Two very different approaches to pitching brought very similar results
Matthew Liberatore is the very model of a modern Major League pitcher. He has pitches that sink, curve, and slide. He knows how to throw a total of six, with offerings that go arm-side, glove-side, fast, slow, everything. That’s the approach increasingly preferred by the discerning MLB hurler: load up your quiver and overload the batters with possibilities. Cristopher Sánchez, however, does not take this approach. He throws only 3 pitches, and 85% of his offerings are either the sinker or the changeup. Tonight’s game, then, was not just Cardinals vs. Phillies. It was a matchup of pitching philosophies. Is it better for the pitch mix to be big and broad, or small and select?
Liberatore seemed to have the better grasp of his arsenal in the first. He induced whiffs on his way to a 1-2-3 inning, whereas Sánchez sent a changeup flying to the backstop and plunked Brandon Donovan with a sinker. Still, both exited the inning unscathed.
Sánchez found his stuff in the second. He allowed a leadoff double to Wilson Contreras, but made the next three Redbirds look silly, each one trudging back to the dugout carrying a heavy K. Liberatore’s inning looked similar on paper— leadoff hit followed by 3 consecutive outs. There were distinctions if one looked closely enough; Liberatore’s outs all came on contact, some of it loud. Still, little separated the hurlers.
And little separated them in the next round, too. Sánchez delivered two free passes in the fourth, the second of which finished with a wild pitch that allowed the runner, who had previously stolen second, to advance to third. Sánchez induced a ground ball with the potential to become an inning-ending double play; instead it became one out, an errant throw to first, and the game’s first run. In his half of the fourth, Liberatore allowed a double to J.T. Realmuto, who got the Philadelphias on the board when Nolan Arenado fumbled a grounder from Edmundo Sosa.
Sánchez worked himself into some trouble in the fifth, putting two baserunners on via a bingle and a walk, but worked himself out of it just as fast. The tides were clearly starting turn against him, though, and he allowed a solo shot to Iván Herrera in the sixth. He did not, however, allow the damage to compound, striking out the next two Cardinals to end the inning, and his night.
Liberatore surrendered no moonshots, but instead found himself the victim of that other detested happening for hurlers: the bloop. Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos both delivered duck snorts to put runners on the corners with none out (and to keep the on-base streak going, in Kyle’s case). A productive groundout from Realmuto scored Schwarb, knotting the affair up at two apiece. Alec Bohm joined the soft-contact hit parade with a single, and the birds dialed the bullpen, putting Kyle Leahy on the mound. The Phillies responded with a duo of their own moves, pinch-hitting Bryson Stott for Sosa and Max Kepler for Weston Wilson, though both made outs.
Liberatore vs. Sánchez thus ended in a 2-2 draw. Sánchez lasted for a bit longer and posted more K’s and more walks, but neither the kitchen sink supporters nor those who prefer their pitch mixes lean and mean got a decisive victory tonight. The duel of the philosophies put aside, the game continued. Matt Strahm emerged from the pen to pitch the seventh, quickly dispatching his first two foes before allowing Masyn Winn to send a rainbow over the left-field fence for a slim Cardinal lead.
Leahy stifled the Phillies in the seventh, and Orion Kerkering returned the favor in the top of the eighth. The visitors from the Gateway City, pleased with Leahy’s work, had him return for another inning. He got two quick outs, allowed two quick singles, and was then pulled; his replacement, JoJo Romero, ended the inning without further incident.
The Phillies tasked Tanner Banks with keeping their deficit at one, and he did just that. The Cardinals tasked Ryan Helsley with keeping their advantage, and he did just that, putting the side down in order.
Sánchez’ style is increasingly going out of style in MLB, which wants its moundsmen to present a menu of offerings that could rival a diner’s in size. But it’s hard to argue with results, and Sánchez’ are good. Watching him, you might think that throwing a lot of different pitches is for the birds.
The Phillies are 24-17. The series continues at 6:45 tomorrow night.