follow this season. Once the No. 2 pitching prospect in baseball, he was finally elevated to All-Star status but now holds questions about his outlook. With an eye looking back at injury history and a mind looking forward to his placement in the rotation as soon as 2022, the club set out a goal of 80-100 innings for Reyes in Spring Training. Shildt said on Sunday that they are not wholly wedded to that number, nor does his velocity or capability suggest fatigue as the reason for struggles.

Not a soul on the Cardinals will attribute their stumbles and finicky nature in the standings to Reyes. He’s been too good too often. But where they are does not allow them to wait much longer, they acknowledge.

That doesn’t just go for Reyes but the team en masse.

“There's been bumps in the road for everybody in our ballclub,” Shildt said. “His bumps just happen to be more visible.”