Cardinals Open Homestand With 7-3 Win Over White Sox

THE CARDINAL CHRONICLE
Cardinals Open Homestand With 7-3 Win Over White Sox
St. Louis, MO
By Ray Mileur

The St. Louis Cardinals opened their final homestand of the season the way they had to.

With offense.

With pressure.

With the young players right in the middle of it.

St. Louis collected 13 hits Friday night at Busch Stadium, getting run-scoring swings from Alec Burleson, Joshua Báez, Leo Bernal and Masyn Winn in a 7-3 win over the Chicago White Sox.

It was not a postseason race-changing win for the Cardinals.

At this point, very little is.

But it was a good night at Busch Stadium, a good start to the weekend series and another look at the players who are beginning to shape the next version of this roster.

On a night when the organization celebrated its 2006 World Series championship team, the present-day Cardinals leaned on a much younger group.

Jordan Walker had two hits and scored twice.

Báez had two hits, including a run-scoring double, and drove in two.

Bernal had two hits, including a double, and drove in another run.

Thomas Saggese added a hit and scored.

Winn drove in a run.

Burleson delivered twice, driving in two runs from the middle of the order.

That was enough to beat a White Sox club still trying to protect its place in the American League Central race.

Chicago struck first against Matthew Liberatore, and it happened quickly. Chase Meidroth led off the game with a home run to left-center field, putting the White Sox in front, 1-0, before the Cardinals came to the plate.

For a pitcher who has had too many rough first innings this season, that was not the start Liberatore wanted.

But this time, the inning did not unravel.

Randal Grichuk followed with a double, and Miguel Vargas moved him to third. Liberatore responded by striking out Colson Montgomery and Brenton Doyle, working around a walk to Edgar Quero and keeping the deficit at one.

That mattered.

The Cardinals answered in the bottom half.

Iván Herrera was hit by a pitch with one out, and after Walker flied out, Burleson doubled to right field, scoring Herrera and tying the game, 1-1.

It was a simple answer, but an important one.

Chicago had landed the first punch. St. Louis did not let it sit there long.

The Cardinals moved in front in the second inning, and Bernal helped get it started. The rookie catcher doubled to center field, continuing what has been a strong first look in the majors. Saggese followed with a single, putting runners on the corners.

Winn then put the ball in play, reaching on a fielder’s choice as Bernal scored and Saggese was forced out at second.

That gave the Cardinals a 2-1 lead.

It did not last long.

Meidroth got to Liberatore again in the third inning, hitting his second home run of the night, this one to left field, tying the game, 2-2. Meidroth was the biggest problem for St. Louis, finishing with two homers and two RBIs.

But the Cardinals answered again.

Walker singled to center in the bottom of the third, moved up when Burleson grounded out, and Báez followed with a run-scoring single to center. Walker scored, Báez advanced to second, and St. Louis had the lead back, 3-2.

That sequence was another example of what Báez can bring when he is making contact.

The power is the first thing everyone notices. It should be. But Friday was not just about loud fly balls. Báez drove in runs with a single and a double, used the middle of the field, and helped the Cardinals keep pressure on Chicago every time the White Sox tried to pull even.

That matters.

The game held there into the fifth, and that was where St. Louis created the separation it needed.

Liberatore opened the inning on the mound and got Meidroth to ground out, but Grichuk singled, ending his night. Gordon Graceffo entered and worked through traffic, including a stolen base, a walk and a hit batter, before striking out Tristan Peters to keep Chicago off the board.

That was one of the quieter turning points of the game.

The White Sox had a chance to tie it or take the lead.

Graceffo stopped the inning.

Then the Cardinals stretched the lead.

Walker doubled to left in the bottom of the fifth. Burleson followed with a single to center, scoring Walker and making it 4-2. Báez then doubled deep to left, bringing Burleson home and extending the lead to 5-2.

Bernal followed with a single to left-center, scoring Báez and pushing the Cardinals in front, 6-2.

That was the inning that decided the game.

Three runs.

Four hits.

Production from the middle and lower half of the order.

Walker started it. Burleson cashed it in. Báez added more. Bernal finished the sequence.

That is the kind of inning the Cardinals have needed to see more often.

Not one swing doing all the work.

A full inning built on pressure.

Bernal continues to make a strong impression. Since arriving in St. Louis, he has shown the defensive reputation that followed him through the system, but the bat has also looked more playable than some may have expected this quickly.

Friday was another positive step.

Two hits.

A double.

An RBI.

A run scored.

Behind the plate, he also helped manage a pitching staff that had to work through traffic but never let Chicago put together the big inning.

For a young catcher still getting settled in the majors, that is meaningful.

Liberatore’s line was not dominant, but it was better than some of his recent outings. He worked 4 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on six hits. He walked three, struck out two and gave up both Meidroth home runs.

The two homers are the obvious blemish.

The larger takeaway is that he kept the game under control long enough for the offense to take over. That has not always been the case during his rough stretch. The Cardinals did not get length, but they did get a chance to win.

Graceffo, Gastelum and the bullpen did enough from there.

Luis Gastelum worked through the sixth inning, allowing traffic but keeping Chicago off the board. The White Sox had chances throughout the night, finishing with nine hits and leaving 12 men on base, but they could not find the hit that turned pressure into a crooked number.

That was the difference.

The Cardinals kept turning their chances into runs.

Chicago did not.

St. Louis added another run in the seventh, stretching the lead to 7-2. The White Sox got one back in the eighth, but the Cardinals had already done enough work early and in the middle innings to keep the game under control.

This was not a clean, overpowering win.

It was a useful one.

And at this stage of the season, useful still counts.

The Cardinals improved to 73-75, snapping back after a difficult finish to the San Francisco series and giving the home crowd something to enjoy on the opening night of a nine-game homestand. The Cardinals are still under .500, still facing long odds and still trying to make sense of a season that has been uneven from the start.

But Friday night had value.

It showed the lineup can produce without needing a home run.

It showed Báez continuing to settle into big-league at-bats.

It showed Bernal looking more comfortable.

It showed Walker right in the middle of another scoring night.

It showed Burleson doing what he has done all season: driving in runs.

That is the part worth watching now.

The standings matter, but September also has become about identification. Who fits? Who is ready? Who is forcing the organization to make room next spring? Who looks like part of the next winning Cardinals team?

Friday night gave the Cardinals some encouraging answers.

Báez and Bernal are two of the most important names in that group.

Báez brings impact power and run production. Bernal brings defense, maturity behind the plate and enough offensive feel to keep earning opportunities. Together with Walker, Saggese, Winn and others, they are giving the Cardinals a younger core worth evaluating every night down the stretch.

That does not erase the frustration of the season.

It does make the final weeks more interesting.

The White Sox came to St. Louis with more at stake in the standings, but the Cardinals played the cleaner offensive game. They answered Chicago’s early home run. They responded again after Meidroth tied it. They took control in the fifth and did not give it back.

That is how a team wins a game without needing one dramatic moment.

One inning at a time.

One run at a time.

One young player after another.

Burleson drove in two.

Báez drove in two.

Bernal drove in one.

Winn drove in one.

Walker scored twice.

The Cardinals beat the White Sox, 7-3, and opened the homestand with the kind of win that lets the future share the spotlight with the past.

The Cardinal Chronicle
Preserving the Past, Promoting the Present, and Projecting the Future.