During a pivotal stretch in the Cardinals’ 5-4 victory against San Diego, Flaherty had a sequence of pitches that was his best since returning from shoulder injury.
www.stltoday.com
Derrick Goold
SAN DIEGO — The second pitch of his game Thursday left Jack Flaherty’s fingers without much conviction, or velocity for that matter, and landed somewhere beyond Petco Park’s wall for Jurickson Profar’s leadoff homer.
It was far from Flaherty’s best pitch.
It might have been the best thing for his pitching.
“He hit that and I was kind of (ticked) from there,” Flaherty said. “Dialed in. And trusted my stuff after that. I was kind of feeling for it in the beginning. Just stopped that. Trusted my stuff and went from there.”
What followed was Flaherty’s finest start in at least a year — one that mixed assertiveness with his fastball and a nimble use of his breaking stuff. During a pivotal stretch in the Cardinals’ 5-4 victory against San Diego, Flaherty had a sequence of pitches that was his best since returning from shoulder injury. With two runners on base, he struck out a Padre on three pitches and then used his slider to seize control of an at-bat that he finished with a curveball. Flaherty struck out four of the final five batters he faced on his way to his first nine-strikeout game since the night at Dodger Stadium his oblique came apart in May 2021.
“As close to legit Jack that we’ve seen,” manager Oliver Marmol said.
Twice on the injured list this season due to shoulder pain, Flaherty seethed after his most recent start because he did not pitch past the fifth inning. The right-hander said he shattered the glass door on a fridge because five innings from the starter is not what is expected in the Cardinals rotation. He was about to be denied the sixth again Thursday before speeding through the middle of the Padres order. An error and Profar’s double had already brought in a run before Flaherty could get an out in the fifth inning. Manny Machado worked him for a walk, and with one out and a climbing pitch count, here Flaherty was again — stuck at five.
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Part of this article got my attention......................
Helsley revved up his fastball to 104 mph. That was the fastest pitch of the season measured by Statcast, eclipsing the 103.8 mph sinker from Jordan Hicks in early July.
that's some high octane gas...........................................