ATLANTA — The Cardinals played another edition of Home Run Derby on Wednesday night – and picked up a second consecutive win over the Braves in the process.
For the second night in a row the Cardinals hit four home runs – the first time that had happened since 2002 – en route to the victory in Atlanta. It was the fifth time they hit four or more homers in consecutive games in franchise history.
They have never done it three games in a row.
One of the homers was the first career blast for Masyn Winn while Nolan Gorman hit his third in the last two nights. The other homers came from Paul Goldschmidt and Willson Contreras.
The Cardinals jumped on Atlanta starter Spencer Strider, one of the favorites to win the Cy Young Award, for four runs in the first inning.
Here is how Wednesday night’s game broke down:
At the plate: Goldschmidt’s homer, a two-run shot, was the big blow of the four-run first inning. The Cardinals added two more runs in the third, knocking Strider out of the game after just 2 2/3 innings … Winn led off the sixth with his home run, Contreras connected in the seventh and Gorman capped the night with a three-run blast in the eighth, taking over the team lead with his 27th of the season … Contreras also finished with a three-RBI night … Every Cardinals starter had at least one hit in their 14-hit attack … Jordan Walker struck out four times, getting a single in his other at-bat.
On the mound: Dakota Hudson allowed two runs through his first five innings but gave up a leadoff homer in the sixth and left with the bases loaded, and two of those runners came around to score but he still was credited with the victory … Drew VerHagen allowed just one hit while pitching the final two innings.
Key stat: The Cardinals had a season-high five stolen bases to go with the four home runs – the first time that had happened since Sept. 12, 2019 at Colorado. It was the fourth time they reached those totals in the same game in franchise history.
Worth noting: This was the second time in franchise history the Cardinals hit four or more home runs in consecutive games in Atlanta, having previously done it in a doubleheader on July 6, 1979 … The last time the Cardinals scored 10 or more runs in consecutive games in Atlanta was on April 9-10, 2016 … The last time they hit four or more homers in consecutive games was Sept. 18-19, 2002 at Colorado … The Cardinals high Class A affiliate, the Peoria Chiefs, qualified for the postseason on Wednesday night for the first time since 2018. Their other Class A team, Palm Beach, already had qualified for the playoffs.
Looking ahead: Adam Wainwright, who was honored by the Braves before Wednesday night’s game, will make his final start in his native Georgia on Thursday night as the Cardinals try to complete the series sweep.
