The Cardinals were able to complete the 5-3 comeback win Monday night at Busch stadium against Arizona thanks to Nolan Gorman’s first career walk-off home run.
Starting the game on the bench, Nolan Gorman entered the game for Alec Burleson as a part of a defensive replacement in the eighth inning. The next inning Gorman got his first chance at the plate and didn’t miss a first pitch breaking ball, planting it 425ft into the right center field bleachers.
Prior to the late game heroics, it seemed like we were in for another lethargic performance from this struggling offensive unit. St. Louis in the midst of a four game losing streak had only managed to score more than three runs one time over the past eight games. This continued early Monday as the didn’t collect their first hit as a team until a Nolan Arenado single in the fifth inning.
At this point, the Cardinals were down three runs after the D-backs were able to get to starter Lance Lynn for two runs in the second on a Eugenio Suárez single and Ketel Marte sacrifice fly. Arizona got to Lance Lynn once more in the fifth on a Suárez ground-rule double.
Lance Lynn would end the night throwing five innings while giving up three earned runs on seven hits, three walks and striking out seven. Lynn was able to tightrope out of a lot of danger and keep the Cardinals in this game. There was plenty of opportunity for the D-backs to break this one open but Lynn’s ability to escape danger kept the Cardinals in this game.
The St. Louis offense really came alive in the 6th inning. After three straight walks by D-backs starter Brandon Pfaadt loaded the bases, Lars Nootbaar drove a first pitch fastball through the left side to bring the Cardinals within one.
The bottom of the seventh was led off by Paul Goldschmidt, who over his last seven games had a slash line of .120/.241/.120. All that was forgiven when Goldschmidt took a 92 MPH fastball 432ft right center tying the game 3-3. This Was Goldschmidt’s first extra base hit since his home run on opening day.
With the game being tied going into bottom of the ninth Goldschmidt found himself leading off the inning once again where he singled on a softly hit ground ball to third baseman Eugenio Suárez. This prompted Diamondbacks manger, Torey Lovullo, to make a pitching change to his left handed reliever, Kyle Nelson, to face the left handed hitting Nolan Gorman. This lefty-lefty matchup worked in the Cardinals favor as Gorman was able blast his fourth home run of the year completing the comeback for St. Louis.
The unsung hero of Monday’s win was the bullpen for St. Louis. Fernandez, Kittredge, Romero and Helsley combined for four shutout innings while only giving up three hits and striking out four. This is a bullpen that came into tonight’s game with the fourth best bullpen ERA in the National League at 3.33 and went on to further establish themselves as a top unit after tonight’s performance.
The Cardinals will look to win the series against the D-backs tomorrow in St. Louis as Steven Matz takes on Tommy Henry at 6:45 CST.