St. Louis Cardinals SHOCK Pittsburgh as Pedro Pages, JJ Wetherholt and Jose Fermin Deliver Heroics!

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If I hadn't seen it, I wouldn't believe it.

The Cardinals mount a furious ninth inning come back to shock the Pittsburgh Pirates.

This is Lockdown Cardinals.

You are locked on Cardinals.

Your daily St. Louis Cardinals podcast, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your teams

every day.

Hey there, Cardinals fans.

I'm JD Hafer.

And on today's show, the Cardinals add a new left hander to their 40-man roster.

We're going to read off some comments in our Cardinal Confessions.

But to quote the late, great Jack Buck, I don't believe what I just saw.

Said that after Kirk Gibson's home run against Dennis, actress Lee and the A's back in

1988.

Well, this game wasn't quite the same significance, that was the World Series, but I'm borrowing

it anyways.

Oh my gosh, how much fun was that?

Incredible, miraculous, unbelievable, preposterous.

How about this one from the Princess Bride, inconceivable.

I am sure that there are other words to describe what we saw, but are you kidding me?

The old saying, it's always darkest before the dawn, never rain more true than what we

witnessed on Monday night in Pittsburgh, the St. Louis Cardinals offense, sleepwalking through

the first eight innings of this game.

They did not have a single-base runner until there were two outs in the seventh inning.

The pirate's bullpen game was working to perfection for whatever reason the Cardinals

always seem to have trouble with bullpen games from other teams.

And until Alec Burleson tapped, what was perfectly described by Chip Carey as an infield

squibber, perfect description, the pirate's her basement, Nick Gonzalez, almost made an outstanding

play on to get Burleigh at first, but Burleigh hustling all the way and he just beats the

throw to break up the perfect game and the no-hitter at the same time.

At this point, you're thinking, well, at least crisis subverted, right?

Even if we lose this game, at least we didn't have a no-no thrown or a perfect game thrown

against us.

But at the same time, I even said to my wife, I was like, I mean, it's still only a two-run

game.

It's not like the pirates are blowing them out.

It's not like we're getting crushed by them.

So the old Chip Carey, you know, blew up in a blast, theory would work here.

Alas, it was not meant to be in that seventh inning.

Jordan Walker goes down looking to end it and the eighth inning, the Cardinals get a single

by Jose for me, but then Mason Wynn hits into that nifty double play that was turned

by Brandon Lau and Connor Griffin, tip of the cap to you.

It was a nice one.

So off to the ninth inning, they go.

Score is still two to nothing, pirates turn things over to their very good closer in

Dennis Santana, who gets the lead off guy Thomas and JC to ground out, which brought in Pedro

Pahez.

And we hadn't seen Pedro since Saturday when he was having that monster game going three

for three with the two run shot against Seattle, but he had to leave early with hamstring

tightness.

And we were all kind of worried, like, oh, no, because it didn't look great, right?

The his reaction to it all, it didn't look great.

Man, expected him to go on the IL, but no move was made on Sunday.

And there he was back in the lineup on Monday and after falling into the whole O2, he catches

a slider from Santana.

They got a bit too much of the play and he shoots it over the wall in left field to put the

cartels on the board.

And all of a sudden, it's a two to one ball game, one run.

That's it.

This brings up the hometown kid in J.J.

Weatherhole.

Now J.J. grew up in Pittsburgh as a pirates fan was making his major league debut on this

field where his favorite player, Andrew McCutchan, used to run.

As nerve-racking a moment as you can get, he's got dozens and dozens of family and friends

on hand to watch him and the teams getting no hit for most of the game.

And they're just, they're just a special number of athletes who can rise to the occasion.

When the game is on the line, they're the guys who want the ball or want to be at the plate.

And so far in his major league career, J.J. is proving that he is indeed one of these

special athletes who will not cower in the limelight.

And he proved it again here after working a full count.

He smashes a Santana fastball into the Pittsburgh night and over the right center field wall,

game tying, solo home run, we're all knotted up.

What an awesome moment for him and his family, but J.J. wasn't done yet.

Now we've got a ball game.

Now we're tied up and there's a chance to win this.

So we get back-to-back J.J. to tie it up.

Cardinals just kept attacking and kept being really smart at the plate.

Devon Herrera, who's been his patient as anybody in baseball this year, works as six

pitch walk.

Now you got Santana really, really because he's giving up the home runs.

Now he can't throw strikes.

Alec Burleson hits a legitimate Q-shot, like hilarious, right down the third baseline.

It starts fair and then it spins foul and then it spins back into fair territory.

Just kind of dies on the chalk there for an infield single.

Never even made it to the third base back.

Didn't even get that far, but it just died like a perfect fund.

