Cardinals Headed For Six-Man Rotation After Being Shutout 2-0 By Astros

The St. Louis Cardinals are making a slight change to their pitching staff after Tuesday night's shocking 2-0 loss to the Houston Astros.

Astros 26-year-old hurler Hunter Brown pitched a gem against the red-hot Cardinals offense on Tuesday to even the series at one game apiece -- sacrificing zero earned runs on four hits, four strikeouts and two walks in six innings pitched for Houston.

Wednesday afternoon's 12:15 PM Central Standard Time series finale against the Astros will showcase a Cardinals veteran who has pitched exceptionally well out of the bullpen in 2025. His first start of the year, hopefully, will help St. Louis win game three against Houston.

"The Astros shut out the Cardinals, 2-0," The Athletic's Katie Woo reported Tuesday night. "Hunter Brown was excellent, and that's really the story tonight. Steven Matz makes his return the rotation tomorrow for the rubber match. The six-man era begins."

Matz has logged a 0-0 record with a 2.31 ERA, six-to-two strikeout-to-walk ratio, .250 batting average against and a 1.11 WHIP in 11 2/3 innings pitched out of the Cardinals' bullpen this season.

Wednesday afternoon's duel against Astros right-handed pitcher Ronel Blanco will be Matz's first start out of the Cardinals rotation since his injury-laden 2024 campaign.

The 33-year-old logged a 1-2 record with a 5.08 ERA, 33-to-15 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .287 batting average against and a 1.44 WHIP in only 44 1/3 innings pitched last season. Lower back strains plagued Matz's 2024 campaign but after dominating in the bullpen this year, he looks ready to give the lackluster Cardinals rotation a much-needed boost.

St. Louis' rotation will now include RHPs Sonny Gray, Erick Fedde, Andre Pallante, Miles Mikolas and LHPs Matthew Liberatore and Matz.