Nolan Arenado homered in his fourth straight game and Nolan Gorman had a career-high five RBIs to lead the St Louis Cardinals over the Milwaukee Brewers 18-1 on Monday night for their season-best fourth win in a row.
Andrew Knizner hit his first career grand slam in a 10-run eighth after entering as a pinch runner earlier in the inning, which began with Tommy Edman homering. It was the most runs scored by the Cardinals in one inning since the first inning of Game 5 of the 2019 National League Championship Series.
St Louis tied their season high with 16 hits. Following an eight-game losing streak that dropped the Cardinals to 10-24, St Louis have won seven of eight.
Photo: Jeff Curry-USA Today
“It’s a lot more fun and you sleep a lot better at night,” Arenado said. “When you put a lot of work in and it doesn’t click, it gets frustrating. So, when you put a lot of work in and it comes into fruition like it has the last few days, it feels good, and you know that the work you’re putting in is not wrong.”
Willson Contreras returned behind the plate for his first appearance at catcher since May 5. Signed by the Cardinals as a free agent on a five-year US$87.5 million contract, he was used as a designated hitter for 10 days because of defensive concerns.
“He was awesome tonight, and you know, just the way he’s gone about his business and just DH-ing for a while and then to get back in there and to call the game the way he did and to catch the way he did tonight was just a testament to how he is as a player,” Cardinals pitcher Jack Flaherty said.
Conteras went 0 for 4 with a walk.
“I was just putting my focus on staying on the same page with Flaherty,” Contreras said. “I think whatever passed in the last few days, I didn’t think about it. Those are things that I can’t control. The only thing that I can control is to be the best version of Willson Contreras and that’s what did I tonight.”
Flaherty (3-4) allowed three hits in seven innings and struck out 10 in his 10th career double-digit strikeout game.
“I thought he was just really tough on our right-handed hitters,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “None of our right-handed hitters had any good swings.”
The 27-year-old right-hander had not pitched seven innings since May 7, 2021.
“That was one of the best outings I’ve ever seen him have and he just seemed to control the game,” Arenado said.
Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said it was as dominant as Flaherty has been all season.
“We couldn’t have scripted any better,” Marmol said.
Tallon Griekspoor on Friday stunned top seed Alexander Zverev 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/4) in the second round at Indian Wells, avenging a devastating loss to the German at Roland Garros last year. Zverev, the world No. 2 who is heading the field of the prestigious ATP Masters event with No. 1 Jannik Sinner serving a three-month drugs ban, is the first Indian Wells men’s top seed to lose his opening match since Andy Murray in 2017. It was a cherished win for Griekspoor, who had lost five straight matches — including four last year — to the German. That included a five-setter
Donovan Mitchell on Wednesday scored 26 points as the Cleveland Cavaliers punched their ticket to the NBA playoffs with a hard-fought 112-107 victory over the Miami Heat. A seesaw battle in Cleveland saw the Heat threaten to end the Cavs’ 11-game unbeaten streak after opening up a seven-point lead late in the fourth quarter, but the Cavs clawed back the deficit in the closing minutes to seal their 12th straight victory and a place in the post-season. The Cavaliers improved to 52-10, maintaining their stranglehold on the Eastern Conference with 20 games of the regular season remaining. Mitchell was one of six Cleveland
Five-time champion Novak Djokovic on Saturday tumbled out of the Indian Wells ATP Masters, falling in his first match to lucky loser Botic van de Zandschulp as two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz advanced. “No excuses for a poor performance,” 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic said after 37 unforced errors in a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 defeat. “It doesn’t feel great when you play this way on the court,” he said. “But congratulations to my opponent — just a bad day in the office, I guess, for me.” Djokovic is just the latest in Van de Zandschulp’s string of superstar victims. He
Steve Smith yesterday announced his retirement from one-day international (ODI) cricket after captaining Australia to a semi-final exit at the ICC Champions Trophy, bringing down the curtain on a career in the format that included two ICC World Cup wins. The 35-year-old batsman, who was his team’s top scorer with 73 as Australia lost to India by four wickets in Dubai on Tuesday, said he would still be available for selection for T20 internationals and Test matches. “It has been a great ride and I have loved every minute of it,” Smith said in a Cricket Australia statement. “There have been so
RSS