Cardinals' Matthew Liberatore: Doesn't complete five frames

Now Playing

Link copied!

Liberatore (6-8) took the loss against San Diego on Saturday, allowing two runs (one earned) on five hits and two walks while striking out three batters over 4.1 innings.

Liberatore hadn't pitched in 15 days prior to Saturday, as St. Louis opted to skip his last start so that he could get some extra rest around the All-Star break. Despite the extended time off, the Cardinals didn't want to push the southpaw too hard against the Padres -- per John Denton of MLB.com, manager Oli Marmol said prior to the contest that while Liberatore wouldn't be on a pitch count, he wasn't likely to reach triple-digit pitches. That proved to be the case, as he was lifted after 77 pitches (49 strikes). St. Louis seems set on keeping Liberatore's innings in check during the second half of the season, so shorter outings like this one could become the norm for him. He's currently at 104.2 frames on the campaign, 18.2 more than he threw all of last season, when he worked mostly as a reliever.