ST. LOUIS -- With the Cardinals having been eliminated from contention earlier in the weekend series against the Nationals, there were no real stakes in Sunday’s home finale at Busch Stadium.
Nobody told the club’s catching duo, though.
Iván Herrera and Leo Bernal teamed up to power the Cardinals to victory in dramatic fashion. Their pair of eighth-inning home runs turned a one-run deficit into a two-run advantage to set up Riley O’Brien’s NL-leading 38th save of the season in a comeback 5-3 win.
Like O’Brien’s more turbulent stretch late in the season, Herrera was a key cog in the win, launching home runs no. 17 and 18.
Herrera’s second long ball of the afternoon, a solo shot in the bottom of the eighth, had the Cardinals seeking one more electrifying swing.
As a consistent run producer since the moment they called him up at the beginning of the month, the rookie catcher Bernal seemed destined to provide it. His two-run blast was the fourth of his debut stint, vaulting Bernal to 17 RBIs in September -- tied for fourth most among all National League hitters.
Bernal's hot start joins rare company in Cardinals history: 17 RBIs in his first 18 career games is good for third most since RBIs became an official stat in 1920, trailing only Tom Alston (1954, 20 RBIs) and Chick Hafey (1924, 18 RBIs).
Fresh into the game as a defensive replacement, Victor Scott II made a sprawling catch in the top of the ninth to aid O’Brien’s efforts.
Lefty starter Quinn Mathews supplied his longest outing of his rookie season with the Cardinals, allowing three runs across seven innings in the win.