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While coming up through the minor leagues as a starter, Cardinals lefty Matthew Liberatore was no stranger to a full season鈥檚 workload as a full-time starting pitcher.

In years past, Liberatore has surpassed 100 innings of work in three different minor league seasons and reached as high as 149 2/3 innings in a regular season, that latter of which came in 2022 when he made starts in Class AAA and in the majors. But this season, one in which the 25-year-old lefty has had his first full run as a starter in the majors after working from the bullpen in 2024, has led to some 鈥渁dapting and adjusting.鈥�

Before the Cardinals took the lead they did not let go of Friday night against the Padres, the manner in which their first runner reached base stirred some emotion between the two clubs in the thick of the National League Wild Card race.

Facing Padres starter Nick Pivetta, Cardinals first baseman Willson Contreras was hit on the left elbow by a fastball from Pivetta to lead off the second inning. The hit by pitch was followed by an exchange of words between Contreras and Pivetta and the emptying of both dugouts and bullpens.

A fresh set of MLB Pipeline's Top 100 prospects released Thursday, and four Cardinals made the list.聽

JJ Wetherholt checked in at No. 16, while Quinn Mathews ranked No. 54. Leonardo Bernal slotted in at No. 79, and Rainiel Rodriguez is 10 spots further down at No. 89.聽

With the Cardinals looking to make up ground in the NL Wild Card standings as the calendar nears the end of July and creeps closer to the July 31 trade deadline, a shutout effort started by Miles Mikolas and RBIs from Yohel Pozo and Masyn Winn helped them inch upward in the standings on Friday night.

Playing host to Padres, the Cardinals received five-plus scoreless innings from starter Mikolas, an RBI from Pozo in the third inning to provide a lead, and two RBIs on fourth inning double by Winn to pad it in their 3-0 win over San Diego at Busch Stadium.

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So far, so (largely) good with the Cardinals鈥� efforts to increase their television and streaming viewership levels.

The club has been experimenting this year with placing a handful of its locally produced games on over-the-air television after an absence of a decade and a half, and also is making all its local telecasts available for direct purchase via streaming for the first time.

During a pregame meeting Thursday before facing the Padres at Busch Stadium, a Cardinals offense that was shut out Wednesday against the Rockies looked to begin their homestand by 鈥渢rying to find a way to get going early.鈥�

When struggles by Sonny Gray left the Cardinals in an early hole, the response their offense was looking for was provided and proved to be pivotal.

Despite the ghastly ending for pitcher Erick Fedde, who the Cardinals designated for assignment on Wednesday, the trade wasn鈥檛 an error for the club or outgoing president of baseball operations John Mozeliak.

Fedde鈥檚 tenure crashed to a halt like an anvil dropped from the top of the Gateway Arch. He didn鈥檛 push the rotation to a next level, but that was never why the Cardinals acquired him.