Cardinals' Giovanny Gallegos: Picks up save vs. Puerto Rico
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Gallegos allowed two hits, but he was able to fire a scoreless inning Friday to pick up a save in the World Baseball Classic for Team Mexico against Puerto Rico.
Gallegos threw 11 of 17 pitches for strikes, and he was able to fan Enrique Hernandez to get out of trouble. The right-hander is saving games for Team Mexico, but he is expected to operate in a setup role for the Cardinals in the regular season.
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Cardinals' Giovanny Gallegos: Adjusting to pitch clock
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Gallegos is working on adjusting to MLB's new pitch timer, John Denton of MLB.com reports.
Gallegos had one of the slowest paces in all of baseball in 2022, but the new rules for the 2023 season will force him to adjust. "It's hard for me. It's a new experience and a big challenge for me," Gallegos said. "I am trying to make some adjustments about the timing, but it's a big change." The 31-year-old reliever has often worked in a high-leverage role for the Cardinals, and he figures to fill a similar spot in the bullpen this year, as long as the pace-of-play changes don't have negative impact on his effectiveness. Ryan Helsley still figures to see the majority of the save chances.
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Cardinals' Giovanny Gallegos: Takes loss Monday
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Gallegos (3-6) took the loss Monday versus the Pirates. He was charged with one run on three walks and no hits while striking out one in one-third of an inning.
Gallegos got the last out of the eighth inning, but then walked the first three batters in the ninth in a tied game. JoJo Romero walked the next batter, and the run and the decision were left on Gallegos' line. That's not the way the 31-year-old right-hander would want to celebrate his signing of a two-year contract extension earlier Monday. The poor outing ended Gallegos' 7.1-inning scoreless streak. He now has a 3.05 ERA, 1.02 WHIP and 73:18 K:BB across 59 innings while adding 14 saves and 12 holds this year.
Gallegos signed a two-year contract extension with the Cardinals on Monday.
Gallegos has performed well as a high-leverage reliever for the Cardinals over the last two seasons, converting 28 of 42 save chances with 36 holds while posting a 2.98 ERA and 0.92 WHIP in 139 innings over 129 relief appearances. The right-hander will remain in St. Louis for at least two more seasons and should factor into the team's late-inning mix once again in 2023. His extension includes a club option for the 2025 season.
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Cardinals' Giovanny Gallegos: Earns 14th save
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Gallegos picked up the save Thursday in San Diego, striking out one in a perfect ninth inning during a 5-4 win.
Gallegos needed just 10 pitches to record his 14th save of the season and first since Aug. 28. Ryan Helsley came on in the eighth inning to face the heart of the Padres' lineup, opening the door for Gallegos to pick up the save. He has not allowed a baserunner in seven of his eight outings in September and is holding batters to a .197 average on the season.
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Cardinals' Giovanny Gallegos: Snags third win
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Gallegos (3-5) pitched a perfect inning and earned the win Saturday over the Pirates.
Gallegos kept the game tied at 4-4 in the eighth inning and ended up with the win when Nolan Arenado's three-run double put the Cardinals ahead in the ninth. It was a bounce-back effort for Gallegos after he yielded three runs in one-third of an inning versus the Nationals on Wednesday. The right-hander has a 3.27 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, 61:13 K:BB, 13 saves, nine holds and six blown saves through 52.1 innings this year. He remains one of the Cardinals' most trusted relievers.
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Cardinals' Giovanny Gallegos: Snags save versus Atlanta
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Gallegos allowed a hit in a scoreless inning to earn a save in Sunday's 6-3 win over Atlanta.
Regular closer Ryan Helsley was brought in for a high-leverage situation in the seventh inning and allowed a three-run home run. He also pitched the eighth and picked up the win when the Cardinals rallied ahead. That left the save opportunity to Gallegos, who delivered with his fifth consecutive scoreless appearance. Both Gallegos and Helsley have picked up three saves this month, which suggests manager Oli Marmol has started to lean on a matchup-based approach to his bullpen usage again. Gallegos owns a 3.04 ERA, 1.01 WHIP and 57:12 K:BB through 47.1 innings while adding 13 saves, eight holds and six blown saves this year.
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Cardinals' Giovanny Gallegos: Clean inning for 12th save
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Gallegos struck out one in a perfect inning to earn the save in Sunday's 6-4 win over the Diamondbacks.
