Cards Split Doubleheader as Torres Makes Debut Worth Remembering
The Cardinal Chronicle
Cards Split Doubleheader as Torres Makes Debut Worth Remembering
St. Louis, MO
By Ray Mileur
CINCINNATI — The Cardinals spent Saturday at Great American Ball Park playing two very different kinds of baseball games.
In the opener, St. Louis looked sharp, patient and complete, rolling past Cincinnati 8-1 behind Andre Pallante and a storybook Major League debut from Bryan Torres. In the nightcap, the Cardinals fought back, leaned again on Jordan Walker’s power, forced extra innings, and still came up short in a 7-6, 11-inning loss to the Reds.
So the Cardinals left Cincinnati with a split, which is not the worst thing in the world on a doubleheader day. But after the way the first game unfolded — and after the way St. Louis battled back in the second — it still felt like there was a little meat left on the bone.
The headline of the day, though, belonged to Torres.
The 28-year-old outfielder, recalled after Nathan Church went on the injured list, made his Major League debut in Game 1 and wasted no time making it memorable. Torres singled for his first big-league hit, reached base three times, and then put the finishing touch on the Cardinals’ 8-1 win with a two-run home run in the ninth inning. After a long road through the minors, independent baseball, and three different organizations, Torres did not just arrive. He announced himself.
That kind of story still cuts through the noise. Baseball has a way of rewarding persistence every now and then, and Saturday afternoon was one of those moments.
Pallante gave the Cardinals exactly what they needed in the opener. He worked six innings, allowed one run on two hits, and retired the final 13 batters he faced. Cincinnati struck first on Nathaniel Lowe’s solo home run in the second, but Pallante never let the inning turn into anything bigger.
The Cardinals answered with a three-run third inning and never looked back. Victor Scott II continued to bring energy at the bottom of the order, finishing 3-for-4. Ivan Herrera added two hits, scored twice and drove in a run. Jordan Walker added a two-run homer, giving St. Louis a second big swing before Torres capped the day with his first Major League home run.
Ryne Stanek, George Soriano and Matt Svanson finished the final three innings, holding the Reds scoreless and preserving the kind of clean win a club wants in the first game of a doubleheader.
The second game was not nearly as tidy.
Kyle Leahy gave the Cardinals four scoreless innings before Cincinnati broke through in the fifth. Elly De La Cruz hit a three-run homer, and Lowe followed later in the inning with a two-run shot as the Reds put up five runs and flipped the game. It was the kind of inning that turns a quiet night into a chase.
The Cardinals did chase.
Walker brought St. Louis back into the game in the sixth with a three-run homer, a no-doubt swing that cut the deficit and kept the Cardinals alive. José Fermín added a solo home run in the ninth, and Walker later came through again with an RBI single to tie the game and force extras.
That was the good part.
The part that will stick a little was the Cardinals’ inability to finish the comeback. St. Louis had chances late but could not cash in enough of them, and Cincinnati finally pushed across the winning run in the 11th on a ball put in play by Blake Dunn, with Spencer Steer scoring the deciding run.
The Cardinals also made a roster move before the doubleheader, recalling right-hander Ryan Fernandez from the Memphis Redbirds to provide bullpen coverage. Fernandez appeared in Game 2 as St. Louis worked through a long day of innings.
In the bigger picture, Saturday was not a bad day. The Cardinals won the opener convincingly, got a strong start from Pallante, saw Walker continue to drive the baseball with authority, and watched Torres turn his debut into the kind of moment a player and clubhouse do not forget.
But the nightcap kept it from feeling like a full step forward.
A doubleheader split on the road is acceptable. A debut home run from a 28-year-old rookie is something better than acceptable. Still, the Cardinals had a chance to take both games from a division opponent, and those are the games a club remembers later when the standings start getting tight.
The Cardinals will try to take the series Sunday, with Matthew Liberatore scheduled to start against Brady Singer.
The Cardinal Chronicle, in association with Gateway Sports
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