And that brings in Jordan Walker, who I know.

He's been cold recently, but has an outstanding at that against Santana.

kept trying to get him to chase, chase, chase, and he wouldn't fall for it.

That's all they're doing now, low on a way, crap.

Everyone's throwing Jordan right now.

And he finally says, you're either bringing it in or I'm not swinging.

Works another walk, had two walks on Sunday.

Another one here.

Keep that batter's eye going, buddy.

Now you got the bases, Jews, for Jose, for mean.

Still only one out in the ending.

There's no place to put him.

So for me, knows that he needs to throw strikes.

And normally I'm somebody who's all about being patient at the plate,

but I get it in this situation.

If somebody throws something over the heart of the plate, you like it.

You go after it.

I don't mind that.

And for mean jumps on a first pitch slider,

rips it down the line and left for a two-run double to give the birds a four to two lead.

And that's the way this one would end.

An absolutely mind-boggling come back to go from absolutely nothing.

Nothing for almost seven headaches.

No offense, no base runners.

Could have just put nobody at the plate and it would have been just as good.

You go from that to winning the baseball game

when you're down to your last two outs.

That is amazing.

That's absolutely amazing.

After the game, Olli spoke about the win

saying that it says a lot that our guys were able to stay engaged and steal this game.

That's one of the great things about this team.

Our guys always keep fighting.

And that is true.

We have seen it multiple times this year.

That's 10.

10 come from behind victories out of their 15 wins so far this season.

It's what they do.

And after four straight losses, three of them really tough ones to a very good Seattle team.

It seemed like the boys were in a bit of a funk for most of the game.

Like I said, sleepwalking is what it looked like.

But boy oh boy, did they come to life quickly after the pie has dinger and more so after

JJ left the yard, outstanding stuff, super deflating loss for your opponent.

So let's hope that when leaves are really bad taste in their mouths and they have like a bit of

a hangover effect for the next couple games with pirates for the rest of this series,

you guys can get good again when the Cardinals leave town.

But that was insane.

That was fun.

I loved it.

I'm going to talk more about it.

We've got standout performances from three different guys.

I want to get to coming up next on Lockdown Cardinals.

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So the one person that is,

in my opinion, truly kind of forgotten in this comeback win,

is the person that helped get you there in the first place.

And that is Monday starter Dustin May.

Excellent.

He was excellent once again.

And has now four straight solid games under his belt.

Three of them are quality starts.

And he was just too outshort in Miami of making it four straight.

Quality starts on Monday.

He wins six settings to run seven hits, two walks, two strikeouts.

Nothing mind-blowing about that line.

But it kept the guys in the game.

He never let the game start to snowball against him,

even when runners got on base.

And that's what a pitcher's job is to limit the damage.

Give the team a legitimate shot to win the ball game

and being that the cardinals are on this stretch of 17 and 17.

Having him go six innings after what you've got from McGreevy on Sunday

is heaven sent.

Following, because you know, you had a wild game on Saturday,

which just blew everything up all the plans

that you had for your ball pin, just boom.

And you still lost the game.

So really kind of put the ball pin in disarray.

So having back-to-back really good starts

from those two guys was huge.

That was huge.

And you know about the ugly numbers that May had

in his first two games of the season.

But his last four starts.

He's thrown 23 and a third innings,

has allowed just five earned runs.

23 hits, which is a lot, I get that.

But only four walks.

So he's not hurting himself.

He's not putting more pressure on himself

by walking dudes.

And then he's got 15 strikeouts, which gives him

an ERA of 1.93 and a fifth of 3.04.

That's exactly what you're looking for from Dustin May.

The fastball Velo continues to hover around 97 miles per hour on average.

He's in the 90th percentile of walk percentage,

75th percentile of barrel percentage,

which makes sense considering, you know,

he gave up two home runs in that game against Detroit

in the first two games when things weren't going so well.

And since then, he's only given up one home run.

So barrel percentage, as far as how he is amongst the league leaders,

75th percentile, which is really, really good.

Now teams are hitting ball hard against him.

He's down in the 21st percentile in that category.

But he's keeping it in the yard and the Cardinals defences

doing their job and making the plays behind him.

Now I did expect the strikeout numbers for Dustin May

to be higher.

I did, you know, his career average,

8.1 per nine.

But he's never been a really huge strikeout guy.

Despite the, you know, good Velo and everything and the movement

that he's got on that sweeper,

he's never been like this guy that's striking out 10, 11 per nine.

It's 8.1's the average.

And he's down to 6.5 so far this season.

But if you go look at past years,

when he's had better seasons,

his rookie year was really, really good.

He was at 7.1 strikeouts per nine.

