On Wednesday, the St. Louis Cardinals came into their series finale against the powerful Texas Rangers riding a five-game losing skid.
They also owned the worst record in the National League.
And so, they turned to right-hander Jack Flaherty hoping to stop the skid.
Flaherty received a no-decision, but gave the team six scoreless innings, marking the first quality start by a Cardinals starter since Miles Mikolas’ eight-inning gem against the Kansas City Royals.
An eighth-inning home run by Alec Burleson put the Cardinals in front, where they would stay for a 1-0 win.
On Twitter, the Cardinals celebrated Flaherty’s strong outing with a cool graphic featuring the right-hander’s line against Texas.
Need a shutdown start? There's Jack for that. #STLCards x @ANG_Recruiting pic.twitter.com/xJUioCHC3A
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) June 8, 2023
The young right-hander allowed just three hits over six scoreless frames and managed to strike out eight Rangers hitters.
The only downside was the fact that Flaherty walked five batters.
However, that didn’t deter him as he played the role of stopper for the Cardinals in a key spot, as he helped them snap their skid and gain a game on the Pittsburgh Pirates in the Wild Card race.
Flaherty owns a record of 3-4 this season.
With his six scoreless innings, the 27-year-old lowered his ERA to 4.15 on the season.
He also has struck out 72 batters over 69.1 innings of work in his 13 starts this season.
The Cardinals banked heavily on Flaherty returning to his 2019 form.
So far, the young right-hander has performed well, save for one start against the Los Angeles Angels, where he surrendered 10 runs.
Since then, he has looked more like his old self, and he certainly performed like the ace he was intended to be on Wednesday.
NEXT: MLB Insider Grills Cardinals Over Poor Start
