Cardinals designed hitter Alec Burleson, right, celebrates with Ivan Herrera after hitting a home run off of Red Sox starting pitcher Brayan Bello during the fourth inning Friday, May 17, 2024, at Busch Stadium.
Christine Tannous, Post-Dispatch
The Cardinals' Masyn Winn celebrates after hitting a two-run home run off Red Sox relief pitcher Cam Booser during the sixth inning Friday, May 17, 2024, at Busch Stadium.Â
Christine Tannous, Post-Dispatch
ºüÀêÊÓƵ Cardinals' Lars Nootbaar (21) celebrates to the camera after hitting a two-run home run off of Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Brayan Bello (66) during the first inning of a game Friday, May 17, 2024, at Busch Stadium in ºüÀêÊÓƵ. Photo by Christine Tannous, ctannous@post-dispatch.com
Statistically, the matchup didn’t bode well for the Cardinals. After all, the Boston Red Sox brought the stingiest pitching staff in the major leagues to town to face the National League’s least-productive offense.
So, of course, the Cardinals used this opportunity to turn home plate into a launching pad against the young ace of the Red Sox staff and made their offensive woes seem like a distant memory, at least for a night.
Lars Nootbaar, Nolan Gorman, Alec Burleson and Masyn Winn each blasted home runs for the Cardinals as part of a 10-6 series-opening win against the Red Sox in front of an announced crowd of 37,961 at Busch Stadium on Friday night. It marked the Cardinals’ fourth win in their last five games.
The home runs were part of a 14-hit performance for the Cardinals (19-25). They matched their season highs for hits and runs in a game this season, while eight of nine players in their starting lineup had at least one hit.
Leadoff hitter Brendan Donovan went 2 for 5 with two runs scored, while Paul Goldschmidt (2 for 4, walk), Burleson (2 for 5) and Ivan Herrera (2 for 4) had two hits apiece. Nolan Arenado went 3 for 5, and Nootbaar went 1 for 3 with two walks.
The Cardinals have now hit home runs in five consecutive games, which ties their longest streak of the season — they homered in five straight games from April 7-12.
Cardinals starting pitcher Kyle Gibson (3-2) allowed five runs on eight hits and three walks in six innings.
Cardinals threw Bello a birthday bash
Red Sox starting pitcher Brayan Bello turned 25 on Friday. He celebrated his 25th birthday by pitching 4 2/3 innings on Friday night. He allowed five runs on seven hits, including three home runs, and struck out four.
Bello, a right-hander from the Dominican Republic, gave up four earned runs in his previous three starts (16 1/3 innings). He logged his fourth win of the season in his most recent start against the Washington Nationals on May 12.
In his first full season in the majors last year, Bello made 28 starts and went 12-11 with a 4.24 ERA. He performed well enough that the Red Sox signed him to a six-year contract extension reportedly worth $55 million with a seventh-year club option worth $21 million.
Bello was the club’s opening day starting pitcher this season.
Nootbaar provided an early lift
Outfielders Donovan and Nootbaar combined to give the Cardinals a two-run advantage just two batters into their half of the first inning.
Donovan’s leadoff double bounded off the dirt warning track and over the wall and into the stands along the left field line. Then Nootbaar stung a 2-1 changeup from Bello an estimated 430 feet for a two-run home run to center field.
Nootbaar’s fourth home run of the season, the first of four homers hit by the Cardinals in the game, gave the Cardinals a 2-0 lead before they’d made an out.
Nootbaar, who began the season on the injured list as he recovered from fractured ribs, entered the day batting .206 for the season, but he’d gone 7 for 25 (.280) with a home run on the clubs most recent road trip.
Houck part of pitching turnaround tale
At the end of last season, the Red Sox ranked 21st out of 30 MLB teams in team ERA (4.52), and their starting pitchers compiled the 22nd-ranked ERA (4.68) in the majors.
