ST. LOUIS -- Following a series of offseason trades that removed a hefty dose of veteran presence -- and salary -- from the roster, the Cardinals were inevitably going to look different in 2026.
They don’t profile, on paper, as a team with an especially voluminous power supply -- though Jordan Walker’s hot start to the season would beg to differ.
Their pitching staff doesn’t produce much swing-and-miss, as Cardinals hurlers rank 30th in the league in strikeouts by a substantial margin.
So, doing the little things -- playing the game the right way -- earnestly needs to be a calling card for this version of the Cardinals to have success.
The Cardinals rode that mentality to a 5-3 win over the Guardians on Wednesday afternoon at Busch Stadium, smearing the fingerprints of small ball all over the outcome to claim the mid-week series.
A day after powering up with three home runs to beat Cleveland, the Cardinals got it done Wednesday without the benefit of the long ball.
After allowing a first-inning run, the Cardinals got it back in the second inning on a Pedro Pagés RBI single. They loaded the bases in the sixth inning, with rookie JJ Wetherholt producing a sacrifice fly before Alec Burleson battled to win a left-on-left matchup against Tim Herrin.
Burleson’s grounder up the middle rolled over the second-base bag to find the outfield grass and plate a pair, giving the Cardinals a crooked number with understated methods.
The Cardinals were active on the bases in a way that Guardians battery Slade Cecconi and Bo Naylor aren't used to seeing. Naylor threw out 19 of 70 (27%) would-be base stealers in 2025, a rate which ranked 17th among 63 qualified catchers. Prior to Wednesday, he was 1-for-3 in 2026.
For his part, Cecconi had not allowed a stolen base -- nor even a stolen-base attempt -- before Wednesday. This wasn’t unusual for Cecconi, who allowed only three stolen bases on four total attempts against him throughout 2025.
But the Cardinals ran freely Wednesday, going 4-for-4 on stolen-base attempts while Cecconi was in the game -- further evidence of that broader emphasis to marry shrewd aggression with their desire to nail the details of the game.