ST. LOUIS — Mike Shildt had talked before Wednesday’s Cardinals game with the Philadelphia Phillies that his young righthander, Johan Oviedo, making his first start of the season, would “embrace the moment.”
In reality, Oviedo crushed it for the first four innings, striking out seven, walking one and giving up just two hits. But, one out away from a possible win in his final inning, the fifth, Oviedo threw a bad slider to former Cardinal Brad Miler, who hammered it over the right-field wall for a two-run homer that tied the score.
For the most part, Oviedo had been in control. Cardinals lefthanded reliever Genesis Cabrera was quite the opposite. His first pitch in the sixth, at 97 mph, hit Bryce Harper in the cheekbone, knocking Harper's helmet from his head and forcing the Phillies’ star out of the game, Cabrera’s next pitch at 95 mph nailed Didi Gregorius in the ribs.