So far this season, the Red Sox have experienced a stark turnaround with their major-league pitching staff. They entered this weekend’s series with the best team ERA in the majors (2.82) through their first 44 games, and their starters were also the best in the majors (2.62).
The group includes former University of Missouri pitcher Tanner Houck, who was born in ºüÀêÊÓƵ and enjoyed a standout prep career at Collinsville High School in Illinois.
Houck, a 2017 first-round draft pick of the Red Sox, went 6-10 with a 5.01 ERA, a 1.37 WHIP, 8.41 strikeouts per 9 innings, 3.48 walks per 9 innings and an opponent’s batting average of .254 in 21 starts last season.
This season in nine starts, Houck has gone 3-5 with a 2.17 ERA, a 1.02 WHIP, 8.84 strikeouts per 9 innings, 1.71 walks per 9 innings and an opponent’s batting average of .219.
Houck is not scheduled to pitch in this series for the Red Sox.
Gibson got into the 7th
After the Cardinals scored two first-inning runs, the Red Sox responded with two runs in the top of the second inning after a leadoff single by former Cardinal Tyler O’Neill and a double by first baseman Dominic Smith put runners on second and third with no outs.
Gibson struck out the next two batters, Garrett Cooper and Vaughn Grissom, and pulled within one strike of stranding both runners in scoring position and recording a shutdown inning.
However, Red Sox No. 9 hitter David Hamilton rifled a 3-2 sweeper from Gibson for a two-run triple down the first base line, past the dive of Paul Goldschmidt and into the right field corner.
Hamilton’s third and fourth RBIs of the season tied the score 2-2 in the second inning.
Gibson pitched into the seventh inning, but he did not record an out in the seventh, and exited the game with two men on base. Both of those runners came around to score.
Dueling homers
The score was tied 2-2 going into the bottom of the second inning when Gorman blasted a 1-1 pitch from Bello for a solo home run. Gorman’s sixth home run of the season tied him with injured catcher Willson Contreras for the team lead.
That Cardinals lead didn’t last long. Red Sox third baseman and cleanup hitter Rafael Devers tied the score again in the bottom of the third with a solo home run to start the frame. Devers’ blast went an estimated 443, the longest home run hit at Busch Stadium this season, and that moved him past Nomar Garciaparra into 12th place all-time among the Red Sox home run leaders.
The 3-3 tie lasted until the fourth inning when Burleson swatted the third home run of the game by a Cardinals left-handed hitter. Burleson, who entered the day batting .280, has now hit five home runs in his last 17 games.
Burleson’s homer gave the Cardinals a 4-3 lead in the fourth. They added a run in the fifth on a two-out RBI single by Goldschmidt that chased Bello from the game and pressed the Red Sox bullpen into duty.
Photos: ºüÀêÊÓƵ Cardinals defeat Boston Red Sox in ºüÀêÊÓƵ
The Cardinals, winners in Friday's opener thanks to a season-best four homers, continue a home series Saturday against the Red Sox. First pitc…
Cardinals designed hitter Alec Burleson, right, celebrates with Ivan Herrera after hitting a home run off of Red Sox starting pitcher Brayan Bello during the fourth inning Friday, May 17, 2024, at Busch Stadium.
The Cardinals' Masyn Winn celebrates after hitting a two-run home run off Red Sox relief pitcher Cam Booser during the sixth inning Friday, May 17, 2024, at Busch Stadium.Â
ºüÀêÊÓƵ Cardinals' Lars Nootbaar (21) celebrates to the camera after hitting a two-run home run off of Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Brayan Bello (66) during the first inning of a game Friday, May 17, 2024, at Busch Stadium in ºüÀêÊÓƵ. Photo by Christine Tannous, ctannous@post-dispatch.com
ºüÀêÊÓƵ Cardinals starting pitcher Kyle Gibson (44) reacts after giving up two runs to the Boston Red Sox during the second inning of a game Friday, May 17, 2024, at Busch Stadium in ºüÀêÊÓƵ. Photo by Christine Tannous, ctannous@post-dispatch.com