With Ryan Helsley on the paternity list, Gallegos was the top reliever on the Cardinals' roster this weekend. He picked up a hold Saturday before that game became a 16-7 blowout, and he helped St. Louis secure the sweep Sunday with his 12th save of the year. The veteran reliever has maintained a 3.11 ERA, 1.01 WHIP and 57:12 K:BB through 46.1 innings this year, and he's been fairly sharp in allowing just two runs (one earned) through seven innings in August. He'll likely find himself back in a setup role once Helsley rejoins the team.
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Cardinals' Giovanny Gallegos: Dealt loss in 10th inning
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Gallegos (2-5) allowed two runs (one earned) on one hit in one inning, taking the extra-inning loss Saturday versus the Brewers. He struck out none and walked none.
Gallegos gave up an RBI triple to Hunter Renfroe, who then scored on a Kolten Wong sacrifice fly. That was enough of a cushion for the Brewers to hold off the Cardinals. Gallegos hadn't pitched since last Saturday, so there may have been a little rust, and this was just his sixth appearance since the All-Star break. The right-hander has a 3.40 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and 53:11 K:BB while logging 11 saves, seven holds and six blown saves through 42.1 innings. Gallegos hasn't received many chances to reassert himself in the high-leverage conversation for a team that's won eight of its 11 games in August.
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Cardinals' Giovanny Gallegos: Notches 11th save
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Gallegos saved Saturday's 1-0 victory against the Yankees, striking out two in a perfect ninth inning.
With closer Ryan Helsley finishing Friday's win, manager Oliver Marmol turned to Gallegos to lock up Saturday's victory. The 30-year-old battled with Aaron Judge and forced a flyout to the warning track, then struck out Josh Donaldson and Gleyber Torres to end the game. The save was Gallegos first since July 12, and he's squarely behind Helsley for closing duties, who has logged three saves since that date.
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Cardinals' Giovanny Gallegos: Shifting from late-inning role
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Manager Oliver Marmol said Gallegos, who earned a hold after pitching a scoreless sixth inning Friday against the Reds, will move to a lower-leverage role for at least a few games due to his recent struggles, Katie Woo of The Athletic reports.
Gallegos entered for the sixth inning with a one-run lead, and he allowed one hit while recording three strikeouts. It wasn't exactly a low-leverage spot, though it was only the third time all season he's entered earlier than the seventh inning. Prior to Friday's appearance the right-hander had given up five runs across his past four outings and seven runs in his past eight, leading to the decision from the St. Louis skipper. It may only be a temporary measure from Marmol in an attempt to get Gallegos back on track, but it should given Ryan Helsley, who secured another save Friday, a chance to further lock down the closer role.
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Cardinals' Giovanny Gallegos: Can't close door on Dodgers
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Gallegos (2-4) was tagged with the loss and a blown save against the Dodgers on Wednesday as a result of allowing two runs on three hits over one inning. He struck out two batters and did not issue a walk.
Gallegos inherited a one-run ninth-inning lead, but he wasn't able to keep things that way. The right-hander allowed the first two batters he saw to reach base, and a subsequent sacrifice fly and single resulted in two runs for Los Angeles. Gallegos and Ryan Helsley have been sharing closer duties, but it wouldn't be surprising to see more chances going Helsley's way given Gallegos' recent struggles. The latter has given up at least one run in each of his past four appearances and has two losses in addition to two blown saves over that span.
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Cardinals' Giovanny Gallegos: Logs 10th save
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Gallegos earned the save during Tuesday's 7-6 win against the Dodgers, allowing one run on one hit and one walk with two strikeouts in one inning.
Gallegos served up a leadoff homer to Freddie Freeman and was able to work around a Max Muncy walk to deliver his first save since June 14. It was a nice rebound from a loss and blown save in his last two appearances. However, the 30-year-old has now surrendered a run in each of his last three appearances and seen his ERA rise from 2.90 to 3.44. It seemed Gallegos had fallen behind Ryan Helsley as the preferred closer, though Helsley was deployed in the eighth inning Tuesday and manager Oliver Marmol may be inclined to play the matchups.
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Cardinals' Giovanny Gallegos: Stumbles again in third loss
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Gallegos (2-3) allowed a run on two hits and struck out one in one inning to take the loss Saturday versus the Phillies.
