ST. LOUIS — With Max Scherzer starting for the Rangers on Tuesday night, Tommy Pham sat patiently in the dugout, waiting for a chance to make his official return to the Cardinals.
The moment came in the fifth inning, and Pham was ready for it.
After lefthander Cody Bradford relieved Scherzer, Pham came up to pinch-hit for Matt Carpenter – and launched a grand slam that turned a 4-1 lead into an 8-1 blowout win at Busch Stadium.
Pham got a loud ovation as he came to bat – and earned a curtain call after he returned to the dugout. It was the second grand slam of Pham’s career and his second pinch-hit homer.
The homer came one day after he was traded back to the Cardinals from the White Sox, six years after the Cardinals had traded him to Tampa Bay in 2018.
Pham got a second at-bat in the eighth inning and grounded back to the pitcher. He is expected to be in the lineup on Wednesday, with a lefthander scheduled to start for the Rangers.
Here is how Tuesday night’s game broke down:
At the plate: The Cardinals built their early lead with three runs off Scherzer, including a leadoff home run from Masyn Winn on his first pitch of the night. Scherzer had only allowed two home runs to current Cardinals, both to Brandon Crawford, in 124 career at-bats … Carpenter and Crawford hit back-to-back doubles in the second and Lars Nootbaar added an RBI double in the third … In the fifth, the Cardinals got three singles, including an RBI hit from Alec Burleson, off Bradford before a two-out walk to Paul Goldschmidt loaded the bases for Pham.
On the mound: Lance Lynn allowed only three hits through the first five innings, including a home run by Wyatt Langford. He walked one and struck out three … Ryan Fernandez, Chris Roycroft (two innings) and Kyle Leahy finished off the game allowing only a two-out single by Adolis Garcia off Leahy in the ninth.
Key stat: Pham’s slam was the second pinch-hit grand slam by a Cardinal at Busch Stadium 3 since it opener in 2006. The other was hit by Albert Pujols on Aug. 18, 2022, the first pinch-hit grand slam by the Cardinals anywhere since Chris Duncan hit one at Oakland in 2007.
Worth noting: Newly acquired Erick Fedde will make his Cardinals debut on Friday, according to manager Oli Marmol … J.J. Wetherholt, the Cardinals top pick in this year’s draft, made his professional debut on Tuesday night for the Class A Palm Beach Cardinals. He had a single and walked in three plate appearances. Wetherholt was one of six selections from this month’s draft in the starting lineup for Palm Beach … As part of a series of roster adjustments throughout the organization, last year’s first-round pick, Chase Davis, was promoted from Palm Beach to Peoria. He went 1-of-4, driving in two runs in his first game on Tuesday night.
Looking ahead: The Cardinals will promote Michael McGreevy from Memphis to get the start in Wednesday’s 1:15 p.m. game against the Rangers. The move will give all of the other starters an extra day of rest as the team goes through a stretch of playing games on 16 consecutive days. The Cardinals will have to make a roster move to add McGreevy to the roster before the game.
