5 and 1⁄3 innings.
That’s how much production the Cardinals got out of the second-half savior of their starting rotation in his return to action on Saturday.
Steven Matz looked pretty good. He K’d 7. He only walked 1. He did give up 2 runs. It was tracking toward the kind of start the Cards expected from him when they signed him to a 4/$44M contract in the offseason. It was the kind of start they needed from him to make a second-half run to reclaim the tight NL Central.
One infield chopper by Joey Votto and an awkward attempt to make a defensive play, and that’s it.