最新杏吧原创

SAN DIEGO 鈥� As a younger pitcher, one still looking for that steady pulse to go with steadier results, Kyle Gibson listened to a chaplain discuss how anxiety and thankfulness are conflicting emotions. It鈥檚 not reasonable, the explanation went, to be worried about what鈥檚 to come and thankful for what鈥檚 happened, just as it鈥檚 not productive to worry about what happened and also be thankful for the opportunity ahead.

Gibson took that thought to heart.

Then he took it to the mound.

鈥淚鈥檓 just not going to give one inning away,鈥� the Cardinals鈥� veteran right-hander said. 鈥淲orry is something in my mind that is similar to fear. You can鈥檛 go out there pitching worried about this, pitching fearful about that. There鈥檚 enough going on already. It鈥檚 literally not worth it.鈥�

Unfazed by when he made his first start of the season and unbothered by what happened the four days before he got his turn, Gibson was unyielding with seven substantive innings for the Cardinals in a 6-2 victory against San Diego late Monday night. In his Cardinals debut, Gibson allowed two runs, both on solo homers, and left the bullpen only six outs to retrieve to finalize a win. The last of the Cardinals鈥� current five starters to pitch this season, Gibson was the first to provide a quality start 鈥� exactly as the Cardinals imagined when they signed him.

A day after a diluted bullpen lost a lead late at Dodger Stadium, Gibson provided what the Cardinals so rarely had in their mad scramble for innings and dependable starts a year ago.

They know that anxiety.

They are thankful for his calming presence.

鈥淭hat was our hope in signing the guys that we did 鈥� they would do that,鈥� manager Oliver Marmol said. 鈥淲hat Lance (Lynn) did in LA was tough. What (Gibson) just did here against a really good lineup that has put up some big runs 鈥� that鈥檚 tough. Yeah, we chose them for a reason, and thankfully they wanted to pitch here. For this exact reason we saw. ... This is a guy who has been around awhile, just is very comfortable in his own skin and knows who he is. He knows what gives him success, and when you hand him the baseball, he鈥檚 going to go out and do his job. He鈥檚 as pro as they get.鈥�

By the time Gibson finished his seven innings, he had faced 25 batters and collected 21 outs. The Cardinals had a reliever in the bullpen warming to complete the seventh inning if necessary, and that was when Gibson got a double play to end his evening.

Using a mix of six different pitches and leaning into his sinker, Gibson became the first Cardinals starter this season to get through the sixth inning, let alone pocket an out in the seventh. He struck out four, allowed four hits and never threw a pitch with less than a two-run lead. The Cardinals offense, so pedestrian during the four-game visit to LA, provided home runs from Willson Contreras and Brendan Donovan. The lineup had 14 hits by the end of the eighth inning, five different starters had at least two hits and Donovan鈥檚 home run in the sixth inning left him a triple shy of the cycle.

Contreras鈥� home run in the first inning put the Cardinals ahead by three runs before Gibson took the mound for the bottom of the inning.

鈥淚t means everything. It means everything,鈥� said Gibson, a Mizzou alumnus who called the 最新杏吧原创 area home several years before he signed a one-year deal with the Cardinals. 鈥淏eing able to go out there and use the defense we have is important, being able to go out there and not worry about a solo homer or even a two-run homer making the game close. It鈥檚 just not a worry at that point. It allows Willy (Contreras) and me to really go to work and not be too worried about hard contact. Every starter will tell you mentally you don鈥檛 think about it when your team is putting up zeroes. I think you think more about it when your team puts up runs early and you understand what that does for you.鈥�

What it did for Gibson is what he could do for the Cardinals.

At the root of the Cardinals鈥� lousy, last-place season was poor, inconsistent and inefficient starting pitching. The rotation bogged down the bullpen with leftover innings, and series to series, it became a question for the Cardinals on where the innings were going to come from. They didn鈥檛 get through a five-game turn of the rotation often enough without concerns, and those compounded each and every turn.

The ripple effect, to borrow a phrase from the manager, was real. The bullpen felt the brunt. The offense played from behind. The season caved in.

What they did to mend last year鈥檚 pothole was sign Gibson and Lynn, two veteran right-handers who crank out the innings and can provide known-quantity work with a healthy dash of quality starts. The benefits are already on display. Lynn allowed three consecutive singles to open up his first start of the season and then struck out the side. Only a rain delay kept him from snowplowing deeper into Saturday鈥檚 game and perhaps saving the bullpen to be better prepared to secure Sunday鈥檚 game.

Gibson鈥檚 seven innings Monday meant relievers JoJo Romero and Ryan Helsley only had to throw a combined 14 pitches to get six outs. Helsley faced the nucleus of the Padres鈥� order and finished a scoreless ninth in six pitches.

That likely means they鈥檙e both available Tuesday to hold a lead.

鈥淓xactly what we needed,鈥� Marmol said.

Not at all like how Lynn got there. Against a Padres lineup that led the majors in runs before Monday night, Gibson was methodical and efficient, where Lynn against the Dodgers was furious and emotion. Gibson greeted teammate Jordan Walker at the dugout with a fist-bump after Walker鈥檚 diving catch in right field ended an inning. Lynn put the Dodgers on notice with a salvo of curse words to note their lack of success with the bases loaded against him.

鈥淚鈥檝e known Lance a long time, and those are some of the fun conversations we can have,鈥� Gibson said. 鈥淗e uses emotion and he uses fire and competitiveness similar but different. Outwardly, there are some differences. Inwardly, we both have a big fire. He feeds off of stuff. I鈥檝e seen it for so long. He feeds off that stuff. And if he thinks the team is not respecting him, he feeds of that. For me, I鈥檓 going to be competitive. I鈥檓 going to be fired up to get a big out or the defense turns a double play. But I鈥檝e got to move on.鈥�

Even-tempered and even temperament, that鈥檚 how Gibson went through spring training. He had an outing where his stuff was flat, his breaking ball ornery and his line unpalatable. He was unworried. Between starts, he found the timing for his delivery, and in his next outing, he took advantage of a nice strike zone and the Cubs for nine strikeouts. He waited without any anxiety for the Cardinals to give him a heads-up on when he would make his regular-season debut.

They announced Sonny Gray as the opening day starter, then pivoted to Miles Mikolas when Gray injured his hamstring. They set the schedule specifically for Lynn to get the home opener Thursday at Busch Stadium.

They moved lefty Zack Thompson into No. 2 so that Steven Matz could get an extra start in spring and be better prepared for his first regular-season start.

There was no fanfare for Gibson鈥檚 start, no rearranging of his schedule.

There wasn鈥檛 the glitz of debuting in Cardinals red against Dodgers blue.

There was just his day, his seven strong innings, his first win and no worries.

鈥淚鈥檓 too old for that,鈥� Gibson said. 鈥淛ust go out there. When the team gives you the ball, go pitch and be the best you can be.鈥