Cardinals Hold Off Orioles, Stop Losing Streak

THE CARDINAL CHRONICLE
Cardinals Hold Off Orioles, Stop Losing Streak
St. Louis, MO
By Ray Mileur

ST. LOUIS — The St. Louis Cardinals needed a win Thursday afternoon at Busch Stadium. They needed it after getting swept in Philadelphia. They needed it after being routed by Baltimore on Tuesday. They needed it after rallying from seven runs down Wednesday night, only to lose in the ninth.

They finally got it.

Blaze Jordan hit a three-run homer, Ramón Urías added a two-run shot, and Nathan Church delivered an important insurance run in the eighth as the Cardinals beat the Baltimore Orioles, 7-5, to avoid a three-game sweep and snap a five-game losing streak.

It was not a clean, comfortable finish, but the Cardinals will take it.

At this point, they had to.

St. Louis came into the day badly in need of something positive. The Cardinals had lost five straight, had been outplayed for much of the week and had seen a once-promising August stretch lose momentum quickly. Thursday did not fix everything, but it stopped the bleeding.

Gordon Graceffo set the tone early. Making the start for a pitching staff that needed stability, the right-hander worked three hitless innings, walked none and struck out four. He retired all nine batters he faced and gave the Cardinals the kind of opening they had not received often enough during the skid.

The offense gave him support in the second.

Alec Burleson reached on an infield single, Joshua Báez doubled to left, and Jordan followed with a three-run homer to center field off Trevor Rogers. It was Jordan’s third home run of the season and gave St. Louis a 3-0 lead.

After the Cardinals had spent too much of the series chasing Baltimore, the early lead mattered.

Justin Bruihl followed Graceffo in the fourth and worked around Jackson Holliday’s leadoff double. In the bottom half, Burleson singled again, and Urías drove a two-run homer to center, extending the Cardinals’ lead to 5-0.

Baltimore got on the board in the fifth when Christian Encarnacion-Strand doubled, Dylan Beavers walked, and Colton Cowser lifted a sacrifice fly to left. Luis Gastelum came in to finish the inning, then gave the Cardinals a clean sixth, keeping the lead at four.

St. Louis answered in the bottom of the fifth. José Fermín singled, stole second and moved to third after Iván Herrera walked and Jordan Walker singled. Burleson grounded out to first, scoring Fermín and pushing the lead to 6-1.

That run mattered more than it looked at the time.

Baltimore made its push in the seventh. Encarnacion-Strand reached on an infield single, Beavers walked, and Coby Mayo hit a three-run homer to center off Caleb Ferguson, cutting the Cardinals’ lead to 6-4.

George Soriano took over in the eighth and gave up a run after Holliday reached on an infield single, stole second and scored on Gunnar Henderson’s double to left-center. Soriano got through the inning without giving up the lead, retiring Samuel Basallo on a fielder’s choice and getting Encarnacion-Strand to fly out.

The Cardinals needed a little breathing room, and Church gave it to them.

Urías walked with two outs in the bottom of the eighth and moved to second on a wild pitch. Church followed with a single to left, scoring Urías and stretching the lead to 7-5.

That insurance run gave Riley O’Brien a two-run cushion in the ninth, and the closer finished it. O’Brien struck out Beavers, got Mayo to pop out, allowed a two-out single to Cowser and then retired Leody Taveras on a grounder to first to end the game.

After taking the loss Wednesday night, O’Brien came back less than 24 hours later and helped close out a win the Cardinals badly needed.

Jordan finished with the biggest swing of the afternoon, driving in three with his second-inning homer. Urías went 1-for-3 with the two-run homer, a walk and two runs scored. Burleson had two hits, drove in a run and scored twice. Walker added two hits, Báez doubled and scored, Fermín singled, stole a base and scored, and Church added the late RBI single.

Blaze Jordan left in the top of the eighth inning after making a tremendous play at third base, tagging out the potential tying run. It was an outstanding baseball play quick reaction, strong awareness, and the kind of defensive effort that may have saved the inning.

Unfortunately, Jordan appeared to injure his ankle on the play and had to leave the game with assistance from the trainers.

The Cardinals finished with nine hits, and unlike several recent losses, they got enough production from the lower half of the order to carry the game. Jordan, Urías and Church combined for six RBIs, giving St. Louis the depth it needed on a day when every run became important.

Baltimore finished with seven hits. Mayo drove in three with his seventh-inning homer, Henderson doubled home a run in the eighth, and Cowser added the sacrifice fly in the fifth. Pete Alonso, who punished the Cardinals earlier in the series, went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts.

The Orioles still made the Cardinals work for the final outs, but this time St. Louis did enough to hold the lead.

That is the part that matters most.

The Cardinals had been searching for a finish after a difficult stretch. They lost a winnable game in extra innings Friday in Philadelphia, were blown out Saturday, blew a four-run ninth-inning lead Sunday, were routed Tuesday by Baltimore and lost another late one Wednesday.

Thursday did not erase all of that.

But it did end the losing streak.

It gave the Cardinals a win at home.

It gave Graceffo a strong opening performance, Jordan and Urías big swings, Church a late insurance hit and O’Brien a chance to answer after a rough night.

There is still plenty to clean up. The Cardinals saw a five-run lead shrink to one, and the bullpen again had to navigate trouble late. But after the way the week had gone, the final score was the only thing that mattered.

Cardinals 7, Orioles 5.

A much-needed win.

That’s a winner.

The Cardinal Chronicle, in association with Gateway Sports & MiLB Today
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Photo Credit: Blaze Jordan, St. Louis Cardinals | MLB