St. Louis Cardinals' veteran right fielder Carlos Beltran returns to line-up for Game 5 – MLB Update
St. Louis Cardinals' veteran right fielder Carlos Beltran returned to line-up for Game 5 of National League Championship Series against the San Francisco Giants on Friday, October 19 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri.
Though he could not contribute much but still his presence boosted Cardinals’ overall morale. He came to bat four times and smashed one hit on his .750 slugging percentage.
He missed Game 4 due to a left hip strain. His return was highly anticipated as the Cardinals entered to win the seven-match series with a healthy 3-1 lead.
However, the Giants’ were more determined as they outperformed the Cardinals in every area of play. Giants’ pitchers certainly played well and won with a five run margin.
"We're trying to do the situation like we have all season, Danny Descalso has done a good job for us and comes up in that situation, puts the ball in play and executes extremely well,” manager Mike Matheny said in detail on his team’s performance in this particular game.
He added, “Zito elevated a fastball to get him on strike three. ... We have a pitcher who hasn't given up a hit at that point. there's not much of a move to make at that point. Hoping he'd either hit a fly ball deep or swing and miss. He strikes out right there we're still in a good spot. ... There's nothing to do different there."
On the other hand, the Cardinals’ played under pressure during the entire game and suffered a humiliating defeat.
Their batters and pitchers played poorly and could not stop the Giants’ constant hammering. Lance Lynn started the game for the Cardinals and allowed too many loose pitches.
He received four runs and four hits on his 3.2 innings spell. Though he was able to retire six Giants’ hitters, but overall his ERA rose to 4.91 which ruined the game for the Cardinals.
Closer Mitchell Boggs also could not pitch well as he allowed one run and one hit on his short one inning spell. He struck-out one and allowed one homer on his 3.38 ERA.
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