Cardinals four-year veteran has been red-hot across past five starts

The St. Louis Cardinals have gotten off to a poor start to the second half of the season, the same as last year.

St. Louis is still holding onto the final wild-card playoff spot with a 51-48 record, but has struggled since the All-Star break, losing three of its last four games, including two late walk-off collapses. The Cardinals need to move past these stunning losses quickly and turn things, as losses piling up could alter how the team handles the impending trade deadline.

Despite the Cardinals struggling to start the second half of the season, there have still been some positives. Four-year veteran pitcher Kyle Leahy threw a gem for St. Louis on Monday, allowing just one run on three hits across six innings pitched in the team's 3-2 loss to the Los Angeles Angels.

Leahy has been dominant for the Cardinals as of late

The 29-year-old hurler struggled earlier in the season but has found his stride, allowing just two earned runs in 25 1/3 innings pitched across his past five starts. Though St. Louis is in a tough situation right now after a slow start, it's encouraging to see that Leahy has turned things around and is making the right adjustments.

“As young as our team is, I think we've bounced back pretty well,” Leahy said following the Cardinals' loss on Monday, per MLB.com's Jack Janes. “I don't think anybody came into the clubhouse today bringing anything from yesterday with them. And I expect the same going into tomorrow. It sucks, but I'm not too concerned about everybody.

“I think just learning stuff every time I go out there and learning how to manage a game and use my pitches, when to use them, how to read the bats in tandem with the scouting report. It's just getting a better feel for everything and maybe a few balls going my way or something like that. That always helps. You just try to learn something every time you go out there and build on it.”

Leahy surely has seemed to get a better feel for managing the game of late, lowering his ERA from 4.63 to 3.59 after this hot stretch he's been on. Getting more production out of the starting rotation could not be coming at a better time for the Cardinals.

Pitching has been the Cardinals' biggest need if the team decides to add at the trade deadline, but if the starting rotation continues playing well, St. Louis can address its struggling bullpen. The Cardinals have the 19th-ranked bullpen ERA in the league at 4.28, allowing seven runs in the past two games.

Leahy has been great for St. Louis as of late, but unless the rest of the pitching staff can turn things around as well, this team could be in for a disappointing second half of the season.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com/mlb/cardinals/onsi as Cardinals Four-Year Veteran Has Been Red-Hot Across Past Five Starts.