Gallegos has allowed runs in each of his last two appearances. He allowed a game-tying home versus Atlanta on Thursday, and he gave up a double and a single before an Alec Bohm sacrifice fly brought home the lone run of Saturday's 1-0 loss to the Phillies. While still considered one of the Cardinals' better high-leverage arms, Gallegos has been shaky with four runs allowed in his last 6.1 innings, taking two blown saves and a loss in that span. He has a 3.27 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and 40:9 K:BB through 33 innings. Each poor performance pushes the right-hander more toward a setup job as Ryan Helsley remains relatively unhittable as the Cardinals' preferred closer of late.
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Cardinals' Giovanny Gallegos: Allows game-tying homer
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Gallegoes allowed a run on one hit and struck out two in one inning during Thursday's extra-innings win over Atlanta. He was charged with a blown save.
Gallegos pitched the seventh inning and allowed a game-tying solo shot to rookie Michael Harris. This was officially Gallegos' second blown save in his last five outings, though he's seen more of the closing duties given to Ryan Helsley lately. Gallegos has a 3.09 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, 39:9 K:BB, nine saves, five holds and five blown saves through 32 innings this season. Both of the Cardinals' top relievers have had limited save opportunities lately with the team struggling through a 7-10 stretch.
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Cardinals' Giovanny Gallegos: Takes blown save
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Gallegos allowed two runs on three hits with one strikeout in 1.1 innings Saturday versus the Cubs. He took a blown save.
Gallegos' misstep was a game-tying, two-run home run to Rafael Ortega in the eighth inning. Manager Oli Marmol then replaced Gallegos with Ryan Helsley on the mound, and it was the latter reliever who got the final five outs of the game and the win as the Cardinals pulled ahead in their half of the eighth. Saturday's outing marked the end of a six-inning scoreless streak for Gallegos. He has two wins, one save, two holds and a blown save in seven outings in June, whereas Helsley has a win, two saves, a hold and a blown save. That doesn't lend much clarity to the Cardinals' two-man closer committee, but Helsley has allowed only two runs (one earned) this season while Gallegos has been noticeably easier to score off of with a 3.21 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and 34:8 K:BB across 28 innings.
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Cardinals' Giovanny Gallegos: Collects ninth save
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Gallegos gave up a hit and struck out one in a scoreless ninth inning Tuesday to record his ninth save of the season in the first game of a doubleheader against the Pirates.
Ryan Helsley had picked up four saves since Gallegos' last successful conversion May 20, but Helsley got the call in the eighth inning in this one. The duo's late-inning usage will likely continue to depend on matchups and situations rather than the Cardinals having a clear divide between setup man and closer, but Gallegos didn't hurt his standing with a 2.00 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and 14:4 K:BB over nine innings between his last two saves.
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Cardinals' Giovanny Gallegos: Picks up second win
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Gallegos (2-2) pitched a perfect inning, striking out one and earning the win Monday versus the Pirates.
Gallegos became the pitcher of record when Paul Goldschmidt put the Cardinals ahead for good with a seventh-inning solo shot. After opening the season as the Cardinals' closer, Gallegos has started to serve in more of a fireman role, as manager Oli Marmol brings him for the most important spots. That has led to more save chances for Ryan Helsley, who now trails Gallegos only 8-5 on the team's season saves leaderboard. The veteran right-hander has a 3.04 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and 31:8 K:BB while adding two holds in 23.2 innings overall.
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Cardinals' Giovanny Gallegos: Blows save in eighth inning
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Gallegos was charged with a blown save, allowing two runs on two hits while striking out two in a 3-2 extra-inning victory Tuesday over San Diego.
Gallegos entered the game in the eighth inning with the Cardinals leading 2-0. Trent Grisham took him deep for a two-run blast to even the score. It was the third blown save of the season for the veteran and, while he's received the vast majority of save opportunities for St. Louis, he last closed a game May 20. Ryan Helsley has notched two saves since Gallegos last converted a chance and Helsley pitched a scoreless ninth inning Tuesday in a tied ballgame.
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Cardinals' Giovanny Gallegos: Earns five-out save
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Gallegos struck out five in 1.2 scoreless innings to earn the save in Friday's win over the Pirates.
The Pirates put together a late rally during Friday's matchup, but Gallegos entered the game with runners on first and third and struck out every batter he faced to record the final five outs of the game while preserving the two-run lead. The right-hander was charged with a blown save Thursday against the Mets, but it was encouraging to see him bounce back in Friday's series opener. Gallegos has now converted eight of 10 save chances over 15 appearances this season.
