Inside The Cardinals

Popular Cardinals Trade Chip Suffers Concerning Collapse In Sunday's Loss

Ryan Helsley walked four hitters in one inning of work on Sunday.
Zach Pressnell|
Mar 27, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Ryan Helsley (56) pitches against the Minnesota Twins during the ninth inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images
Mar 27, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Ryan Helsley (56) pitches against the Minnesota Twins during the ninth inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

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St. Louis Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals got off to a very hot start to the season by sweeping the Minnesota Twins in a three game set. After losing two of three to the Los Angeles Angels, both losses coming in extra innings, the Cardinals matched up with the Boston Red Sox.

Boston handled the Cardinals in the first game of the series on Friday, but Saturday's game was postponed, creating a double header on Sunday. In game one of the double header, game two of the series, the Cardinals suffered a few hardships.

It began with the injury to star catcher Iván Herrera. Herrera left the game with a concerning leg injury.

After Herrera was replaced by Pedro Pagés, Pagés promptly slugged two RBI doubles in the sixth and eighth innings to give the Cardinals a two run lead.

St. Louis brought in closer Ryan Helsley for the ninth inning. Helsley has been a very popular trade candidate for the Cardinals for months. The flame throwing righty is on the final year of his contract and the Cardinals don't have much use for him if they're rebuilding. St. Louis could likely land a huge haul in return for their dominant closer.

But Helsley was far from dominant on Sunday afternoon.

Instead of firing 102 MPH fastballs by the Red Sox hitters, Helsley was too busy walking batters to be dominant. The righty walked four batters including Rafael Devers with the bases loaded to tie the game at four. In the outing, Helsley threw 16 strikes and 21 balls.

The Red Sox would win the game in the bottom of the tenth inning with a Wilyer Abreu single off Ryan Fernandez, but Helsley's inning was by far the ugliest to watch.

More MLB: Severity Of Iván Herrera's Scary Leg Injury Revealed

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Zach Pressnell
ZACH PRESSNELL

Zach Pressnell has experience covering all major US sports at both the professional and collegiate levels. He’s produced content for FanSided, Blog Red Machine, The Game Haus, Bethany College Athletics and the Bethany College online newspaper, He graduated from Bethany College (WV) with a degree in Communications and Media Arts, specializing in Sports Journalism. Pressnell was also a four-year member of the baseball team where he earned himself All-PAC recognition as a pitcher (and a cool Tommy John surgery scar). Now, Pressnell specializes in NFL and MLB coverage for Sports Illustrated’s “On SI” network among others. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding "St. Louis Cardinals On SI," please reach out to Scott Neville: scott@wtfsports.org

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