Hello, and welcome to my new feature here at STL Sports Central: Breakfast with Bernie, which I’ll write early in the morning on most weekdays. And if I’m a little late it’ll be “Brunch with Bernie.” I’ll serve up observations, opinions, notes, facts, stats, praise, cheap shots, randomness, and some weirdness as I have my first cuppa or two or three of the day. At times we’ll go “buffet” style for morning grazing, and later in the day I’ll author a new column. On most days, I’ll lead off with a Cards recap. There will be plenty of baseball info served here, with emphasis on the Cardinals.
======
The Cardinals went into Jackson County to take on a ravaged Kansas City team that has a bottom-three record in MLB. It’s bad, really bad. The Royals had lost 11 of their previous 14 home games. They have a limp lineup and a pitching staff so destroyed by injuries the team should hand out a post-game coroner’s report instead of a box score.
The Cardinals – embarrassingly – were no match for the depleted Royals. I don’t want to overreact or anything, but this must have been what it was like in 1933 when the notorious “Pretty Boy” Floyd walked into Kansas City’s Union Station and machine-gunned the place to free the escaped prisoner Frank “Jelly” Nash.
OK, Thursday’s blowout wasn’t that bad, and I apologize for resorting to an inappropriate and gratuitous reference to a heinous crime that left four lawmen dead. My bad. But how else was I gonna get Pretty Boy Floyd into a baseball column? Lemme go get another cup of coffee. I need it. I’ll resume writing in a few minutes …
I’m back.
If any of y’all had a rough or otherwise unpleasant Thursday evening – Matthew Liberatore doesn’t want to hear about it.
Final score: Royals 14, Cardinals 6.
So many KC guys scored runs, I think I saw Travis Kelce trotting in from third to touch home plate on a double by former Cardinal Lane Thomas.
Your St. Louis Cardinals (40-33) have lost five of their last eight games – and all five losses have come against teams with losing records (Mets, Twins, Royals.) The Cards have also dropped seven of their last 10 on the road. Oh, and the Cards are 2-2 against the Royals this season.
Here’s why the Cardinals got a butt whoopin’ from the Royals.
1. Matthew Liberatore, good grief. He used to pitch more innings in a relief appearance than he’s throwing in his recent starts here in 2026. The lefty lasted 1 and ⅔ innings. And more than half the batters he faced – 7 of 13 – came into score.
Liberatore’s damage report included seven runs and seven hits, and six of the seven hits were either doubles (5) or a home run (1). Five of KC’s seven runs were earned … but were they really earned? From what I saw, Liberatore was lobbing the ball over the plate, which gave the announcers a chance to repeatedly use their favorite expression – CENTER CUT – a hundred times. Or so it seemed.
Liberatore has a 6.82 ERA in his last seven starts and a 5.87 ERA over his last 13 starts. His June has been atrocious. His three starts this month have averaged only 3.4 innings, and he’s been strafed for a 10.45 ERA. And this hasn’t been “batted ball luck” or anything like that because 11 of the 16 hits that violated his ERA in these June jackings were either home runs (5) or doubles (6).
2. More Liberatore: He’s killing his team’s bullpen with these starts that last 23 minutes. Time for some vague references of horrendous Cardinal lefty starters that fans of a certain age will appreciate. Libby is giving me Mike Maroth flashbacks, conjuring memories of Kent Mercker – and for the youngsters, I think I see some Drew Rom in there. By the way, I think I now understand why so many young bloggers go onto the “X” hangout to make up preposterous Cardinal trade rumors that have ZERO chance of happening.
Hey, but it’s a lot more fun to rewire the circuitry in one’s brain and fantasize about a Joe Ryan and Byron Buxton trade to St. Louis instead of using the time to watch Liberatore pitch. I get it.
3. The offense: A familiar problem resurfaces. I know the Cardinals scored six runs, but the fellers were going up against a hittable, vulnerable KC pitching staff and had a chance to score a helluva lot more. Even though Liberatore left his team with a five-run deficit, the Cards had opportunities to pile up runs and make this a contest.
The Redbirds got into Royals pitching for 13 hits, six walks and a hit batsmen. But the Rispy wasn’t crispy. The Cards went 3 for 18 with runners in scoring position and left 15 men on base.
Even with some recent improvement in this area – before Thursday – St. Louis ranks 25th in batting average (.233) and 26th in wRC+ when batting with runners on second and/or third base.
Sampling the Buffet …
— I’m very curious to see if the U.S. men will go at Australia the way they attacked Paraguay in a 4-1 conquest in the squad’s World Cup opener. On June 12 at SoFi Stadium, the USA came out of its shell, discarded caution, invaded prime scoring areas and played with creative freedom and joy. It was stunning.
— Through many World Cups I’ve been numbed by the Americans playing it safe, playing not to lose, playing with a fear to go for greatness – and generally playing like a team that didn’t think it belonged on the same pitch with the international giants of the sport. Every now and then you’d see the U.S. press the action and turn on the confidence and flair – thanks, Clint Dempsey – but our side mostly stayed in the robot mode. Well, the Americans were ruthless in finishing off Paraguay with the most goals ever scored by the U.S. in a World Cup match. And with that, the boys also raised expectations for the encounter with the cocky Aussies.
— Mauricio Pochettino took over as USA’s coach in October 2024, he had to rebuild a program that had been terribly exposed at the Copa America that summer. The Argentine coach had just 21 months to get the team ready for the first World Cup on American land since 1994. Pochettino has impressively reshaped the mindset of this team in a short time. An attacking mentality is in place; playing scared is out. So I’d be surprised and disappointed if the U.S. reverts back to a careful, timid, safety-first approach against the Aussies.
