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Game Report: Cardinals 5, Phillies 1

"There's some young players out there doing special things," said manager Mike Matheny.
St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Jack Flaherty (32) receives a standing ovation from fans after being removed from the game during the eighth inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

By Rob Rains

Separated by about 20 hours and 216 miles, the Cardinals got a pretty good look at their future on Saturday night and Sunday. The present view looked very attractive as well.

On Saturday night at Hammons Field in Springfield, Alex Reyes made his next-to-last rehab start before he will return to the Cardinals’ rotation. Over 7 2/3 innings, he allowed just one hit and struck out 13, giving him a combined 31 strikeouts in 16 scoreless innings in three rehab appearances as he returns from Tommy John surgery.

On Sunday afternoon at Busch Stadium, Jack Flaherty almost matched that performance exactly, against the Phillies, as he earned his first victory in the major leagues. Flaherty allowed just two hits over his 7 2/3 innings, walked one and struck out a career-high 13 batters.

Reyes is 23, Flaherty is 22.

Adding to those performances, the Cardinals got a home run in both of their games on Saturday and Sunday from Tyler O’Neill, who also is 22, and got the final four outs Sunday from 21-year-old Jordan Hicks, who threw four consecutive pitches in the ninth inning that registered 104 or 105 miles per hour on the radar gun.

“There’s some young players out there doing special things,” said manager Mike Matheny.

As he watched Reyes on Saturday night while he was also in Springfield to make his own rehab appearance, Tyler Lyons used the adjectives “unbelievable, electric and unhittable” to describe Reyes’ performance. Reyes had one of his first chances to watch Flaherty and Hicks on Sunday from a premium vantage point in the Cardinals’ dugout.

“Jack was pretty much unhittable, dominant,” Reyes said. “It was special to see. It’s awesome to see all these young guys contribute and be able to help the big league club. It’s fun to see.

“Watching Jack today you could just tell what everyone is always talking about. He was just dominant. I never really got to see Jordan pitch either, and then to see 105 on the board? That’s ridiculous.”

Hicks said he believed the standing ovation the Busch Stadium crowd gave to Flaherty as he walked off the field, as he jogged in from the bullpen, with two outs in the eighth helped put extra velocity on his pitches.

“I didn’t do anything except throw hard,” Hicks said. “I looked up there, I saw it. I think the hardest before yesterday was 102.6; yesterday I saw 103. Tried to throw a little harder today, see how it goes. I can’t really explain it. I surprised myself.”

Flaherty didn’t match Hicks’ velocity, but his body of work – which consisted of a career-high 120 pitches – also was impressive. The only hits he allowed were a home run to Rhys Hoskins in the fourth and a single by Aaron Altherr leading off the eighth. The Phillies’ only other baserunner against Flaherty was Carlos Santana, who walked on a 3-2 pitch in the fourth.

“Everybody feels like they can contribute,” Flaherty said. “Everybody’s just trying to do their job.”

It took Flaherty a while to get into a groove as he was extended to full counts against three of the first four batters he faced.

“I was trying to find my command early, and I wasn’t able to throw my slider. I kept pulling it,” Flaherty said. “As the game went on we were able to make little adjustments here and there. I didn’t feel great coming out but I was able to get through that part, those early long at-bats, and then get some quick outs as the game went on.

‘I’m just trying to pitch and get guys out. Outs are outs, no matter how they come. … Big league outs aren’t easy to come by.”

He got 23 of them against the Phillies, with 10 of his 13 strikeouts coming on swings and misses.

“That was one of the best starts we’ve seen in a long time,” Matheny said. “That was pretty amazing. The kind of pitches he made all day long, that was really impressive watching a young player do that. It shows us the potential of what we have. It’s exciting to see.”

After leaving the game, Flaherty had more fun watching Hicks throw, then looking up on the board to see the velocity.

“I wish I could do that,” he said. “You see 105 up there … that doesn’t happen. You don’t see that.”

Here is how the game broke down:

At the plate: O’Neill got the start in place of struggling Marcell Ozuna, mired in an 0-for-22 slump, the longest hitless streak of his career, and responded with three hits, including his second home run in as many days … Matt Carpenter also had three hits, including a pair of doubles, He is now 10-of-20 in his last five games with six doubles, which has raised his average by 54 points to .194 … Greg Garcia drove in two runs with a single and a sacrifice fly … Flaherty got his first career hit, the third Cardinal in as many days to achieve that (O’Neill and Steven Baron) with a third-inning single.

On the mound: Flaherty ‘s 13 strikeouts in his ninth career start was the most ever by a Cardinal in his first 10 career starts. The previous record was 11, set by Harvey Haddix in 1952 and matched by Alan Benes in 1996 … He became the first pitcher in the majors to throw 120 or more pitches in one of his first 10 career starts since 2014 … Hicks walked two batters in his outing and also let another runner reach base when he threw a wild pitch on strike three.

Key stat: It was only the second game since 2001 when the Cardinals got a win and a home run from players 22 years old or younger. Shelby Miller did both himself on June 6, 2013, and the previous time it happened was on Sept. 3, 2001, when Albert Pujols homered and Bud Smith no-hit the Padres. Both were 21.

Worth noting: Lyons needed just six pitches to get his inning of work in for Springfield Saturday night, saving the win for Reyes. He is headed back to Springfield to pitch again on Monday, then expects to be activated off the disabled list later this week … The two hits were the fewest allowed by the Cardinals in a game since 2016 and the fewest in a game against the Phillies since 1996.

Looking ahead: The Royals arrive to begin a three-game series on Monday night, with Miles Mikolas scheduled to start the opener.

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