HOUSTON -- Masyn Winn continues to excel in his hometown.
Winn, José Fermín and Alec Burleson all homered as the Cardinals extended their winning streak to four games with a 7-5 victory over the Astros on Saturday night at Daikin Park.
Winn launched a two-run homer to the Crawford Boxes in left field in the third to extend the Cards’ lead to 4-1. He also had a two-run single in Friday night’s 9-4 victory.
“He needed it,” manager Oliver Marmol said. “We needed it. It’s also cool to see him do it here at home. He has a lot of people here. It was a big swing there to add on. It’s something we need to continue to stay head down as far as what he’s trying to do. From a movement standpoint, an approach standpoint, that’s a swing that can help.”
Winn said he knew he got enough for the home run.
“It’s a short porch to left field,” he said. “It’s a short porch to right field. I knew. I didn’t get all of it, but I knew I got enough to get it out of here.”
Winn, who graduated from Kingwood High School about 25 miles northeast of downtown Houston, also hit a home run in his first trip back to his hometown on June 4, 2024.
“It feels very familiar,” Winn said of Saturday’s homer. “A couple years ago, I said my papa that was probably his last game he was going to get to see [me play]. I’m grateful he got to see this one today. Same thing, hit a homer for him. Super special today.”
He said being back in Houston has helped him relax.
“I have all my family around,” Winn said. “It feels like home. St. Louis is for sure my new home, but coming back to where you grew up is a little different, I would say. It feels good every time.”
Winn extended his hitting streak to five games, hitting 5-for-19 (.263) over the span after starting the season 6-for-39 (.154). He also has multiple RBIs in consecutive games and has driven in multiple runs in three straight games against the Astros, all at Daikin Park.
The shortstop said he is seeing the ball well, but needs to be better about putting the bat on the ball.
“I’m struggling with that right now,” he said. “I’m looking up. I’m happy we’re winning a lot of games, and it is giving me a lot of opportunities to get some swings.”
The Cardinals’ offense had another solid outing, with all but two starters getting a hit and seven starters scoring a run apiece.
Fermín hit a solo home run to left-center on the 10th pitch of the at-bat in the sixth. It was his second career home run and first since July 13, 2025, against the Braves.
“That’s one of the reasons he was in there today,” Marmol said of Fermín’s long at-bat leading to the homer. “He knows the strike zone. He can take his walks, but he’s going to not swing-and-miss a whole lot. He did exactly what we were hoping for.”
Burleson hit a solo home run to the upper deck in right-center to lead off the seventh, and Nolan Gorman, who had a three-run homer on Friday night, had a two-run single in the first to put St. Louis on the board.
Jordan Walker extended his hitting streak to 13 games with a single in the fifth, the second-longest hitting streak of his career, only bested by a 17-game hit streak in June 2024.
The run support was enough for Andre Pallante, who surrendered one run on three hits with five strikeouts in five innings to pick up his first road win since May 16, 2025, at the Royals, snapping an eight-game road losing streak. Pallante got the most run support he had in a road start since receiving seven runs of support on June 14, 2025, at the Brewers.
He rebounded nicely after getting tagged for seven runs (six earned) in five innings in his last start on Sunday against the Red Sox.
“I stuck with the game plan,” Pallante said. “It was a similar game plan from my last outing, but I executed it better and got better results.”