Emotionally charged Nolan Arenado delivers in a key spot as Cardinals sweep doubleheader (2024)

Cardinals rookie shortstop Masyn Winn hit the first leadoff home run of his career Saturday in the nightcap of the team’s doubleheader against the rival Chicago Cubs, but that wasn’t the play that sent Winn or the Cardinals dugout into a celebratory frenzy.

Trailing by a run with runners on second and third and one out and in the eighth inning after Brendan Donovan struck out, Cardinals superstar third baseman Nolan Arenado smacked a 96-mph fastball from Cubs reliever Porter Hodge back up the middle for a go-ahead two-run single.

When Pete Crow-Armstrong airmailed his throw from center field over the catcher and to the backstop, Arenado advanced to second base and punched the air as he stepped on the bag. He then raised both fist in the air toward the home dugout, having just knocked in the tying and winning runs in a 5-4 Cardinals victory over the Cubs in front of an announced crowd 43,827 at Busch Stadium— the third sellout of the season.

“That was sick,” Winn said. “That got the whole dugout fired up, especially a big moment. Especially, I think, against this team. He picks his spots, and that was a great spot. Goldy going out there and getting that double, getting second and third and then Nado picking up Donnie, picking up the whole team. That was electric.”

The Cardinals (50-45) swept the doubleheader, improved to 6-2 against the Cubs this season and put themselves in position to take three of four games with a win Sunday afternoon.

Arenado, an eight-time All-Star and five-time Silver Slugger Award winner, has struggled at the plate this season.

A career .285 hitter with eight seasons of more than 25 home runs, including three 40-homer seasons, Arenado hasn’t been himself at the plate this season. He entered the nightcap with a .265 batting average, eight home runs and 38 RBIs in 88 games.

“It felt great, just to come through for the boys and help us get a win,” Arenado said of his two-run single. “I feel like I haven’t done that very much this first half, so it felt great. That pitcher has a good arm. I was just happy to get a pitch over the plate and hit it hard.”

Arenado and first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, the 2022 NL MVP, have seen marked drop-off in their offensive production this season. Goldschmidt entered the game batting .229 with 13 home runs and 37 RBIs in 90 games. Goldschmidt has a career slash line of .289/.383/.512, but this season those numbers have dropped to .232/.294/.377 through Saturday night’s game.

Goldschmidt also played a key part in the eighth inning rally. Following Willson Contreras’ leadoff walk, Goldschmidt roped a double into the left field corner to put the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position. After Donovan struck out, that set the stage for Arenado.

“It’s been a tough first half, individually, and I’m just trying to contribute any way I can,” Arenado said. “I may not feel great or may not be doing some of the things that I expect for myself, but I can still help this team win on both sides of the ball. I know that. So that’s what I’m focused on until, God willing, it clicks. I believe that time is coming, and tonight was really great.”

The Cardinals swept a doubleheader for the first time since they beat the Cincinnati Reds in both games of a twin bill Sept. 17, 2022. They hadn’t swept the Cubs in a doubleheader since Aug. 4, 2022.

Winn (2 for 4) and Contreras (1 for 2, two walks, two runs scored) each bashed first-inning home runs in the second game, while Arenado (2 for 4) also had a pair of hits.

“The heart of our order did a really nice job today,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “We hit some homers. We had some big, key hits. We had the Nado single up the middle. It looked right. It has for a while now.”

Gibson fought through four innings

Cardinals starting pitcher Kyle Gibson gave up four runs on 10 hits and two walks in four innings. All four runs scored in the second inning, and the Cubs collected six hits in that frame.

The Cardinals (50-45) led 2-0 entering the second inning, but the second hit allowed by Gibson in the second was a two-run home run by Miguel Amaya. The Cubs took the lead two batters later after Pete Crow-Armstrong doubled and leadoff hitter Nico ho*rner drove him in with an RBI single up the middle.

Gibson allowed five consecutive hits starting with Amaya’s home run.

“I have a tendency to get one dimensional and stop pitching,” Gibson said. “Sitting and talking with Sonny (Gray), talking with (pitching coach) Dusty (Blake) and these other guys, I have a tendency with two outs in that inning to go to my out pitch right away instead of keep pitching and keep making pitches.”

Gibson said he’s going to take a close look and analyze some of his issues in his last five starts that have led to one inning in creating problems in each of those recent outings. Even without a thorough breakdown, he did feel like he got away from throwing his fastball in the second inning.

Of the 36 pitches he threw in that inning, he used his sinker just five times according to MLB Statcast data.

“I’m not a guy that can be one dimensional,” Gibson said. “I’ve got too many pitches, when they’re working, that set up other things. … That slider itself doesn’t play on its own like it does when other pitches are being thrown.”

Gibson stranded two runners on base in the third inning, after the Cardinals scored to pull within a run, 4-3, in the bottom of the second.

In the fourth, Gibson worked into and out of a potentially game-breaking situation.

Gibson gave up hits to the first two batters of the fourth inning, froze Seiya Suzuki on a called third strike for the first out of the inning, and then walked Ian Happ to load the bases with just one out in a one-run game.

However, Gibson got Christopher Morel to hit into an inning-ending double play started by Winn at shortstop. That double play kept the Cardinals within a run and at least temporarily took the air out of the Cubs’ collective sails.

Gibson threw 22 pitches in the fourth inning, including 10 sinkers. He threw three sinkers to Morel to set up the sweeper Morel beat into the ground for the double play.

Cardinals relievers John King (two innings), Andrew Kittredge (1 1/3 innings), JoJo Romero (2/3 innings) and Ryan Helsley (one inning) provided five innings of scoreless relief. Romero (4-1) earned the win, while Helsley tallied his MLB-leading 32nd save of the season.

“I think the turning point in the game is the bullpen coming in and putting up five zeros, in my mind,” Gibson said.

Marmol got ejected for arguing balls and strikes from the dugout with Arenado batting in the sixth inning and the Cardinals trailing 4-3.

Gibson nearly walked off the mound more than once when he thought he’d thrown a pitch for a third strike that home plate umpire David Arrieta instead called a ball.

Most notably, Gibson had a 1-2 pitch just off the outside corner called a ball with two men on and two outs in the fourth inning against Suzuki. Gibson’s next pitch got slapped into left field on the ground past the diving Winn for an RBI single and drove in the Cubs’ fourth run of the inning.

In the fourth inning with Winn at the plate, a pitch in a similar location was called a strike on a 2-0 count. Winn went on to strike out swinging on a 2-2 pitch.

The ejection was the third of the season for Marmol, and the 12th of his career.

One day and two wins

The Cardinals stopped a three-game losing slide with their 11-3 afternoon win over the Cubs in the first game of the doubleheader. Their offense enjoyed its highest scoring game of the season, its highest scoring inning of the season and the team collected its largest margin of victory this season.

A nine-run first inning tipped the game in the Cardinals' favor early, as Winn, Burleson, Contreras, Brendan Donovan, Nolan Gorman, Pedro Pages and Michael Siani drove in runs in the first game. Arenado scored three runs in the first game.

Prior to the three consecutive losses, the Cardinals had won 33 of their previous 51 games.

“I think we’ve been playing good ball for a long time,” Winn said. “That little three-game skid, it’s going to happen, but for us to come out here and get both— getting one would have been cool, but getting both is huge. Especially going into (Sunday), we’ve still got one more to go get before this break.

“If we can walk out of here with a series (win), we won’t be happy unless we do that.”