Pittsburgh Pirates at St. Louis Cardinals

Though Cardinals No. 8 prospect Quinn Mathews had gotten his feet wet at the big league level with a few starts over the past several weeks, Friday night at Busch Stadium was his first chance to pitch in front of the home crowd. As evidenced by the applause when he walked off the field during a pitching change with two outs in the sixth, he made the most of his Busch Stadium debut. Flashing his dynamic swing-and-miss arsenal, Mathews matched his previous high with seven strikeouts. The efficiency, though, was the key element that saw a marked improvement as Mathews was able to limit the damage -- both in terms of the batted balls against him and the freebies issued by him -- to produce the most impactful start of his fledgling MLB career. Mathews pitched 5 2/3 innings of one-run baseball on Friday, guiding the Cardinals to a 4-1 win in the series opener against the Pirates for his first Major League win.  ​ That meant the customary spin in the laundry cart -- and being sprayed with the accompanying kitchen liquids. “I’m smelling remnants of hotdogs right now,” Mathews said. “I believe that would be the ketchup and mustard in my hair currently, so we’ll definitely be trying to shampoo and condition again later.” The rookie left-hander was an out away from completing six innings when Nick Gonzales beat him for a base hit, triggering the move to the bullpen from manager Oliver Marmol with the upstart right-handed slugger Rafael Flores Jr. due up. Amid a taxing stretch of baseball for the St. Louis bullpen, it was Ryan Fernandez who drew the critical assignment. He ultimately struck out Flores Jr. looking to end the sixth, ensuring Mathews’ pitching line would carry just one earned run.  Mathews permitted five hits, half the number he surrendered in his prior start in Philadelphia, and walked only one batter.  “That’s a big part of it, just being on the attack,” Marmol said. “Being efficient with what he’s doing. He threw some, I would say, more competitive two-strike pitches as well that didn’t make the at-bats longer than they needed to be.” Mathews' ability to work deep into the sixth before passing the baton after his 102nd pitch was significant.