2023, excellent year, his second best year as a pro,

6.4.

So he doesn't need to have the Gaudi strikeout numbers to be effective.

Clearly, because those two seasons are the best ones he's had in the major leagues.

And those are two of his lowest strikeouts per nine.

So I don't want you to freak out because he's not striking out enough people.

He really just has to stay healthy and so far he has been.

So solid job, Dustin May, good job.

Obviously, JJ Weatherhold is the big story in this particular game.

Coming home to Pittsburgh, hitting the dinger to tie it.

Three straight games now with the home run.

An incredible moment in front of his now converting cardinal friends and family.

He's talking to me, he goes, yeah, you know,

a lot of Pittsburgh people root for the Cardinals in the stands tonight.

After the game, he said I really was just trying to get on base and was able to put a good swing

on the ball. It was good to come through, but it was a great team win.

And I love to hear that out of him where it was it, you know,

what you get a young guy? He's like, yeah, I was really cool.

And you know, I'm super excited.

He mentions the team team team team team.

That's that's the kind of leader you want.

Playing against the team you root for as a kid,

that's got to be a little weird obviously.

And I couldn't imagine like playing for the Cubs or the Brewers.

I'm going to try to take down the Cardinals.

I feel dirty.

I feel dirty just saying it and JJ was the same way for sure.

He was quoted as saying it's kind of a goofy experience,

but it's such an honor to be here.

Playing against the team you grew up rooting for will always hold a special place in your heart.

For me, I feel like it's just how many games I've watched here.

So I feel like I know this park better than any other park.

Just being here as a kid and playing here a little bit in college was super cool.

The backdrop of the city you grew up in to be able to play in a ballpark like that is special.

How mature does this kid sound?

Isn't it amazing?

Like the maturity of JJ Weatherhold is insane to me.

Ali chimed in talking about the experience for JJ,

you know, saying that the cool part is when he hit the home run,

all his family is sitting there in that one section.

They all went crazy.

That's something you'll never forget.

And he says, I think we've talked a lot about his success early,

not only offensively, but defensively.

On the basis is demeanor.

What he brings to the club.

There are a lot of positives there, especially for a young kid.

And that's what I've been most impressed by.

I mean, I know the stuff we see on the field has been great.

You know, he's on pace for like this almost 30, 30 season is a rookie.

Like, but nothing, I'm so impressed with the guy, the human being that he is.

Nothing seems to face him.

No moment ever seems too big for him.

He doesn't come to the plate.

And I'm like, yeah, there's no way he's coming through here.

I believe in JJ weather bolt when he comes to the plate.

I feel like he's always going to do something good.

And we've already seen that clutch gene pop off a couple times.

And he's just getting started.

This is his first month as a majorly player.

Like kids all over St. Louis,

you need to go get a JJ weather hole jersey now.

Because this is a special player.

He's going to be a role model for them for years to come.

How do we get him locked up?

That's, that's the next thing everybody wants to know.

I get him 10 years and let's go.

Because you're not going to, at least from what I can see,

you're not going to find a better human being than what we've seen out of JJ weather hole so far.

Talks about his faith all the time and how important it is.

Those are the guys you need around leading this club forever if you can keep him.

Lock him up.

Let's get to it.

Last guy I want to give some love to is Ryan Fernandez,

who came into this game after Dustin May.

And most of us are focused on the fact that the Cardinals don't have any hits.

They don't have any base runners.

This perfect game is getting thrown against them.

And we just kind of brush aside what we saw out of the ball pit on Monday.

And Ryan Fernandez comes in.

And he gives you two winnings, no runs, no hits, four strikeouts.

He keeps you within the two runs so that the bloop and the last type of thing can happen.

And then you get Soriano who comes in and closes things out.

You know, you're talking about two guys here that you didn't really expect

them to be the guys helping you take down a division opponent this year.

We weren't counting on George Soriano and Ryan Fernandez this year.

But there they were at the end of this game.

Finishing things off.

So tip of the cap to them as well.

Obviously, shout out to Alec Burleson who ended up with not one but two infield singles because

speed doesn't slump for biscuits.

Don't underestimate those wheels.

The second one in the night still, no clue how that stayed fair.

Crazy stuff right there.

Baseball gods down the line.

They're blowing it, keeping it fair, you know.

For me to, too, I would expect to see for me in the lineup more.

You should be rewarded whether he's playing on the infield or the outfield.

More Jose for me.

Cardinals claim to pitcher on Monday.

Whose older brother is really good.

That is he any good.

That's the question.

We'll talk about it next on Lockdown Cardinals.

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Cardinals, first listen of the day.

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The number one sports podcast network.

Cardinals have claimed left-handed pitcher,

Luis Peralta off waivers from the Colorado Rockies.

