Cardinals notebook: McGee knows how it feels to hit for cycle but lose the game

John Mabry hit for the cycle in Coors Field in Denver on May 18, 1996, but the Cardinals lost that game 9-8. And then there was that game for the ages on June 23, 1984, when Chicago Cubs star Ryne Sandberg hit two game-tying homers off Bruce Suttter but the Cardinals’ center fielder also hit for the cycle that day.

Willie McGee, now a Cardinals coach, was that center fielder and he wasn’t altogether happy after a 12-11 loss in 11 innings, similar to Arenado’s feelings on Friday night.

“It’s all about the winning,” said McGee Saturday before the Cardinals played the Phillies. “(The cycle) doesn’t mean anything to me because the ultimate goal is to win.

“It means that I did a decent job. I helped the team. But you lose the game.”

But, conceded McGee, “that was a helluva game. For someone to hit two home runs off Bruce Sutter ... was unbelievable.”

Besides his home run, triple, double and a single, McGee drove in six runs that day. But he doesn’t consider that his best career game.

That, he said, was reserved for Game 3 of the 1982 World Series when, as a rookie, he hit two homers himself and saved a couple of potential homers in center field as the Cardinals beat Milwaukee at County Stadium.

“That’s because of what was on the line,” McGee said. “It took a lot of pressure off a lot of guys because that was unexpected. Yeah, that game meant more.”

In attendance at Saturday night’s game here was former Cardinals right-hander Ralph Citarella, a friend of broadcaster Rick Horton. Citarella made just two big-league starts for the Cardinals but the first was that day in Chicago when he was the only Cardinals pitcher to retire Sandberg, who had five hits in six at-bats, driving in seven runs.

Citarella got together with McGee and Horton before the game here.

Arenado said he called his parents after Friday’s game at Citizens Bank Park.

“They were stoked,” he said. “They were bummed we lost. But it’s a cool feat and something you don’t take lightly so I’m trying to enjoy it.

“It was a pretty cool day, having it come in just four at-bats,” he said. “It’s hard to come by against big-league pitching. But, at the end of the day, we lost so it’s not that enjoyable, I guess.

“I wasn’t thinking about too much until after I hit the double,” said Arenado. That occurred in the sixth inning with Arenado needing only a single to complete the cycle in the eighth.

Arenado hadn't hit much in Philadelphia

That Arenado would have a cycle here would have seemed unlikely inasmuch as he had hit only .180 with a .564 OPS at Citizens Bank Park in his 10-season career.

Arenado said, “That was my first big day here. I’ve hit homers here but I’ve never had complete games, like two hits or three. I don’t know what it is about this place. I think it’s just a mixture of not feeling very good here and also their pitching’s been pretty good, too.

“Those mixtures aren’t great.”

Hicks activated; Wittgren designated for assignment

Jordan Hicks was activated off the injured list and back in the Cardinals’ bullpen after missing more than a month with a forearm flexor problem, which included several minor league outings, including two earlier this week. Hicks will be used in sixth- or seventh-inning type situations, said manager Oliver Marmol, but not in the eighth or ninth where Giovanny Gallegos and Ryan Helsley hold forth.

Hicks began the season as a starting pitcher and was 1-4 with a 5.02 earned run average over seven starts and two relief appearances.

As for returning to the bullpen, Hicks said, “I did it for my first season-and-a-half,” said Hicks. “I told ‘Oli (Marmol),’ and ‘Mad Dog (pitching coach Mike Maddux),’ I just want to help the team win.”

Hicks drove to his rehab assignments, whether they were in Memphis or Indianapolis. But he got mileage, noting that his most recent paycheck had a little something extra in it. “I was OK with that,” he said. “I know I didn’t spend that much.”

Saturday’s starter, Matthew Liberatore, officially was brought up from Memphis although he has been with the team for several days. Going the other way were veteran right-hander Nick Wittgren, who led the club in appearances with 29 but was designated for assignment, and oft-optioned right-hander Jake Woodford, who will return to Memphis.

Wittgren took his dismissal with grace. “I know I had the bad (game) in Tampa and a bad one against Chicago,” he said. “I had a couple of really bad, exploding innings. So it’s part of the business. We like to call that the ‘reliever life.’

“But I can’t say enough good things about this organization, though. It’s been an amazing experience. Everything everybody has said about St. Louis before I got here ... has lived up to it.”

Wittgren was 1-0 with a 5.90 ERA for the Cardinals.

Marmol, who said the club wanted to get a further look at recent addition James Naile, said Woodford had been “an absolute pro. He was good for the young guys in the (bull)pen. There are some things that the young guys don’t understand about the cadence and overall rhythm and what it looks like to get loose — just the tempo of it.”

The Cardinals are still without left-handed relievers T.J. McFarland and Genesis Cabrera, who are both on the COVID-19 list. Marmol said Cabrera hadn’t displayed the same severe symptoms that had befallen McFarland, who has begun throwing bullpens at home and may need a brief rehab option. Cabrera hasn’t been cleared to return yet from the injured list.