The St. Louis Cardinals lost the rubber game of a three-game set against the San Diego Padres, and starting pitcher Zack Thompson was not happy with his outing after going five innings and giving up three earned runs in the loss.
“Very tough day,” Zack Thompson said, via Bally Sports Midwest. “Unfortunately, kind of hung the bullpen out to dry. Those guys really picked me up today, that was huge. Just needed to be a little bit better and give us a chance to win.”
Thompson went into a bit of detail about what specifically he struggled with in his outing against the Padres. The Cardinals dropped to 3-4 on the season after the loss.
“I was fighting a little bit of everything,” Thompson said, via Bally Sports Midwest. “Don’t wanna give too much away, but had a couple pitches working for me that kept me in it a little bit.”
Thompson struggled with command in the first inning. He gave up a single to Xander Bogarts to lead off the inning, then walked Fernando Tatis Jr. before getting Jake Cronenworth and Manny Machado to fly out. Thompson was close to getting out of the inning with no damage after allowing the first two runners to get on, but he then walked Ha-Seong Kim and Jurickson Profar to give up his first run. Luckily he escaped the first inning without more damage.
In the second inning, Thompson gave up two singles to Jose Azocar and Bogaerts, and Tatis hit a sacrifice fly for the Padres’ second run. Thompson gave up his third run in the fourth inning on a home run hit by catcher Kyle Higashioka.
All in all, this was an improvement from Thompson’s first start of the season against the Los Angeles Dodgers, when he went 5.1 innings and gave up five earned runs. Still, he would have liked to have gone deeper into the game against the Padres.
Cardinals head home for first home stand
The Cardinals will head home for the first time this season with a 3-4 record after playing the Dodgers and Padres in the first two series. It is not a great record, but starting the season on the road against those two teams is very tough. Playing at home against the Miami Marlins will likely be a nice landing spot for the Cardinals
St. Louis is scheduled to play its home opener on Thursday against the Marlins, then play two more on Saturday and Sunday, before the Philadelphia Phillies come in for three games next week.
Thompson’s next turn in the rotation should be on Tuesday against a potent Phillies lineup. The first three starts for him being against the Dodgers, Padres and Phillies is not easy, but it will be interesting to see if he can improve next time he takes the mound.
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