ST. LOUIS — When Jordan Walker returned from Memphis at the end of August, the promise from the Cardinals was that he was going to see regular playing time. As he showed again on Tuesday night, Walker is taking advantage of that opportunity.
Walker hit his fourth homer in 13 September games and Lance Lynn and the bullpen made it stand up in the win over the Pirates at Busch Stadium.
The home run came in the fourth inning and put the Cardinals in front 2-1. They added an insurance run in the eighth as they climbed back above .500 for the season at 76-75.
So far in September Walker is hitting .273 with at least one hit in eight of the 13 games he has started.
They remained seven games out of the final wild-card spot as another game dropped off the schedule, leaving just 11 games left in the regular season.
Here is how Tuesday night’s game broke down:
At the plate: After wasting scoring chances in each of the first two innings, the Cardinals scored in the third when Michael Siani led off with a double, stole third and scored on a triple by Luken Baker. It was his first triple since he was in A ball in 2019 … Walker’s homer was the last hit for the Cardinals until Masyn Winn singled leading off the eighth. After Alec Burleson walked, Winn went to third on a fly out and scored on a sacrifice fly by Nolan Arenado … The Cardinals were 1-of-12 with a runner in scoring position, the lone hit the triple by Baker.
On the mound: The only run allowed by Lynn over six innings was a two-out home run in the second. He scattered four hits, walked two and struck out five. He improved his record at home this season to 6-0 … Matthew Liberatore had to pitch around a leadoff double and single in the eighth to keep the Cardinals in front, getting a fly out, strike out and ground out to strand the two runners … Ryan Helsley picked up his 45th save by closing out the win with two strikeouts in the ninth.
Key stat: Walker leads the Cardinals with his four September home runs in 44 at-bats. Combined, Paul Goldschmidt and Arenado have hit two homers this month in 102 at-bats.
Worth noting: The Cardinals’ Class A farm team, the Palm Beach Cardinals, forced a deciding game in the Florida State League championships with an 8-4 win over Lakeland on Tuesday night. Game three in the series will be Wednesday night in Palm Beach … In the opening game of the Texas League playoffs, Springfield beat Arkansas 4-1. Game two in that series will be on Thursday night in Springfield.
Looking ahead: Sonny Gray will get the start on Wednesday night in the third game of the four-game series.