Burns and Matthew Liberatore made for an odd pairing on paper — a rookie All-Star with a 2.54 ERA against a lefty who came in scuffling — and for five innings it played out exactly like the mismatch it wasn't supposed to be. Liberatore's Cardinals scratched across 2 runs in the fourth on a walk, a wild pitch and RBI hits from Nathan Church and Bryan Torres, and Burns went to the dugout after 5 having allowed those same 2 runs on 6 hits and 2 walks, with 8 strikeouts to show for the grind.
Show fees
FINAL
Spread
ML
Total
Cardinals(65-62)
WLWWW
4
Reds(60-66)
LWLLL
5
Best BetReds -135
Postgame
The pick cashed, but not the way the bull case drew it up — Burns actually trailed when he left the mound, and it was Cincinnati's bullpen and a Sal Stewart homer, not the ace himself, that flipped the game. The bear about a cold Reds lineup didn't hold; McLain, De La Cruz and Stewart combined for the 3-run sixth that decided it.
Pregame
Chase Burns has been about as dominant as any pitcher in the league this year, and he's fresh off a scoreless, 8-strikeout turn against Miami. Liberatore's ERA has ballooned well past 5, and that gap between the two arms is bigger than what the board is pricing.
Neither team is exactly healthy right now. Cincinnati is still without Hunter Greene, who had his second Tommy John surgery this month and won't pitch again for 12 to 18 months, and Brandon Williamson (shoulder) and Graham Ashcraft (elbow) are both working back from long injured-list stints — Tony Santillan just got activated off his own. St. Louis, meanwhile, is nursing Ramon Urias through a rehab assignment and lost reliever Max Rajcic for the year to elbow reconstruction. Neither injury report moved much, but the market barely blinked at Liberatore's night either, and it showed.
Matthew Liberatore
(5-11)·5.04 ERA
Aug 14 @ Cubs
L
5.1IP
2ER
6K
1BB
95P
08/19 Lineup
Chase Burns
(14-2)·2.51 ERA
Aug 14 vs Marlins
W
7.0IP
0ER
8K
0BB
93P
08/19 Lineup
Cincinnati's offense had managed one hit through five innings before Sam Moll relieved Burns, and the bats picked the same frame to wake up. Matt McLain doubled, Elly De La Cruz singled him in, and Sal Stewart followed with a homer that flipped a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 lead. The Reds tacked on 2 more in the eighth to make it 5-2, and while the Cardinals scratched back with 2 runs in the top of the ninth to make it a one-run game, they ran out of outs before they ran out of deficit.
St. Louis Cardinals
(65-62)
Aug 18W@ Reds3-0
Aug 17L@ Reds5-6
Aug 17W@ Reds2-1
Aug 16W@ Cubs11-4
Aug 15W@ Cubs8-4
Cincinnati Reds
(60-66)
Aug 18Lvs Cardinals0-3
Aug 17Wvs Cardinals6-5
Aug 17Lvs Cardinals1-2
Aug 16Lvs Marlins1-7
Aug 15Lvs Marlins4-8
This was the fourth meeting of a stretch that's swung both ways — St. Louis had taken 2 of the first 3 in Cincinnati, including a shutout the day before, while the Reds had grabbed the other with a walk-off. That push-pull matched the shape of both clubs' seasons: Cincinnati came in having dropped 4 of 5, St. Louis had won 4 of 5, and neither the standings gap (65-62 to 60-66) nor Wednesday's final did much to separate them.
St. Louis Cardinals
(2)
60-Day-ILRamon Urias (3B) — Urias (elbows) has been sent to Triple-A Memphis to resume a rehab assignment, John Denton of Roundtable.io reports.08/04
60-Day-ILMax Rajcic (RP) — Rajcic revealed on his Instagram account Thursday that he recently underwent a right elbow UCL reconstruction.07/23
Cincinnati Reds
(6)
10-Day-ILSpencer Steer (1B) — Steer will have a follow-up exam on his injured right wrist this weekend, Charlie Goldsmith of Fox 19 Now Cincinnati reports.08/19
15-Day-ILTony Santillan (RP) — The Reds are expected to activate Santillan (oblique) from the 15-day injured list Friday, Charlie Goldsmith of Fox 19 Now Cincinnati reports.08/19
60-Day-ILBrandon Williamson (SP) — Williamson (shoulder) struck out two and allowed one earned run on five hits and no walks across 3.2 innings in a rehab appearance Sunday with Triple-A Louisville.08/17
60-Day-ILHunter Greene (SP) — Greene (elbow) will be out for 12-to-18 months after undergoing his second Tommy John surgery Wednesday, Gordon Wittenmyer of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports.08/13
60-Day-ILBlake Dunn (CF) — The Reds transferred Dunn (elbow) from the 10-day injured list to the 60-day IL on Thursday.08/06
60-Day-ILGraham Ashcraft (RP) — Ashcraft (elbow) is on a throwing program, which will have him throw from 105 feet beginning July 20 at the Reds' training facility in Arizona, MLB.com reports.07/18
Burns' final line — 5 innings, 2 runs, 8 strikeouts, 104 pitches — is the story anyone who's followed him this year would recognize: nasty stuff, short leash. Reports out of Cincinnati have suggested the Reds won't push him deep into the fall given his workload, and nights like this one, where he's already at 104 through 5, are exactly why that bullpen picture matters as much as his ERA does.
