Behind sparks from Winn, Contreras, power from Herrera, Cardinals avoid sweep of Angels

Daniel Guerrero, St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Apr 2, 2025

Published in Baseball

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ST. LOUIS — With the snapping of offensive skids from Masyn Winn and Willson Contreras and an eighth-inning rally sparked by the bottom third of their lineup, the Cardinals avoided a sweep of the Angels with a 12-5 win Wednesday at Busch Stadium.

After Winn scored following his single and Contreras’ double in the seventh inning, Jordan Walker began the Cardinals’ eighth inning offense with a single to left field that came off his with a 115.8-mph exit velocity, per Statcast.

He advanced to second base when Victor Scott II bunted for a single, and reached third bases moments later when Winn dropped a bunt in a 3-1 count and beat the third baseman Yoan Moncada’s throw to first base to load the bases for Contreras, who drew a walk to give his club a lead that would be furthered in the at-bats that followed.

Behind Contreras, Alec Burleson drew a walk, Nolan Arenado singled home two runs, and Ivan Herrera punctuated the win with a towering three-run home run that marked his third of the afternoon.

Following six-plus innings, nine strikeouts, and five runs allowed by starter Sonny Gray, relievers Phil Maton, Kyle Leahy and JoJo Romero combined for three scoreless inning to send the Cardinals off on their first road trip of 2025 with a win.

The Cardinals (4-2) begin their first road trip of the year on Friday. That will begin with a three-game set in Boston to face the Red Sox and will be followed by three games against the Pittsburgh Pirates before returning to St. Louis to face the Philadelphia Phillies on April 11 for the start of a six-game homestand.

Winn and Contreras end skids

The timing for Winn and Contreras to end their hitless skids to start the 2025 season gave the Cardinals an immediate response after their 3-1 lead turned into a 5-3 deficit following Logan O’Hoppe’s seventh-inning grand slam off Gray.

Winn, hitless through 20 at-bats to start the year, led off the seventh inning with a line drive single to center field that drew a smile from the young shortstop as he stood on first base and turned to the Cardinals dugout.

The single was followed by a single from Nootbaar that advanced Winn to second base with Contreras on deck.

Contreras, who didn’t have a hit through 22 at-bats to start the campaign, plated Winn with a double to left field. An errant throw to second base from shortstop Nicky Lopez to try and prevent Contreras from stretching his hit to extra bases trickled into right field, allowing Nootbaar to score the tying run and for Contreras to advance to third base.

Herrera clubs 3 homers

As his team looked to find some semblance of offense vs. Angels starter Yusei Kikuchi, Herrera opened the scoring when he stepped to the plate to lead off the fourth inning.

On a first-pitch curveball he saw from the left-hander, Herrera lifted a fly ball over the left-field wall to give him his first home run of the season that tied the game at one run apiece.

Two innings later, the 24-year-old Cardinals catcher provided his club a temporary lead. Herrera’s second home run traveled 414 feet and jumped off his bat at 112.1 mph, per Statcast.

Herrera etched himself into Cardinals record books in the eighth inning. On a home run that traveled the farthest (425 feet) of the three and drove in three runs to punctuate a comeback win that ended the Cardinals’ first home stand. Herrera is the first catcher in team history to hit three home runs in a single game.

Gray K’s 9, allows grand slam

Working with improved velocity compared to what he had in his opening start, Gray allowed one run, which came on a first-inning homer from Mike Trout, through his first six innings of work before a second homer spoiled his afternoon.

Back on the mound to pitch the seventh inning, Gray allowed hits to the first two batters he faced and hit one batter to load the bases with no outs.

On his 88th and final pitch of the start, Gray left a 92.6-mph sinker above the strike zone that O’Hoppe belted 404 feet to center field to put the Angels up 5-3.

Gray was removed from the outing and replaced by right-hander Phil Maton, who pitched a scoreless frame.

On the day, Gray totaled nine strikeouts, had a 46% whiff rate, and touched as high as 94 mph with his sinker. The average sinker velocity of 92.5 mph was a 1.2 mph increase from what the righty’s sinker had in the opener vs. the Twins Thursday.

Of the nine strikeouts by Gray, eight were ended with his sweeper. That pitch generated 22 swings-and-misses for a 61% whiff rate, per Statcast.

Arenado keeps streaking

A single to right field in the sixth inning extended Nolan Arenado’s hitting streak to 12 consecutive games — a stretch that dates back to Sept. 20, 2024.

Arenado walked and flew out to center field in his first two trips of Wednesday’s game before lining a 95.3-mph fastball from Kikuchi to right field.

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