Cardinals first baseman Alec Burleson speaks with the media on Saturday, July 13, 2024, after winning the first game of a doubleheader vs. the Cubs at Busch Stadium. (Video by Ethan Erickson, Post-Dispatch)
Less than 24 hours after Cardinals hitters were frustrated and left shaking their heads as though Chicago Cubs veteran right-hander Kyle Hendricks had used witchcraft against them, they bounced back with one of their best offensive performances of the season.
And they started their offensive onslaught immediately on Saturday afternoon.
The Cardinals pummeled opposing starting pitcher Hayden Wesneski for 11 runs, including a nine-run first inning when five runs scored with two outs, on their way to their highest scoring game of the season and their largest margin of victory of the season. The Cardinals stopped a three-game losing slide in the process, and they assured themselves a winning record at the All-Star break.
Cardinals leadoff hitter and rookie shortstop Masyn Winn and No. 2 hitter Alec Burleson had two hits apiece in that game-breaking first inning, and they combined for five hits, five runs batted in and four runs scored in an 11-3 win against the Cubs in front of an announced crowd of 39,129 in the opening game of a split doubleheader at Busch Stadium.
The Cardinals (49-45) also evened the four-game series between the teams at one game apiece heading into the nightcap of the doubleheader. They’ll wrap up the final series before the MLB All-Star break on Sunday afternoon.
“It was definitely a good bounce back from last night, for sure,†Burleson said. “But I wouldn’t say there was an emphasis. Obviously, any time we can get our pitchers runs in the first inning, that’s what we want to do. And we want to continue to tack them on. I think we did a really good job of taking good at-bats. Even though we scored nine runs in the first inning, we continued to have good at-bats throughout that game. We got into their ‘pen a little bit, That’s good for the doubleheader.
“But I wouldn’t say there was an emphasis on it, but we knew we didn’t do what we wanted to last night. That was probably in the back of some guys’ minds.â€
Burleson sat just a triple shy of the cycle after the third inning. He went 3 for 4 with a home run, three RBIs and two runs scored. He finished the first game batting a team-leading .288 this season.
Friday night, the Cardinals scored just one run. That came in the last inning of a 5-1 loss, and Hendricks held them to five hits over seven scoreless innings.
That futile offensive performance served as the backdrop for the first inning on Saturday.
The Cardinals’ nine-run inning marked their largest single-inning scoring output of the season. Their highest scoring game of the season, through the first 93 games, was 10 runs.
Willson Contreras (2 for 4), Brendan Donovan (1 for 4), Michael Siani (0 for 1), Winn (2 for 5) and Burleson drove in runs in the first inning. Winn drove in two and scored two in that inning alone, including a two-out, two-strike, two-run single.
Winn was also on base for Burleson’s home run, a three-run blast to the opposite field that pushed the Cardinals’ scoring output to nine runs in the frame.
Donovan matched his career high for RBIs (45) when he knocked in a run in the first inning.
The first six batters of the inning reached for the Cardinals, including two runners who reached on fielder’s choices where the Cubs (46-50) failed to record an out as well as one that reached on a fielding error.
The Cardinals scored three runs before the Cubs recorded an out in the first inning, but not before Wesneski (3-6) committed a pair of errors — one throwing and one fielding.
“You just want to keep the line moving when guys are rolling like that,†Burleson said.
It felt like a merciful respite for the Cubs and Wesneski when the former Cub Contreras, who started the scoring with an RBI single, popped up for the third out to end the frame.
Winn, Burleson and Contreras singled in succession to start the inning, and Winn scored on Contreras’ single to right field.
Then Lars Nootbaar hit a bouncer back to the mound, and Wesneski fielded and threw to second in an attempt to start a double play.
Instead, the throw sailed high over the leap of Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson and into center field. That gaffe allowed Burleson to score all the way from second base for the second run of the inning.
