LOS ANGELES • In messages delivered both publicly and privately to the player following Friday’s game, manager Mike Matheny sought to make sure rookie Aledmys Diaz didn’t feel he had to take the full weight of the Cardinals’ error-strewn loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
That wouldn’t be fair. Diaz was hardly alone in the misplays.
Nor was the game alone in its mishaps.
In what was arguably the worst defensive game with Matheny as manager, the Cardinals committed a season-high four errors and allowed five unearned runs in an 8-4 loss. Although there have been pockets of positive defense and isolated gems like Randal Grichuk’s homer-robbing catch Friday, overall this season the Cardinals have been ragged defensively.