Riley

O'Brien

O’Brien gave up one run to take a loss in a tie game last night and six runs in a blown save/loss Sunday against the Phillies, but he had an easy time in an 11-pitch ninth today. He leads the National League and is third in the majors with his 34 saves. With O’Brien and George Soriano both having pitched back-to-back days, Ryne Stanek might be in line for a save chance on Friday.

This one wasn’t nearly as bad as Sunday’s six-run massacre, but it still hurts some. O’Brien gave up a leadoff single to Samuel Basallo on a grounder towards third that would have been handled if the infield hadn’t been shifted over and then a go-ahead double to Christian Encarnacion-Strand before retiring the next three batters to keep it a one-run game. The Cardinals, though, couldn’t pick him up. It’s O’Brien’s sixth loss to go along with five blown saves. Still, he was pitching so well in the month prior to Sunday’s outing that his closer’s role should be safe for now.

All six runs scored with two outs. O’Brien loaded the bases before allowing a three-run double to Edmundo Sosa, and Bryan De La Cruz followed with a game-tying hit. That set the stage for Kyle Schwarber’s walk-off homer on O’Brien’s 39th pitch of the inning. The Cardinals’ closer hadn’t allowed a run this month until Sunday’s meltdown.

The Cardinals got O’Brien up when they took the lead in the ninth today but then sat him down after going ahead by five runs. They instead went to George Soriano, who has been very reliable this year. Soriano, though, walked three and gave up a hit while getting two outs. O’Brien entered a save situation with the score 10-6 and gave up a two-run single to Sal Stewart before walking two to make it 10-9. Matt McLain, already with a grand slam on the day, came up again with the bases loaded, but his hard liner to right was caught to end the game. O’Brien threw 15 pitches today while working for the third time in four days, so he might be down Friday. Soriano would normally be the fallback, but he’ll almost certainly be rested, too. It might be Gordon Graceffo’s time to shine.

O’Brien struck out Eugenio Suárez for the second straight day to finish off the save. It was his seventh straight hitless inning in a row.

O’Brien made it look pretty easy today, though it helped that he was facing Eugenio Suárez (36 percent strikeout rate), Dane Myers (26 percent strikeout rate) and Michael Toglia (just his sixth game this season but a 39 percent strikeout rate last year). O’Brien has allowed one hit over 10 scoreless innings in his last 10 appearances.

With the save, O’Brien is now up to 30 on the year. He didn’t allow a hit, and picked up a strikeout while lowering his ERA to 3.14 on the year. A 40-save campaign is within reach if the Cardinals get hot.

O’Brien got a 100-mph lineout to left, a 103-mph groundout and then an 88-mph liner to left that required an excellent diving catch from Everson Pereira. It’s his seventh straight scoreless appearance, and he’s now tied with Mason Miller for the NL lead in saves.

O’Brien made us sweat with a lead-off walk to start the ninth inning in a one run game, but immediately forced Kyle Karros to hit into a double play and neutralize the threat. His 28 saves are tied with Mason Miller for third-most in the league trailing only Bryan Baker and Cade Smith. He’s also only allowed two earned runs since the start of July in what’s turned into a standout season.

O’Brien felt fine coming out of a bullpen session earlier this week after being unavailable for a couple games due to soreness in his back and oblique. The 31-year-old stopper should be ready if a save situation comes up at Busch Stadium on Wednesday night.