ST. LOUIS -- The gritty Cardinals have thrived in close games all season, and despite being hitless in his first four at-bats, Iván Herrera was ready for his big moment Tuesday night at Busch Stadium.
The slugging designated hitter left no doubt in the bottom of the 10th inning, smoking a three-run home run to walk it off for the Cardinals in a 9-6 win over the Pirates, sending the shirtless Tarps Off crew in right field seating sections into a frenzy.
Though it was a sloppy game in various aspects for the Cardinals, the relentless nature of their lineup sensed the need for some thunder. St. Louis blasted four home runs to buoy other areas of the roster that were in need of a reprieve.
Matthew Liberatore was the model of efficiency through four innings. For a Cardinals starting rotation that collectively ranks 28th in MLB in strikeouts on the season, efficiency is rarely associated with gaudy K totals.
But Liberatore had the best of both worlds in the early going, tying a career high in strikeouts by the end of the fourth. Though he set a new career high with his ninth strikeout in the fifth inning, he also failed to escape that frame, allowing four runs to flip a Cardinals lead into a deficit.
So, after the once-promising outing hit a snag, the Cardinals needed to find a way back into the game.
Leave it to Liberatore’s boyhood pal Nolan Gorman.
As has become a serendipitous trend through the years, Gorman provided a big swing in a game started by Liberatore, launching one out to right-center field for a go-ahead two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning. Facing his Minor League teammate and former Cardinals farmhand Evan Sisk, Gorman turned around a sinker a Statcast-projected 437 feet to put the Cards up, 5-4.
It marked Gorman’s 11th home run in a Liberatore start as the pair of Phoenix-area kids continue to have each other’s backs in the big leagues.
Two other lefty bats for the Cardinals added home runs in the win, with JJ Wetherholt displaying another piece of keen bat control when he stayed on a Mitch Keller outside changeup to send his ninth home run of the year out to the opposite field. Alec Burleson clubbed his seventh of the year into the Cardinals’ bullpen in the eighth before Pittsburgh rallied for two runs in the ninth to tie the game and force extras.
The Cardinals improved to 5-0 against the Pirates on the season.