Cards' best start doesn't happen without brilliant work from tireless bullpen
ST. LOUIS -- The Cardinals' relievers needed a long outing from a starter to catch their breath Monday night.
Instead, manager Mike Matheny made a call to the bullpen to get Carlos Villanueva loose before Carlos Martinez even recorded the second out. After falling behind 5-0 to a dangerous Cubs offense in the first inning, the talented young right-hander recovered to make it to the fourth, despite a solo home run by Anthony Rizzo in the second.
When Miguel Montero lined Martinez's 102nd pitch off the wall in left field for a two-out RBI double, Matheny had finally seen enough. If the bullpen hadn't thrown 22 innings over the previous four days, the hook would have likely come before the end of the first inning.
"It would have been a much shorter leash," Matheny said. "We had to get every pitch we could and I was considering letting him go further, but fortunately, we had a couple guys that could go a couple innings and Carlos Villanueva came in and did a good job and so did (Miguel Socolovich)."
Villanueva gave up only an unearned run on one hit with four strikeouts in 2 1/3 innings, while Socolovich threw a scoreless inning to earn his second win in as many days. Matt Belisle pitched the eighth and Seth Maness converted his second save of the season in the ninth to secure the Cardinals' seventh straight win, the last five of which have belonged to relievers.
It's only the latest chapter in a spectacular first month of the season for a St. Louis bullpen that leads the National League with a 1.52 ERA to go along with its 8-2 record. The group began by not allowing a hit through its first 9 2/3 innings, providing the perfect complement to a dominant starting rotation.
When Adam Wainwright suffered a season-ending Achilles injury in Milwaukee on April 25, the Cardinals' bullpen responded with five solid innings to salvage a win. When rookie Tim Cooney pitched only 2 1/3 innings in place of Wainwright last Thursday, five relievers combined to hold the Phillies scoreless the rest of the way in a 9-3 victory.
Eight extra innings in three games against Pittsburgh over the weekend meant a heavy workload for the St. Louis bullpen, especially without setup man Jordan Walden. An inflamed right biceps initially flared up during a warmup session in the eighth inning of Saturday's 11-inning, 2-1 win and sent Walden to the 15-day disabled list.
His replacement from Triple A Memphis, Sam Tuivailala, threw two of the 14 innings in the Cardinals' 3-2 win Sunday. St. Louis also sacrificed a position player to bring up Socolovich, who has given up one hit in two scoreless innings.
All of this adversity hit in the middle of a stretch of 20 games in 20 days, which will finally end after a three-game series at Pittsburgh this weekend. The bullpen threw 27 1/3 innings compared with 25 2/3 by the starters over the last five days, so it's no wonder Matheny said the Cardinals needed Maness to finish Monday's win over the Cubs.
"You saw our pitching staff today," Matheny said. "Seth doesn't make it through it, I was going to ask for volunteers. We were done."
He later added lefty specialist Randy Choate could have made a brief appearance, but Mitch Harris, Siegrist and closer Trevor Rosenthal were all taking a much-needed day off. All three have an ERA well below 2.00, and Rosenthal's eight saves are tied for second in the NL.
Tuesday's game has the potential to be another busy one for St. Louis relievers, with Tyler Lyons making his first start for the big-league club since May 2014. The Cardinals sent Tuivailala back to Memphis on Tuesday to make room for the left-hander on the roster, and Matheny said more moves would be considered to replenish his heavily used bullpen.
"It happens," Villanueva said after Monday's wild game. "It's not ideal, but our job isn't ideal in the bullpen. We're available as needed."
So far this season, they've filled that job quite well.
You can follow Luke Thompson on Twitter at @FS_LukeT or email him at lukegthompson87@gmail.com.