I'll actually name the AAA Memphis.

So no corresponding moods were necessary.

The Cardinals had an open 40-man spot.

He slides right in.

No fuss, no must.

25 years old, younger brother of Freddie Peralta,

who is now with the struggling New York Metz,

was a starter earlier in his career.

But got moved to a lever role when he was a minor

leager with the pirates actually before he got traded.

Two Colorado.

And between the two clubs, 47-2-3rds minor league innings

allowed only 0.93 earned runs per nine.

Gave out walks at a pretty high rate, though.

That's been the problem with them.

11.2% walk rate.

40.1% strikeout rate, which you love.

That's huge number.

48.8% ground ball rate above average as well.

Got to make his major league debut.

He's been in the pros.

Put up a 0.73 ERA and 12 and a third innings.

But since then, the command is just vanished

for whatever reason.

It has not gone well.

9.47 ERA in the majors last year.

9.09 ERA in triple A.

15.4% walk rate in the majors.

It's been worse.

It's 17.8 has trouble throwing strikes.

That's really been the problem.

Began this year at triple A.

14 earned runs in seven and a third innings

with a whopping 13 walks.

He also struck out 14.

And now we're back and looking at some of the footage

of him pitching in the major leagues and saw him

baffle some pretty good hitters,

including Juan Soto when he was with the Yankee.

So there's something there.

But at this point, something's not clipping.

Clicking right.

You know, the the Velo on his fastball.

It's down a little bit.

His fourth seamer used to sit at 95.

It's down to about 93 and a half curveball change up.

They've also dipped in Velo.

According to reports, he can be option

for the remainder of this year.

And one additional season as well.

And if things go well, he has less than a year of service time,

which means he can be affordably controlled for years

into the future.

It's a low-by situation.

The Cardinals don't have much depth

when it comes to left-handed relievers.

The kid has shown that he's got some talent.

Jojo has scuffled recently.

Justin Brull, you know how I feel about what he's done.

Not impressive.

Maybe they see something in him like they did with Soriano.

You know, people were like, wait, what?

Why are we trading Andre Grenillo for George Soriano?

They're scouts and the guys in charge.

Maybe they've seen something in Peralta

that they're like, no, we can work with this.

We can fix this and make him a useful option.

If not, you move on.

It's no real loss.

So that's my thoughts on Peralta right now.

Until we get to see him and figure out what he can do

in a Cardinals uniform.

But so far this year, it has not been good.

So expectations, keep them down there.

Loving the positive comments, though.

I want to give you guys all credit after last night's game.

People were losing their minds just like me.

If you saw my short on YouTube, yeah, I did a Ric Flair Wu.

I was beside myself with excitement.

It was so much fun.

So I wanted to read a few of them here

in our Cardinal Confessions.

Because, you know, after four straight losses,

the ends are starting to get down a little bit.

And I don't blame you.

But a couple of these guys do that.

I was dancing all around work that last inning.

I effing love baseball.

The first eight innings practically put me to sleep.

And then they got to Santana of all people.

I loved it.

These kids played in the last out.

I saw the first inning.

And that was enough.

And then I turned it back.

And it was the last inning.

Glad I did.

That was awesome.

Cardinal snapped a 36 game scoreless streak in Pittsburgh,

dating back to last season with the runs in the ninth inning.

Got their first win on a Monday this season.

They break their four game losing skids.

So a lot of good, positive energy came out of this particular game.

And I hope it's one of those where

this, you know, kickstart something bigger and better for this young team.

Uh, in El Central, the Reds have the day off yesterday.

So there's still at 18 and 10.

Rockies are visiting them after sweeping the meds.

So Rockies are believing in themselves right now.

Cubs lost to the Padres nine to seven.

Although they did break Mason Miller scoreless streak in the ninth inning.

They're, uh, they're at 17 and 12 in second place.

Pirates are now at 16 and 13.

Cardinals at 15 and 13.

And then the Brewers who were idle are 14 and 13.

They'll be hosting Nolan Arnotto and the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Have you guys seen what Nolan's been doing recently?

Not on a heater hitting six 11 over his last five games.

Made some nice defensive plays.

So, um, good stuff, man.

Not to keep it up, especially against Milwaukee.

Beat them.

Beat the hell out of them.

Keep it going.

Keep it going.

Uh, tonight, Kyle Leahy on the mound for the Cardinals.

He has not gone past five innings yet this year.

So I hope the bullfin is ready.

Gordon Grasso, you need to be ready.

Everybody get ready.

All hands on deck.

Kyle Leahy started tonight.

So, uh, maybe he'll surprise us.

Maybe he'll surprise us.

We'll see.

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