— Jim Bowden, The Athletic: “The Cardinals have been the biggest surprise team in the NL, and they believe that their biggest needs are on the pitching side — both starting and relieving. They think many of their pitching needs can be filled through promoting prospects. That said, if they stay in the race, they’ll be a threat for one of the starting pitchers on the market.”
— Dear Jim: they won’t be a threat for one of the better starting pitchers on the market if it means giving up a prospect or two that Chaim Bloom wants to keep. I really don’t understand why this is so difficult for people to comprehend. And Jim, you’ve gone and done it … you’ll get the bloggers making up more fantasy trades. “Here’s how the Cardinals can get Ohtani.”
— Today’s sub headline that got me saying … wait … WHAT? From Apple News: “Olivia Rodrigo says she has 'smelled' fans wearing diapers from the stage: 'I think about it kind of often' ’’
— Good for Goldy: Paul Goldschmidt, 38, is crushing it for the Yankees. Until the Yanks lost to the White Sox Thursday, they had won eight of nine games. Goldschmidt – who homered in three of his last four games before Thursday – has six homers and 21 RBIs in his last 17 games. During that time he’s batting .347 with a .628 slug and .993 OPS. The former Cardinal has 11 homers in 2026.
— Signed by the Yankees before the 2025 season after his time in St. Louis ended, Goldschmidt has punished left-handed pitching during his residency in the Bronx. As a Yankee, Goldy had a .353 average, .435 OBP, and a .619 slug vs. lefties. Per wRC+, he’s 90 percent above league average offensively when facing LHP since the start of last season.
— Still golden: among 59 hitters that have at least 240 plate appearances vs. lefties since the start of 2025, Goldschmidt ranks first in batting average, OBP, slugging and OPS. “He's a Hall of Fame player,” Yankee pitcher Carlos Rodon said. “It's pretty obvious. He's been really good at this game for a long time.”
— How about Goldy’s great friend, Nolan Arenado? The aging curve isn’t the same for the former Cards third baseman who was traded to the Diamondbacks last offseason. Arenado got a lot of attention during a hitting spree earlier this season, but that didn’t last. In his last 17 games Arenado is 8 for 63 (.127) with a 29% strikeout rate.
— Nado has put up solid numbers at home, because Chase Field is perfect for his air-pull hitting style. The road venues aren’t as friendly. This season Arenado is batting .200 with a .286 OBP and .330 slugging percentage when away from Chase Field. Arenado and the Diamondbacks (38-36) will be at Busch Stadium on Monday to begin a four-game series against the Cardinals.
— Something I didn’t know about the film classic Wizard of Oz. From Buzzfeed: “Judy Garland was only 16-years old during filming when she was slapped by the director for laughing during scenes, was given diet pills, shots of adrenaline to stay awake, barbiturates to sleep, and, according to claims from her ex-husband, Sid Luft, some of the Munchkin actors sexually harassed her on set.”
--- Damn. Poor Judy. She was one of my late mom's favorites. Betty Lee Andrews loved Judy. I cry every year when watching "Meet Me In St. Louis" on Christmas Day. Garland singing Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas gets me every time -- I go full Dick Vermeil. I don't even try to conceal my teardrops.
— Joshua Baez blasted his 24th home run of the season for Triple A Memphis on Thursday night. He has gone deep 13 times in his last 20 games and is slugging .639 on the season.
Thanks for reading …
–Bernie
Bernie was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2023. During a St. Louis sports-media career that goes back to 1985, he’s won multiple national awards for column writing and sports-talk hosting – and was the lead sports columnist at the Post-Dispatch from 1989 through 2015. Before that Bernie spent a year at the Dallas Morning News, covering the Dallas Cowboys during Tom Landry’s final season (1988) plus the sale of the team to Jerry Jones and the hiring of Jimmy Johnson as coach. Bernie has covered several Baseball Hall of Fame managers during his media career including Tony La Russa, Whitey Herzog, Earl Weaver, Joe Torre and (as an interim) Red Schoendienst. In his career as a beatwriter and columnist, Bernie covered Pro Football Hall of Fame coaches Joe Gibbs, Tom Landry, Jimmy Johnson and Dick Vermeil on a daily basis.
Bernie has covered and written about many great St. Louis sports team athletes including Albert Pujols, Kurt Warner, Brett Hull, Yadier Molina, Adam Wainwright, Jim Edmonds, Marshall Faulk, Scott Rolen, Mark McGwire, Orlando Pace, Isaac Bruce, Torry Holt, Adam Wainwright, Chris Carpenter, Al MacInnis, Brian Sutter, Bernie Federko, Chris Pronger, Dan Dierdorf, Jackie Smith and Aeneas Williams. Bernie covered every baseball Cardinals’ postseason game from 1996 through 2014 and was there to chronicle teams that won four NL pennants and two World Series. He provided extensive coverage on the “Greatest Show” St. Louis Rams and has written extensively on the St. Louis Blues, Saint Louis U, and Mizzou football and basketball. Bernie was/is a longtime voter for the Baseball Hall of Fame, Pro Football Hall of Fame, Heisman Trophy and the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame.
You can access his columns, videos and the podcast version of the videos here on STL Sports Central, catch him regularly on KMOX (AM or FM) as part of the Gashouse Gang, Sports Rush Hour, Sports Open Line or Sports On a Sunday Morning shows. And you can catch weekly “reunion” segments here at STL Sports Central featuring Bernie and his longtime friend Randy Karraker.