ST. LOUIS — The Cardinals returned from their European excursion with a daunting homestand waiting for them in St. Louis with the defending World Series champion Houston Astros the first foe knocking at their door.
With starting pitcher Jordan Montgomery setting the tone on the mound, and Paul DeJong and Nolan Arenado providing clutch hitting, the Cardinals rallied from an early two-run deficit to score four unanswered runs in a 4-2 win over the Astros in the first game of a three-game series in front of an announced crowd of 41,512 at Busch Stadium on Tuesday night.
The Cardinals (33-45) snapped a five-game losing streak in their home ballpark, and they’ve now won six of their past eight games.
DeJong went 1 for 3 with a home run and two RBIs, while Arenado went 2 for 3 with an RBI and a run scored in the win.
Rookie outfielder Jordan Walker (1 for 3, run scored) extended his hitting streak to 16 games. Outfielder Dylan Carlson (2 for 4) enjoyed a multi-hit game, while Willson Contreras (1 for 4) belted a double.
Jordan Hicks recorded his fifth save, all since June 17.
Montgomery registered his ninth quality start of the season and earned his fifth win. Montgomery (5-7) pitched 6 2/3 innings and held the Astros to two runs (one earned) on six hits and one walk. He struck out six. He’s won back-to-back starts for the first time since his first two starts of the season on April 2 and April 8.
Giving away an early run
The Astros grabbed an early lead with the help of a fielding error on the first pitch of the game. Montgomery threw a sinker below the strike zone, which Astros leadoff hitter Mauricio Dubon hammered into the ground towards Cardinals second baseman Brendan Donovan.
However, Donovan did not field the ball cleanly and Dubon reached to start the game. The next batter, Alex Bregman lined a single into right field that allowed Dubon to go from first base to third base. Kyle Tucker followed with a groundball to first baseman Paul Goldschmidt.
The Cardinals recorded a force out at second base, but Dubon scored from third on the play to give the Astros a 1-0 lead on an unearned run just four pitches into the game.
The Cardinals turned a double play when the fourth batter of the inning, Jose Abreu, hit a grounder to the shortstop DeJong.
The Astros took a 2-0 lead on a towering solo home run by Astros catcher Martin Maldonado in the bottom of the third inning. The 438-foot smash came on a 1-0 sinker that stayed up and over the heart of the plate.
DeJong does damage again
DeJong hit his third home run in his last seven games when he took Astros starter Framber Valdez deep in the second inning for a solo blast.
DeJong, who now has 11 home runs this season, came into the day with an extra-base hit in four of his previous six games. That included a pair of home runs and a pair of doubles.
In his first at-bat on Tuesday night, he smashed a 1-2 curveball left over the inner half of the plate into the left field stands roughly 405 feet away from home plate.
Valdez had given up just two home runs since the beginning of May.
In the fourth inning, DeJong notched his second RBI of the day when he lofted a sacrifice fly to deep right-center field with the bases loaded. That tied the score 2-2.
Goldy and Arenado combine for go-ahead run
With the score tied 2-2 in the fifth inning, Paul Goldschmidt drew a one-out walk to put the go-ahead run on base with Arenado due up next.
Arenado came into the day leading the team in RBIs (50) and go-ahead RBIs (15). He crushed a Valdez change-up to right field for an RBI double, the 1,600th hit of his career. Goldschmidt scored on the play and an errant throw to the plate by Astros second baseman Dubon allowed Arenado to advance to third base.
That go-ahead RBI by Arenado gave the Cardinals their first lead of the day.
After Contreras grounded out to third base for the second out of the frame and Walker drew a walk, Arenado broke for home on a pitch in the dirt that caromed away from Astros catcher Maldonado toward the visiting dugout side of the grass.
Maldonado scrambled and quickly threw to Valdez covering home plate. Valdez applied the tag and got on Arenado as he slid into the plate.
At least that’s how it appeared at first glance, and that’s hoe home plate umpire Alan Porter called the play.
After a video review, it was clear that Valdez missed when he swiped to tag Arenado. The replay official overturned the call on the field, and the Cardinals took a 4-2 advantage.
That wild pitch by Valdez was his third of the game, the most in an outing in his career. He also became the first Astros pitcher with at least three wild pitches in a game since he did it on June 19, 2021.
Holding on to the lead
The Astros threatened to cut into the Cardinals’ lead in the seventh inning.
With two outs and Montgomery still on the mound, Corey Jules smacked a double down the left field line, and Jeremy Pena followed with a single to right field that put runners on the corners.
Chas McCormick drew a walk from Montgomery, which loaded the bases with two outs. Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol turned to reliever Giovanny Gallegos for the final out of the inning.
Astros manager Dusty Baker countered by calling upon left-handed hitting Bligh Madris as a pinch hitter. After Madris fouled off the first 3-2 pitch he saw from Gallegos, Madris then hit a high fly ball to left field for the final out of the inning as the Astros stranded the bases loaded.
The Cardinals kept the 4-2 lead intact.
