When asked by the St. Louis media what he thought of his call-up, Michael Wacha confidently said, “I’m here to stay.” If he continues having starts like he had tonight, then he is right–he is here to stay and will be here for a long time.
Wacha successfully lived up to the hype in his Major League debut against the Kansas City Royals. He pitched seven strong innings, allowing just two hits and one earned run while recording six strikeouts.
He ramped up his fastball to 96 MPH while keeping hitters off balance with a filthy 85 MPH changeup. Based on my count, he threw just 4 curveballs all game.
Wacha looked dominant throughout the majority of his outing. He retired the first 13 batters to come to the plate, and his only blemish came on an RBI single by Elliot Johnson in the top of the 5th inning. He regained focus and retired the next 7 hitters he faced before being relieved by Randy Choate to start the top of the 8th inning.
The Cardinals were able to get two runs in the first on singles by Allen Craig and David Freese. Thus, when Wacha left the game, he was in line for his first Major League victory with the Cardinals leading 2-1. Choate and Seth Maness were able to blank the Royals in the 8th inning–leaving Wacha one inning away from the victory.
With Edward Mujica having such a heavy workload as of late, he needed the night off and was unable to close the game out for Wacha’s first victory. As a result, Mike Matheny gave the save opportunity to Mitchell Boggs. Boggs picked up right where he left off earlier in the season and blew the save on the very first batter–giving up a solo home run to Jeff Francoeur.
Thus, Wacha’s stellar debut ended with a disappointing no-decision. The 10th no-decision for Cardinals starting pitchers this season.
After walking the next batter, Matheny brought in Victor Marte in hopes of shutting the Royals down to keep the score tied at 2-2 in the bottom of the 9th. However, Marte did not do much better–facing 4 batters without recording an out.
After a double by Eric Hosmer, the Royals took a 4-2 lead. At this point, the skies opened up and the umpires called the players off the field for the second rain delay of the game.
Wacha looked terrific, but he deserved a much better outcome.
