SEATTLE — In the thick muck of things that has the Cardinals’ pitching stuck, there are several underlying issues such as inefficient innings, injuries, hits galore, and some persisting ineffectiveness with two-strike counts.
All of those contribute to what catcher Willson Contreras sees in opposing hitters.
Comfort.
“I just feel like we’re pitching too nice,” Contreras told the Post-Dispatch late Friday night in the team’s clubhouse. “I feel like they feel comfortable hitting against us. That’s the way I see the game. That means, I think we need to be mean – a little mean.”
The Cardinals’ offense vanished politely into the night Friday with only one hit after Jordan Walker’s two-run double in the second inning, but it was the gifts the pitching gave Seattle – each of them bow-tied with two strikes – that turned the game and continued trends.