Nolan Arenado followed with a grounder to third base, but Miles Mastrobuoni struggled to get the ball out of his glove which made his throw to second base too late to beat Nootbaar. That left the bases loaded for Donovan, who hit a soft roller between the pitcher’s mound and first base.
Wesneski whiffed on his initial fielding attempt as he came off the mound, then scrambled to the ball, picked it up and shoveled to first base too late to beat Donovan. Replay challenge upheld the ruling on the field and the Cardinals added their third run of the inning.
After back-to-back strikeouts, Wesneski hit Siani with a pitch with the bases loaded and forced in a fourth run (Siani left the game after three innings with a bruised elbow).
With two outs and two strikes, Winn lined a 1-2 sweeper lower and outside into center field for a two-run single and made it a 6-1 lead.
“That game looks different because you’ve got punch-out, punch-out, and if he flies out (they) feel good about limiting some damage there and it not snowballing,†Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said of Winn’s at-bat.
“But to be able to add right there, that’s a big part of that game. When you’re on the other side of that and they get that two-strike knock for two more runs, you feel the game getting away from you — especially that early. So that was an important at-bat.â€
Burleson then smacked a 1-1 sweeper on the outer half over the left field wall for a three-run home run. Burleson’s 16th home run of the season capped the scoring in the nine-run frame.
Seven of the nine runs were unearned runs.
“There’s times when you can chop a ball and get frustrated and just kind of go through the motions,†Marmol said. “And our guys went hard. They sniffed out hits, and they were able to get it. That just continues to add pressure on that defense. It extends that inning. It allows you to hit that homer and that single up the middle and do some of the other things.
“Not giving in mentally when an at-bat doesn’t go your way (is important), and good teams take advantage of the other side when they make mistakes. We were able to do that today.â€
The Cardinals trailed 1-0 going into the bottom of the first. After Arenado turned a double play that wiped away a leadoff walk by starting pitcher Lance Lynn (5-4), Cubs outfielder Seiya Suzuki blasted a 1-0 fastball from Lynn an estimated 433 feet to center field.
Lynn allowed two runs on five hits and two walks in six innings to record his fifth quality start of the season. He also struck out six batters, and he is now just two strikeouts shy of 2,000 career strikeouts.
“I walked the first guy of the game on four straight terrible pitches, then got a double play ball and gave up a home run,†Lynn said. “So for them to go out there and score nine gave me a chance to regroup.
“After that, I found a pretty good rhythm there besides the one inning there where I gave up a couple hits and a walk. They gave me a change to regroup, gave me a big lead and I was able to attack and do my thing.â€
Left-hander Matthew Liberatore tossed a scoreless inning in relief of Lynn, and Kyle Leahy, promoted to the majors as the 27th man for the doubleheader, allowed one run in the final two innings.
The Cardinals wrap up both a home series and the first half Sunday as they face the Cubs. First pitch is set for 1:15 p.m.
Cardinals first baseman Alec Burleson celebrates after hitting a three-run home run against the Chicago Cubs at Busch Stadium on Saturday, July 13, 2024. The Cardinals scored 9 runs in the first inning.
The Cardinals’ Masyn Winn yells after reaching first base during the first inning against the Chicago Cubs at Busch Stadium on Saturday, July 13, 2024.
ºüÀêÊÓƵ Cardinals first baseman Alec Burleson is congratulated in the dugout after hitting a 3-run home run during the Chicago Cubs vs ºüÀêÊÓƵ Cardinals game at Busch Stadium on Saturday, July 13, 2024. The Cardinals scored 9 runs in the first inning. Photo by Allie Schallert, aschallert@post-dispatch.com
ºüÀêÊÓƵ Cardinals pitcher Lance Lynn throws a pitch during the Chicago Cubs vs ºüÀêÊÓƵ Cardinals game at Busch Stadium on Saturday, July 13, 2024. Photo by Allie Schallert, aschallert@post-dispatch.com