Herrera, Walker, and Blaze Jordan Power Cardinals Past Twins

Cardinals 9, Twins 6
Herrera, Walker, and Blaze Jordan Power Cardinals Past Twins
The Cardinal Chronicle
St. Louis, MO
By Ray Mileur

The St. Louis Cardinals needed a response after Friday night’s bullpen collapse at Target Field.

They got one Saturday afternoon — though naturally, they made sure nobody could fully relax until the final out.

The Cardinals defeated the Minnesota Twins 9-6, using four home runs, a big seventh inning, and just enough late-inning relief work to even the three-game interleague series at one game apiece.

This one started like it might be a clean getaway.

Masyn Winn walked to open the game, and Iván Herrera wasted no time putting St. Louis in front. Herrera launched a two-run home run to left-center field in the first inning, giving the Cardinals a quick 2-0 lead and setting the tone for what would become a power-driven afternoon.

The Cardinals added two more in the second. Blaze Jordan, already making his presence felt since arriving in the big leagues, tripled to open the inning. Pedro Pagés followed with an RBI double to right, scoring Jordan and extending the lead to 3-0. Later in the inning, Winn lifted a sacrifice fly to center to bring home Pagés, and St. Louis had built a 4-0 advantage.

For a while, that looked comfortable.

Then the Twins started swinging back.

Matthew Liberatore worked through the early innings before Minnesota got to him in the fourth. Byron Buxton homered to center, and Royce Lewis followed with a solo shot of his own, cutting the Cardinals’ lead to 4-2.

In the fifth, the Twins finished the comeback. After a leadoff walk, Luke Keaschall hit a two-run homer to left, tying the game at 4-4 and ending Liberatore’s afternoon soon after. Liberatore finished with 4.1 innings, allowing four earned runs on five hits with four strikeouts and one walk.

It was another start with early promise and middle-inning trouble.

But unlike Friday night, the Cardinals had another answer ready.

Matt Svanson gave St. Louis exactly what it needed, working 1.2 scoreless innings with two strikeouts to settle the game down. That gave the offense time to reload, and in the seventh inning, the Cardinals erupted.

Herrera opened the rally with his second home run of the game, a solo shot to left that put St. Louis back in front, 5-4. Jordan Walker followed with a towering solo home run of his own, a 454-foot blast that gave the Cardinals a 6-4 lead and sounded like a ball that wanted no further association with Target Field.

Then Blaze Jordan delivered the swing Cardinals fans had been waiting to see.

After Lars Nootbaar and Alec Burleson reached, Jordan turned on a fastball and drove it over the wall in left-center for his first major league home run. The three-run blast pushed the Cardinals’ lead to 9-4 and turned a tight game into what looked like breathing room.

Looked like.

Because with this club lately, even breathing room can turn into a hallway closet.

Ryne Stanek, coming off a brutal outing Friday night, bounced back with a clean seventh inning. Chris Roycroft began the eighth but ran into trouble, and JoJo Romero was called on to limit the damage. Minnesota scored once in the inning, but Romero got Royce Lewis to ground into a double play, keeping the Cardinals in front 9-5.

The ninth inning still brought drama.

Riley O’Brien opened the inning by walking the bases loaded, forcing the Cardinals to sweat through a game they once led by five. Josh Bell grounded into a fielder’s choice to score one run, cutting the lead to 9-6, but O’Brien recorded the final out on a fly ball to left field, and St. Louis escaped with the win.

It was not clean at the end, but it counted.

The Cardinals collected 13 hits and hit four home runs. Herrera went deep twice. Walker added another tape-measure shot. Blaze Jordan had two more hits, including his first major league homer and three RBIs. Pedro Pagés also had a strong afternoon, finishing with three hits and an RBI.

After the sting of Friday night’s 9-8 loss, the Cardinals needed to show they could absorb a gut punch and come back the next day.

They did.

It was loud. It was messy. It got tighter than it needed to get.

But it was a win.

Key Storylines
Iván Herrera Sets the Tone

Herrera delivered two home runs and drove in three runs, giving the Cardinals an immediate lift in the first inning and then putting them back ahead in the seventh. His bat continues to change the look of this lineup.

Blaze Jordan’s First MLB Home Run

Blaze Jordan tripled early, then launched a three-run homer in the seventh for his first major league home run. After collecting two hits in his debut Friday night, he followed with another two-hit game and gave Cardinals fans a real glimpse of the power that forced his way to St. Louis.

Jordan Walker Joins the Power Show

Walker’s seventh-inning home run was a monster shot, traveling 454 feet and giving the Cardinals a 6-4 lead. He continues to produce loud contact in big moments.

Matt Svanson Stabilizes the Game

After the Twins tied the game in the fifth, Svanson came in and delivered 1.2 scoreless innings. That bridge mattered. It kept Minnesota from grabbing momentum and allowed the Cardinals’ offense to take over in the seventh.

The Ninth Got Too Interesting

The Cardinals led 9-5 entering the ninth, but Riley O’Brien walked the bases loaded and forced St. Louis to hold on. Minnesota scored once, but the Cardinals escaped. It was a win, but not exactly one for the blood pressure.

Series Evened

After Friday night’s painful 9-8 loss, the Cardinals bounced back Saturday with a 9-6 win. The series is now tied 1-1, with Sunday’s finale giving St. Louis a chance to take the series in Minnesota.

Bottom Line
The Cardinals needed a response, and they got it.

Iván Herrera homered twice. Jordan Walker crushed one. Blaze Jordan hit his first major league home run. The offense carried the day, and the bullpen survived the late push.

It was not perfect.

But after Friday night, perfect was not required.

A win was and the Cardinals got it.

The Cardinal Chronicle, in association with Gateway Sports & MiLB Today
Preserving the Past, Promoting the Present, and Projecting the Future.

Check out The Cardinal Chronicle for more St. Louis Cardinals coverage, daily farm reports, prospect updates and old-school baseball commentary:
www.cardinalchronicle.com

Photo Credit - Ivan Herrera, St. Louis Cardinals | MLB