ST. LOUIS -- Cardinals starter Kyle Leahy got "A" level results without his ‘A’ level stuff on Sunday.
“Had his ‘B’ game, to be quite honest with you,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “Wasn't feeling great, but still did a really nice job with his ‘B’ game of battling and figuring out a way to get through that lineup, getting punchouts, got a lot of punchouts on several different pitches, but I thought he pitched well. You layer on the heat on top of that, and that's a tough environment.”
Leahy was fine through 75 … 90 … and 100 pitches in a 5-3 loss to the Reds in temperatures that neared triple-digits and a heat index that soared well north of that.
“Yeah, it was hot, but you still have to go out there and pitch and try to put the team in the place to win the game,” Leahy said.
Leahy did just that, allowing two runs on six hits in six innings. He walked one and struck out a career-high nine batters, while throwing a career-high 102 pitches, 68 of which were strikes.
“I definitely found more feel for the bigger slider, the sweeper, as the game went specifically,” Leahy said. “But yeah, I do think I got a little better as the game went.”
Leahy now has 88 strikeouts this season, another career high to surpass the 80 he had last season.
“I feel like my body is in a way better spot now than it was in April or early May,” Leahy said. “So yeah, I felt like I still had some in the tank at the end there, 100 pitches deep. So yeah, that's definitely a good sign.”
Leahy pitched out of trouble in the second inning with a strike ‘em out, throw ‘em out double play, and he fanned the side in the fourth. His stellar day ended, quite fittingly, by striking out Dane Myers looking with a 94.6 mph sinker. Strikeout No. 9 eclipsed his previous career high of eight, also set against the Reds earlier this season on May 23.
“I think he got better as the game went on,” Marmol said. “So left some stuff up early, but started dialing in and got better as the game went on. But overall, yes, he slows it down enough to not let those type of things speed him up.”
This latest outing is another of a series of strong starts from Leahy, who has allowed just four runs over his past six starts (1.15 ERA). He is 4-1 with a 2.75 ERA and 66 strikeouts in his last 14 starts since May 1.
The last Cardinal to allow no more than four runs total over a six-start span was Jose Quintana (three runs from Sept. 6-Oct. 3, 2022).
“It helps the confidence, but this game can humble you real quick,” Leahy said. “I'm no stranger to that, so I don't try to get too high on good outcomes. And you do a lot of your best learning in failure. So obviously, I don't want failure, but yeah, you just try to stay as even keel as you can the whole time.”
But after breaking out for seven runs the night before, the offense once again sputtered and couldn’t capitalize on scoring chances in the fourth, fifth and eighth innings.
Alec Burleson led off the second inning with a double and scored on a José Fermín sacrifice fly to give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead. The two-bagger tied Burleson’s career high for doubles at 26, set last season.
After Elly De La Cruz evened the game with a solo homer in the third, Iván Herrera returned the favor in the bottom half of the frame. Herrera’s first home run since July 7 traveled a Statcast-projected 411 feet into the left-field bleachers.
Ke'Bryan Hayes led off the fifth with a homer to pull the Reds even at 2.
“I don't really feel like I had my best stuff,” Leahy said. “I think I had some uncompetitive misses early. Found some pitches later. Just a couple pitches that I would like back.”
The Reds took advantage of a depleted bullpen as run-scoring singles by Sal Stewart and Nathaniel Lowe in the 10th broke it open. Closer Riley O’Brien was unavailable due to illness.