Edward Mujica had a ridiculous 1.73 ERA and 43/3 K/BB ratio over his first 57 1/3 innings this season. But the righty’s September has been nightmarish.
Mujica allowed three hits and two earned runs while recording only one out in an appearance Saturday night in St. Louis’ 6-2 defeat of the Cubs and now has an 11.05 ERA in 7 1/3 frames this month. “That was tough,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny told Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch after Mujica’s latest poor appearance on Saturday. “I wanted things to go differently than that, for sure.”
Trevor Rosenthal has taken over as the Cardinals’ closer and there’s some question now about Mujica’s inclusion on the postseason roster. “We’ll see how he feels and (have) everybody kind of get their heads together,” said Matheny on that particular topic. “Right now is not the time to make that decision.”
St. Louis has locked up the National League Central crown and will try to clinch homefield advantage through the NLCS in Sunday’s series- and season-finale against the Cubs. A Braves loss will also clinch that.