Cards find blueprint in shutout loss vs. Phils

With each whiff and called strike induced by Phillies starter Aaron Nola on Sunday afternoon -- 10 of them to cap off punchouts -- and with each out he recorded with relative ease -- 27 of them across all nine innings -- the Cardinals witnessed what they believe they should be this season.

They watched a starting pitcher carve up their offense, something their rotation has yet to do a little over a fortnight into the regular season. And as a byproduct, they watched their feast-or-famine offense lean too much into the latter once again, something that seemed primed to turn after Saturday’s outburst.

Sunday’s 2-0 loss to the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park was not an aberration but a reaffirmation: the Cardinals believe in their processes, but results have been tough to come by.

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“I think it's a little early to push the panic button in any regard for our offense,” said Matt Carpenter, a three-time strikeout victim Sunday now batting .069 (2-for-29) on the season. “Certainly, nobody's more disappointed with the way this is going than me. I mean, I individually have been off to a start that isn't ideal. I've hit the ball hard, but at the end of the day, hits and production are what matters. We're all frustrated, but at the same time, it's way too early to panic by any means.”

The offense has shown its glimpses of pure dominance. When it clicks, it can rival any in MLB let alone the NL. But a lack of consistency has been the Achilles' heel through the start of the season.

St. Louis scored 27 runs over six games this week; 23 of them came across just two contests.

"Don't get me wrong, there’s disappointment to it. It's not, 'Kumbaya, everything's OK.' That's not it,” said manager Mike Shildt. “But it's also not a complete overreaction from the other side, too. We know it's a long season."

It doesn’t nearly stop at the offense. Though John Gant’s five innings of two-run ball were enough to keep his team in it, now 15 games into the regular season, not one starter has thrown a pitch in the seventh inning. Only one (Jack Flaherty) has recorded an out in the sixth.

A lengthier outing from Gant wouldn’t have changed much. The offense mustered just two hits -- both singles -- off Nola, with 13 consecutive batters retired between the third and sixth innings. The Cards were shut out for the second time in less than a week.

“I don't know if he missed a spot that I saw, really, mostly the whole day,” Shildt said. “Tip of the cap. He did a great job, pitched well. You don't see many complete games these days. He more than earned his."

And that is juxtaposed with what has helped contribute to the Cardinals’ early-season woes. St. Louis has gotten 66 1/3 frames from its starters through 15 games. That mark for relievers sits just behind at 64 2/3, though it entered Sunday as the higher of the two numbers.

There are reasons for this, with all of baseball more wary of starting-pitcher durability coming off the unprecedented, shortened 2020 season. But innings not pitched by the rotation means more taxing ones for the bullpen.

“Obviously, that's not our gameplan as starting pitchers,” said Gant, who was bit by five free passes. “We are trying to throw nine every time we go out there.”

Only on Sunday, it was their opponent who went the distance.

Some signs have begun to pop up that lend a positive outlook for the rotation. Flaherty, who gets the ball to open a three-game set in D.C. on Monday, has pitched longer and crisper his past two times out, as has Adam Wainwright.

If there’s any saving grace, it’s that the last time it took the Cardinals this long to start a season without a starter making it seven innings was in 2019, when the rotation needed 20 games to do so. That crop of starters finished third in the NL, fifth in the Majors by ERA.

They also tossed some baseballs in the National League Championship Series.