Monday’s Game Report: Cardinals 7, Pirates 6
By Rob Rains
The smallest crowd in the history of Busch Stadium 3 got to see a walk-off home run from Alec Burleson that gave the Cardinals a wild win over the Pirates on Monday night at Busch Stadium.
Manager Oli Marmol and Willson Contreras were not around to see it, however, after both were ejected in the seventh after Contreras was called out on strikes.
Contreras got hot after he was ejected and had to be restrained from going after home plate umpire Derek Thomas. He also appeared to throw his bat, and after he got back to the dugout, threw a tub of bubble gum on the field.
It’s possible Contreras will face a suspension for his actions.
After those fireworks, Burleson provided a better show with his first career walk-off homer with a blast to center field with two outs in the ninth. The homer, Burleson’s career-high fourth hit of the night, came after the Pirates had tied the game in the top of the ninth.
The announced attendance for the game was 17,675, the smallest since the stadium opened in 2006. It was the first time the Cardinals drew less than 20,000 at home for a non-Covid restricted game since Aug. 25, 1997.
Here is how Monday night’s game broke down:
At the plate: After falling behind 4-1, the Cardinals were happy to see the Pirates lift Johan Oviedo, who is coming back from Tommy John surgery, after the fourth inning. They erupted for five runs in the fifth when they strung five consecutive two-out hits together, including a two-run single by Contreras. Burleson also had a ground-rule double in the inning. Nathan Church started the rally with a one-out infield single, and the other two-out hits came from Masyn Winn, Nolan Gorman and Thomas Saggese … Church also had a sacrifice fly in the second … Burleson also had singles in the first and seventh innings.
On the mound: The Pirates built their early lead with back-to-back homers off Michael McGreevy in the third after he also gave up a run in the first. After the second home run, McGreevy retired 10 of the final 11 hitters he faced and set a career-high with seven strikeouts … A leadoff walk in the seventh by Kyle Leahy led to a run for the Pirates and a hit batter with one out in the ninth by Riley O’Brien led to the tying run.
Key stat: Burleson’s homer was the seventh walk-off homer for the Cardinals over the Pirates since 2014. Three of the first six homers came from Kolten Wong, in 2014, 2015 and the most recent one in 2018.
Worth noting: An MRI on Winn’s sore knee was “encouraging” according to Marmol, who said they will monitor Winn’s status on a day-to-day basis, with his pain tolerance determining when he will need a day off. He was playing Monday night after sitting out Sunday’s game in Tampa and made a key defensive play, saving at least one run when he was able to back up third and catch a wild throw from Leahy in the seventh. … Brendan Donovan (groin and toe) and Victor Scott II (ankle) are making progress in their injury rehabs but are not ready to return to the active roster, Marmol said … The Cardinals brought reliever Gordon Graceffo back from Memphis before the game and optioned Andre Granillo.
Up next: Andre Pallante will get the start on Tuesday night in the second game of the four-game series.
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