BALTIMORE 鈥 A familiar face was there to greet the Cardinals as they took the field on a sunny Monday afternoon for batting practice at older but still gorgeous Oriole Park at Camden Yards, and they sure saw a lot of him running around the bases.
Dylan Carlson, almost one year removed from the trade that ended his tenure as a rising and arriving prospect with the Cardinals, singled, stole second and scored in his first look Monday at his former team. He was just getting started. Carlson also homered and provided three RBIs for his new team in Baltimore鈥檚 5-2 victory against the Cardinals on Memorial Day. Carlson鈥檚 day ended the Cardinals鈥 winning streak and extended the Orioles鈥 to three games in what has largely been a disappointing season thus far at Camden.
The plucky Cardinals team that found ways to rally all weekend and create or take runs where they could had no such success solving Baltimore starter Charlie Morton in his six innings. The previously winless Morton (1-7) struck out five and limited Cardinals to four hits to chop his ERA down to 7.09 for the season.
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Both of the Cardinals鈥 runs against Morton came on Pedro Pages鈥 homer.
Two of the Orioles鈥 rallies spilled out of defensive miscues by the Cardinals.
There were several innings during his five when both Baltimore hitters and his own pitches gave Cardinals starter Erick Fedde (3-4) fits. His fastball leaked over the plate just enough for the Orioles to get a hit in each of the first four innings and build a sturdy 5-0 lead on the Cardinals and the right-hander. Fedde had allowed one run in his previous 22 2/3 innings against the Orioles, and in his first inning Monday afternoon, they had a run.
Carlson scored the second run against Fedde, and then an inning later, his home run added to the Orioles鈥 lead.
Fedde allowed five runs (three earned) on seven hits.
After missing the Arizona series sweep this past weekend due to back spasms, Willson Contreras returned to the lineup and first base. He struck out to open the ninth inning against Baltimore closer Felix Bautista and finished the game 0 for 4 with two strikeouts.
Bautista pitched a scoreless ninth for his eighth save.
鈥楾his is Dylan鈥
Less than 10 days after his most recent promotion to the Orioles, Carlson got to see some familiar faces from the organization that drafted him, debuted him and then traded him to make room for the next wave of outfielders drafted and debuted by the Cardinals.
Carlson, a first-round pick by the Cardinals in 2016, signed with the Orioles as a free agent this past winter and has moved between the majors and Class AAA in the first third of the season.
Injuries and poor performances in Baltimore鈥檚 lineup opened recent starts for Carlson, and before Monday鈥檚 game, he noted that.
鈥淭rying to take advantage of every opportunity,鈥 he said.
A year after injury derailed the run he earned as the Cardinals鈥 starting center fielder and a day after hitting his first homer of the season during the Orioles鈥 win at Fenway Park, Carlson romped against his former and first team. Carlson singled in his first at-bat to lead off the third inning. He stole second successfully when the ball got away from second baseman Brendan Donovan. That allowed him to advance on a sacrifice bunt and score Baltimore鈥檚 second run on Matt Holliday鈥檚 son Jackson鈥檚 RBI single.
An inning later, as Fedde鈥檚 struggles deepened, Carlson drilled a pitch 397 feet to the right-center wall and over it for a three-run homer.
Carlson鈥檚 second homer in as many days widened the Baltimore lead to 5-0 and capitalized on one of the Cardinals鈥 rare errors.
Errors grease rallies
For the first time since the first week of April, the good-hands Cardinals committed two errors, and both of them led directly to runs for the Orioles.
Spelling Nolan Arenado at third base after Arenado鈥檚 dive into the seats on Sunday, Nolan Gorman got a ground ball from the second batter of the game that he could have turned into a double play. His throw went wide to right field, allowing Jackson Holliday to advance to third. That put him in position to score on a groundout for a 1-0 lead on an unearned run.
In the fourth inning, the hits were already mounting against Fedde when Heston Kjerstad chopped a grounder to second base for a potential double play.
Donovan鈥檚 throw to second hit base runner Ryan O鈥橦earn on the batting helmet.
The error was the Cardinals鈥 second of the game and first of the season for Gold Glove Award winner Donovan. Instead of being out of the inning with a double play, the Cardinals had two runners on base and Carlson up 鈥 to hit the bases-clearing homer.
Pages hoists Cardinals back
The Cardinals did not muster much against O鈥檚 starter Morton through the first four innings. The veteran right-hander threw nine curveballs in the first inning and got two groundouts and a strikeout. When the Cardinals did get the ball in the air against Morton, right fielder O鈥橦earn made a sliding catch to pluck the ball just before it touched grass.
And then it was back to the curveball for Morton.
And then it was back mostly to the ground for the Cardinals.
Their breakthrough came in the fifth inning after Gorman鈥檚 second base hit of the game. Pages fouled off a 93.3 mph sinker and a 81.9 mph curveball to fall behind 0-2 to Morton. When Morton went to the curveball 鈥 his signature pitch 鈥 Pages connected and lofted the ball to deep left field. The soaring hit hugged the line and landed beyond the foul pole for a two-run homer. It was Pages鈥 fourth homer of the season.
An inning later, Donovan doubled to center field for his league-leading 18th of the season. Donovan is on pace to break Matt Carpenter鈥檚 club record of 55 doubles set 12 years ago and join Carpenter and Stan Musial in that 50-doubles club. This double put him on second base to open the sixth and give the Cardinals their next best chance to chomp into Baltimore鈥檚 lead.
Morton retired the next two Cardinals with groundouts on his sinker.
He faced Jordan Walker with Donovan at third base and spun three consecutive curveballs to the young right-handed hitter. One missed to put the count at 2-2. Morton fired a 94.1 mph fastball that Walker took for strike three to squelch the Cardinals鈥 opportunity.
