Cardinals center fielder Victor Scott II went down to the minors, and he returned having learned how to “dance†with opposing pitchers.
Well, Scott’s second-inning two-step provided the spark that lit a fire inside of ace pitcher Sonny Gray. From that point on, Gray strutted off the mound the rest of Tuesday night.
The 5-foot-11, 190-pound Scott delivered a huge swing — both in terms of the impact made by his bat cutting through the air as well as changing the vibe of the game — in the form of his first major-league home run. Scott’s homer came in what turned into a four-run inning for the Cardinals in a 4-3 series-opening win over the Tampa Bay Rays in front of an announced crowd of 32,922 at Busch Stadium.
The Cardinals (58-56) avoided falling back to .500 for the first time since they were 37-37 going into their game on June 22.
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Cardinals veteran outfielder Tommy Pham also smacked a two-run home run in the pivotal second inning. Three of the club’s eight hits came in that frame. They flipped the game in their favor, and gave Gray a renewed outlook.
The Rays (57-55) scored two runs before Gray recorded the game’s first out. He recovered and pitched seven innings, struck out six, and held the Rays to just those two early runs over the course of his outing.
“I think the biggest adjustment was just the guys picking me up right away,†Gray said. “I put us in a hole early. It was a long, ugly first inning, and we just kind of weren’t there. Came back and loaded the bases and then didn’t score. Then I went back out and put up a zero. From there, we had two big two-run homers all with two outs.
“As soon as that happened — after the first one, I was like, ‘Okay. Let’s go Sonny.’ In my head, I was just thinking, ‘Keep them here. No more.’ Then we hit the next one, and I was just like okay. In my head, I was thinking this game is over.â€
Gray walked the first batter of the game, Yandy Diaz, on five pitches. Then he gave up a two-run home run to Brandon Lowe on a 2-2 curveball left over the middle of the plate. Lowe mashed the pitch an estimate 423 feet.
The next batter, Christopher Morel, reached on a fielding error by Cardinals rookie shortstop Masyn Winn. Gray limited the damage to those two runs in the first.
The Cardinals offense bounced back after missing out on a scoring chance in the first inning against Rays left-hander Jeffrey Springs. They loaded the bases with one out on a Winn double and walks by Willson Contreras and Paul Goldschmidt. However, Nolan Arenado grounded into an inning-ending double play.
With two outs in the bottom of the second inning, Cardinals catcher Pedro Pages (2 for 3) singled, and that brought Scott to the plate for the first time in the game.
Scott hammered a 2-1 fastball on the inner half of the plate and sent it into the home bullpen behind the right field wall. The rocket traveled an estimated 391 feet and tied the score.
“It’s unbelievable,†Scott said. “I don’t know what to compare it to, honestly. It’s almost like my first hit feeling, but except it was a home run this time. So that was awesome. I had my parents in attendance too. That was pretty cool, for them to be here as well.â€
Scott, who jumped from Double-A at the end of last season to the major-league roster to start this season, struggled at the plate in his first stint in the majors. He batted .085 with a .138 on-base percentage and a .136 slugging percentage through his first 21 games in the big leagues.
Those struggles continued when he went to Triple-A for the first time. He batted slashed .219/.302/.318 in 74 games at Triple-A. During his time in the minors, he also overhauled his swing.
“He doesn’t want to be known as just a defensive kind of specialist,†Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “He wants to work at the offensive side of things. He’s been putting in a lot of work with guys down below (in the minors) to feel more comfortable and more athletic in the box and be able to do a little bit more than what he did the first time up.
“Hopefully, that gives him confidence to know that what he’s been working on — he’s able to carry it out into the game at the highest level.â€
Where at times in the past Scott has gone to the plate “feeling for†something in his swing or just trying to put the ball in play, he’s now focused on “impacting the ball.â€
“I like to consider myself a good dancer,†Scott said. “With being a good dancer, you’re rhythmatic. I feel like hitting is about rhythm, so with that move it’s just more rhythmatic and it feels like I’m almost dancing with the pitcher. It helps me out with my timing, adjustability, all those good things.â€
Springs hit the next batter, Winn, with a pitch. That set the table for Pham, who jumped on a first-pitch fastball left up in the zone. Pham’s homer gave the Cardinals a four-run inning and a 4-2 advantage.
Gray (11-6) called it energizing to have the team bounce back after the way he looked in the first inning.
While he couldn’t see the inning through anyone else’s eyes, he said he knew the first inning couldn’t have looked good because it didn’t feel good as he was going through it.
Gray fed off of the offense’s bounce-back in the second inning and the energy it generated in the dugout. He used that to turn his natural competitive nature up another notch.
“I needed that tonight,†Gray said. “I mean, I just didn’t have a ton of energy, going into it a little sluggish. Once we responded the way we did, I felt like it was up to me at that point to show up and for us to go win the game.â€
At one point from the end of the first inning through the sixth, Gray retired 16 of 18 batters he faced.
Gray pitched seven innings for the fourth time in his past five starts.
Reliever Andrew Kittredge retired the side in order in the eighth inning. Ryan Helsley gave up one run in the ninth, but stranded the tying and go-ahead runs on base when Taylor Walls’ grounder deflected off of Helsley. Winn picked the ball up and rifled a throw to first in time to record the final out.
Winn said he heard Gray’s postgame comments about the game being “over†after the two home runs, and he didn’t refute his veteran hurler.
“When you give Sonny a lead, it’s hard for teams to come back — no doubt,†Winn said. “I think, obviously, we’d like to give him more than a two-run cushion, but the energy was great.
"The defense, after my miscue in the first inning, the defense was great. (Nolan Arenado) played his butt off over there at third, and Sonny went to work. There really wasn’t much that they could do tonight against him.â€