By MATT PIKE
Very little offense was needed on Wednesday evening for the Miami Marlins to take the series at Busch Stadium against the St. Louis Cardinals, winning 2-0 to shut down the Cardinals offense for a second game in a row after a 5-0 shut out on Tuesday.
The Marlins outhit the Cardinals six to five, and needed just a two run home run by Jesús Sánchez, his 10th home run of the season that scored Xavier Edwards, for the only runs of the game to take the victory. Miami starter Cal Quantrill gave up just three of the Cardinals five hits in his fourth win of the year. Calvin Faucher earned his 10th save for the Marlins.
Miles Mikolas took the loss, falling to 6-8 on the season, pitching six innings and giving up the two runs on five hits while striking out five. At the plate, five Cardinals had one hit each. Brendan Donovan, Alec Burleson, and Thomas Saggese were 1-for-3 with a walk.
St. Louis is off on Thursday and hit the road on Friday to start a six game road trip along the west coast, beginning in San Diego. Matthew Liberatore (6-8, 4.04 ERA) takes the mound for the Cardinals against Nick Pivetta (10-3, 2.81 ERA) for the Padres. First pitch is at 8:40pm on Friday with coverage beginning around 8:30 on KY 102 (102.5 FM).
Closer Ryan Helsley traded to Mets for prospects
Resigned to the fact that he would likely be dealt elsewhere before the MLB Trade Deadline, Ryan Helsley and his camp had talked to various teams in recent days about him possibly sharing the closer role with a World Series contender.
That team will be the New York Mets, who traded for the Cardinals’ two-time All-Star closer on Wednesday night. He’ll join a remade Mets bullpen where star closer Edwin Diaz is already in place.
In return for Helsley, the Cardinals got 20-year-old infielder Jesus Baez plus right-handed pitchers Nate Dohm and Frank Elissalt. Baez, a former Dominican Summer League Player of the Year, was ranked as the No. 8 prospect in the Mets system by MLB Pipeline, while Dohm was ranked No. 14. Elissalt was not ranked among the Mets’ Top 30 prospects.
Baez is a 20 year old with pro experience at second and third base in addition to shortstop. He played six games at Class A this season before being promoted to High-A. In 75 games total, he’s hitting .242/.332/.390 with 11 doubles, 10 homers, 42 RBI, 46 runs and seven steals.
Dohm, 22, has also split time between Class A and High-A. In 18 outings at the two stops this year, he’s pitched to a 2.87 ERA and 1.26 WHIP with 77 strikeouts in 62 ⅔ innings.
Elissalt, 23, has been with both Class A and High-A. In seven starts and 13 appearances in relief, he’s worked 56 ⅓ total innings, posting a 3.04 ERA, 0.99 WHIP and 65 strikeouts.
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