Location, location, location: Wacha can't find a suitable home for his fastball in Cincy
Michael Wacha was able to reach his pitch count, but that was about the best you could say of his second comeback start Tuesday night.
Giving up six runs in four-plus innings on 70 pitches, Wacha took the loss as the Cardinals fell for just the second time in September, 9-5 at Cincinnati.
While he pitched better than his line, Wacha did not appear as sharp as last Thursday, when he gave up only one run in three innings on 50 pitches at Milwaukee. After touching 97 mph and regularly reaching 96 with his fastball last week, Wacha topped out at 95 mph. His control also was lacking as he walked three, and his curveball was not nearly as effective. Meanwhile, he seemed to stay away from his changeup, his best secondary pitch.
"Just wasn't good," Wacha said on the FOX Sports Midwest Cardinals Live postgame show. "I left a lot of balls down the middle of the plate, and they made me pay for it."
Wacha said his arm felt good but because he wasn't locating his fastball, his changeup was "a nonfactor."
Of the six hits he allowed, three came against curves and resulted in runs. Devin Mesoraco pounded a hanging curve in the first for a two-run, two-out homer, and in the fourth Zack Cozart tripled on a curve and starter Mike Leake drove him in by knocking a curve to left field for a double.
Wacha might have tired in the fifth when he walked Brayan Pena to start the inning. He then got Todd Frazier to hit a check-swing bouncer to second, but Kolten Wong dropped the ball after he tagged Pena on the way to second and both runners were safe. Wacha then threw a 93-mph fastball that Mesoraco smacked to left field for a run-scoring double.
In his postgame presser televised on FSMW, manager Mike Matheny agreed that Wacha's command was the issue.
"He had some good signs but trouble locating his fastball," Matheny said. "Every one of these guys, no matter if they have plus secondary pitches, if they can't control the zone with the fastball, put it on both sides, they're going to have a rough night. His curveball was good at times. He wasn't real crisp and sharp with his fastball location."
With the game out of hand, the Cardinals gave a lot of their recent call-ups a taste of the majors as they used 24 players. Xavier Scruggs had a night he'll remember, coming through with his first big-league hit and RBI with a pinch-hit double in the ninth. Making their major-league debuts, hard-throwing Sam Tuivailala showed impressive velocity but was unable to last an inning and Tommy Pham struck out in a pinch-hit appearance.
3 UP
-- Magic number. Even with the loss, the Cardinals inched closer to the NL Central crown because the second-place Pirates fell at Philadelphia. The Cardinals' magic number is down to 14 to win the division, meaning any combination of St. Louis victories and Pittsburgh losses totaling 14 will put the Cardinals in the NL Divisional Series. The Cardinals have 17 games remaining, the Pirates 18.
-- Kevin Siegrist. In the most encouraging development of the night for the Cardinals, Siegrist got his fastball up to 96 mph and struck out both batters he faced after entering with two on in the seventh. Siegrist rarely had been reaching 94 mph since his return from the disabled list and subsequent demotion to the minors. He told FOX Sport Midwest's Jim Hayes that he noticed on video that his leg kick had gotten a little sloppy and that had caused a drop in his sharpness. For one night, anyway, his leg kick looked a lot like last year, when he was one of the game's top lefty specialists.
-- Wong (aside from the dropped tag). He likely saved a run in the fourth when he robbed Billy Hamilton of a hit by racing into right field, lunging forward with his back to the infield and making an over-the-shoulder catch. Wong also singled and scored in the Cardinals' three-run rally in the seventh.
3 DOWN
-- Beating Leake. The Cardinals have lost to the Reds only four times in 14 meetings and Leake has beaten them twice. The right-hander came into the season with a 6.01 ERA in eight starts against the Cardinals, but he has turned that around this season with an ERA of 2.25 in four starts.
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-- A.J. Pierzynski's luck. The Cardinals were down three with two outs and the bases loaded in the seventh when he stepped in as a pinch hitter against right-hander Jumbo Diaz. Pierzynski ripped a line drive that had bases-clearing double written all over it but first baseman Pena, a catcher by trade, dove to his right and made what appeared to be a game-saving catch at the time.
-- Relievers with the initials J.M. We're talking about right-handers Jason Motte and Justin Masterson, of course, and neither pitched well in abbreviated outings. Motte faced five batters and three of them got hits, though one was an infield single by Ryan Ludwick. A double Motte gave up to Brandon Phillips --- on a 95-mph fastball --- was rocked to right field and scored both runners he had inherited from Michael Wacha. Masterson entered in the eighth and walked two of the three batters he faced before he was relieved. Masterson had worked a scoreless inning in his first appearance out of the bullpen last week.
You can follow Stan McNeal on Twitter at @StanMcNeal or email him at stanmcneal@gmail.com.
