Saturday’s Game Report: Cardinals 5, Twins 1
By Rob Rains
The start of the season could not have gone much better for Lars Nootbaar and the Cardinals.
Nootbaar reached base four times on Saturday and for the second time in as many games had the biggest hit of the day in another win over the Twins at Busch Stadium.
After hitting a two-run homer in the opening-day win on Thursday, Nootbaar broke up a 2-1 game with a bases-loaded single that drove in two runs in the sixth innong, sending the Cardinals to the victory.
Nootbaar also singled and scored in the first inning, was hit by a pitch in the third and walked in the eighth, helping set up the Cardinals’ final run.
In his first two games, Nootbaar is a combined 4-of-7 with three runs scored and four RBIs.
Here is how Saturday’s game broke down:
At the plate: Nootbaar scored in the first inning on a single by Nolan Arenado … Arenado opened the sixth with a line drive that hit the shoulder of the Twins pitcher and carried past the shortstop into short left field. A walk and single, by Ivan Herrera which drove in Arenado, loaded the bases with no outs before Victor Scott II and Masyn Winn struck out in front of Nootbaar’s two-run single … The final run scored in the eighth on a bases-loaded sacrifice fly from Brendan Donovan … Willson Contreras was hitless for the second game in a row, striking out three times, and is 0-of-9 in the first two games.
On the mound: Starter Erick Fedde worked the first six innings, allowing just two hits, and relievers Ryan Fernandez, JoJo Romero and Phil Maton allowed only one more hit over the final three innings … Fedde retired the final 10 hitters he faced, did not walk a batter and struck out two.
Key stat: Nootbaar became the first Cardinal with multiple hits and multiple RBIs in each of the first two games of a season since David Freese in 2012.
Worth noting: Scott II had two hits, including a bunt single, and stole his first two bases, the first two-steal game of his major-league career … Tink Hence, one of the Cardinals’ top pitching prospects, is beginning the season on the 60-day injured list at Memphis because of a strain in his right rib cage. While the Cardinals believe the injury is “mild” they want to take their time with Hence as he ramps back up to a starter’s workload. They also believe they can use the time on the injured list to try to correct “mechanical inconsistencies” which they believe have contributed to Hence’s injury problems the last two seasons … Quinn Mathews made his first start of the year for Memphis on Saturday and allowed two runs over four innings. He struggled with his control, walking three, and recorded only one strikeout.
Up next: The Cardinals will conclude their season-opening series against the Twins on Sunday with Andre Pallante the scheduled starter as they try to complete a series sweep. The last time the Cardinals swept a season-opening series was in 2006, a three-game sweep at Philadelphia.
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