Cardinals pitcher Kyle Leahy reached a new milestone on Apr. 29 by pitching into the sixth inning for the first time as a major league starter during St. Louis’ 11-7 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park.
The development is significant for Leahy, who has been transitioning from a reliever to a starting role this season. He struck out seven batters and allowed no runs through five innings before giving up two home runs in the sixth and being replaced by manager Oliver Marmol.
“I mean, it’s progress,” Leahy said of reaching his new high-water mark by pitching into the sixth. “A step in the right direction. But I still left the game not using my full pitch count. That’s not really how you want to end it.”
Marmol said that allowing Leahy to face hitters in the sixth was part of his development process: “You can look at the pitch count and go, ‘He’s going into this inning at 70 pitches, he’s got plenty to work with.’ But … he hasn’t started in a while,” Marmol said. “So it’s the ups, too, of getting back out there in that sixth, right? It’s the combo of those two things.
“So for him to go back out there, we knew this could be a troublesome inning, but he needs to feel that. And that’s one of those where the score dictates him being OK going back out there — and if he gives a couple, it’s fine, but at least we’re pushing that threshold a little bit.”
Leahy acknowledged adjusting physically and mentally remains an ongoing challenge: “The physical thing is coming around … It’s getting better,” Leahy said. “The mental side of it is something that I just have to be better at.” He also reflected on facing lineups multiple times: “Baseball’s a hard game,” Leahy said in a moment of introspection. “How many times can you go back to the same well? Then, when do you need to switch it up is the hard thing to learn… So, I need to figure out how to read that better and make better decisions based on that.”
Offensively, every Cardinals player recorded at least one hit during Tuesday’s win. Nolan Gorman hit his fourth home run of the season while Victor Scott II connected for his first career homer at PNC Park—a ball that landed in Allegheny River history as only its 53rd occurrence.
Gorman commented on teammate Pedro Pagés’ late-game single: “To be honest, I didn’t even know Pedro [Pagés] didn’t have a hit [until the ninth] until he said something after the game,” Gorman joked. “Yeah, you never want to be that guy that didn’t have a hit. But luckily, nobody did today.”
The Cardinals’ performance marked their twenty-third ten-run game at PNC Park—more than any other visiting team—highlighting both individual growth for players like Leahy and collective contributions throughout their lineup.
