BOSTON -- Long before baseball was abuzz with talk of ¡°Torpedo¡± bats, Cardinals standout Brendan Donovan traveled to the Tennessee factory of his batmakers and designed lumber with relocated and larger sweet spots.
These days, those technologically advanced bats can seemingly do no wrong, regardless of which Cardinals hitter is swinging them.
Not only did Donovan smash a Statcast-projected 404-foot homer and drive in another two runs with line-drive singles with his Old Hickory-modeled bat, but catcher Iv¨¢n Herrera also used the borrowed lumber again to go deep for a fourth home run in the past two games. Herrera, who became the first catcher in the rich history of the Cardinals with three homers in a game in Wednesday¡¯s win, smacked an opposite-field homer in the fourth inning to briefly get the Redbirds within striking distance before losing 13-9 to the Red Sox at a festive Fenway Park.
¡°I feel like there are more and more of my bats missing by the day,¡± Donovan joked while glancing up at his bat bag on top of his locker. ¡°Herrera¡¯s got a couple of the bats, and a few more are floating around. [Herrera] is taking some really good swings, and he said the bats feel really good. They must feel good to him, because he¡¯s hitting everything out of the yard right now.¡±
Despite the efforts of Donovan and Herrera, the Cardinals struggled to keep pace with a hot-hitting Red Sox club that played pepper with the wall most of the day and banged out 16 hits.
The lone bright spot on the day for the Cards was their offense registering 13 hits, giving them double-digit hits in all seven games to start the season. It is just the third time in franchise history that they have done that since 1900, as they also registered double-digit hits in seven straight games to start the season in 1901 and 1956. They have 51 runs scored in seven games, good for third in the big leagues behind the Cubs (63 in 10 games) and Yankees (62 in seven games).
¡°They¡¯re in a good spot, they¡¯re taking their shots and they¡¯re not trying to do too much,¡± manager Oliver Marmol said of his team¡¯s offense. ¡°It¡¯s been fun to watch them stick to a game plan, one through nine. You can just tell that there¡¯s a high level of execution every single pitch.¡±
The Cardinals dug themselves a massive hole when starter Erick Fedde was hit hard in the first inning. Five of the first six hitters reached base against Fedde, including a three-run home run by Trevor Story and a solo shot by Wilyer Abreu. Fedde allowed backbreaking two-strike hits to Alex Bregman (double) and Story (home run). The veteran right-hander, who was pitching at Fenway Park for the first time in his career, was done after just three innings of work -- yielding five hits, two homers, four walks and six earned runs.
¡°I mean, putting guys away would be nice, but strikeouts haven¡¯t really been there right now, and that¡¯s probably something that I¡¯ve got to work on,¡± said Fedde, referring to the two-strike damage. ¡°I¡¯ve just got to put this one past me and get better.¡±
St. Louis¡¯ usually reliable bullpen offered little relief by surrendering 11 hits and seven runs over five innings. Also, a botched double play that could have gotten the Cardinals out of the seventh inning cost them three runs.
Down 6-1, the Redbirds got back into the game when Herrera crushed an opposite-field three-run home run in the fourth. Seeking a lighter bat that still offers a wide sweet spot, Herrera swung Donovan¡¯s bat earlier in the week and switched to that 33 1/2-inch, 31-ounce bat with the cupped end over the past two games.
¡°He¡¯s swinging the bat with some real confidence, and he¡¯s staying within himself,¡± Marmol said of Herrera. ¡°The ball is traveling a long way. To go [to the opposite field] today, that was good to see. He pulled some [homers] the other day, so he¡¯s using the whole field now.¡±
Another long ball -- this one from Donovan on a 3-1 pitch -- made the score 6-5 in the fifth inning. Donovan¡¯s smash left the bat at 106.1 mph, per Statcast, for the second baseman¡¯s second-hardest-hit ball of the season.
Despite the sting of a four-run loss on Friday, Donovan likes the relentless approach from an offense that scored in five innings and got hits from seven players.
¡°We¡¯ve got some really good players here,¡± Donovan said. ¡°Individually, everybody has their own approach, but they¡¯re all sticking with it, and it¡¯s so cool to see all our guys having such tough at-bats now. Everybody wants the big hits and the big homers, but those come about when you are swinging at pitches in your zone. We¡¯re all just being really stubborn about what we¡¯re trying to do at the plate.¡±