Riley

O'Brien

O’Brien has been a little shaky of late, but that wasn’t the case tonight in a 10-pitch inning. He struck out one of the three batters he faced, and he’s now 11-for-13 closing out games.

O’Brien got the final two outs after the Brewers made it a save situation with two runs in the ninth. He needed only three pitches to get those final two outs, and it give him 10 saves on the season while lowering his ERA to a solid 2.12.

O’Brien recorded the first two outs, one on a 107-mph liner to right, before giving up four straight singles in a 3-0 game. The Dodgers sent up Dalton Rushing as a pinch-hitter at that point, but he struck out to end the game. Dominant for most of last month, O’Brien has now given up four runs in his last three appearances. Still, he remains a strong bet going forward.

The box score won’t tell you that Nick Yorke hit what was nearly a walk-off home run off O’Brien with two outs in the ninth before Nathan Church leapt up to rob it. Watching on hopelessly, O’Brien could not believe his eyes. If that ball wasn’t caught, O’Brien may have blown his third save in his last four tries. It was though and O’Brien’s eight saves trail only Mason Miller and David Bednar so far this season.

Soriano received his opportunity with both Riley O’Brien, JoJo Romero and Ryne Stanek presumably unavailable for workload reasons after each of them threw over 30 pitches during a two-game span over the weekend. The 27-year-old righty was charged with preserving a two-run lead and managed to work around a two-out single by Nick Gonzales to slam the door.

O’Brien came in to protect a two-run lead in the eighth inning, but he gave up a two-run single to Connor Joe to blow his second save of the season. He gave up another two runs after exiting the game on a bases-loaded single from Leo Rivas. O’Brien has been outstanding to begin the year — these were the first earned runs he’s allowed this year — but fantasy managers definitely take a hit for his poor performance Saturday. He also threw 39 pitches, so he definitely won’t be available Sunday if a save chance arises.

O’Brien took a blown save Sunday for allowing an inherited run to score, but he still hasn’t given up an earned run of his own this year. The appearance today was his third in four days, so he might need Wednesday off. JoJo Romero would probably close in his place. Ryne Stanek threw 32 pitches in a bad outing tonight, so he’ll likely be down, too.

O’Brien took over from Jojo Romero with two on and two outs in the eighth and gave up a two-run single to Isaac Paredes that tied the game. He then picked off pinch-runner Brice Matthews to end the eighth, and he struck out two in a perfect ninth. He got the win after the Cardinals scored three times in the top of the 10th. The save went to Gordon Graceffo, who got the final out after Justin Bruihl retired two of three batters in the 10th. O"Brien has now pitched two straight days, so Romero or Ryne Stanek might need to close Monday.

O’Brien wasn’t supposed to be a part of this one, but George Soriano gave up three runs in the ninth to make it a 7-5 game. O’Brien took over then and got Jose Altuve to ground out and struck out Yordan Alcarez. He’s still yet to allow a run this season.

O’Brien was great here, throwing 11 of 15 pitches for strikes and securing his fifth save of the season. There was some concern that O’Brien’s role as the best reliever in the Cardinals’ bullpen wouldn’t mean much on a rebuilding team, but the Cardinals are now 10-8 on the season. If they can keep games close, they are likely going to squeak out close victories, which should mean more save opportunities for O’Brien than many anticipated.