ST. LOUIS – Finally fully bought in to the hitting changes that the Cardinals have been asking of him much of the past three seasons, Jordan Walker is starting to show the club just how dynamic of a player he can be.
Walker, the 6-foot-6 former top prospect in baseball, drilled a two-out single into the left-center gap, stole second base to get into scoring position and then came around to score on a Nolan Gorman single to break a tie score and lift the Cardinals to a 3-2 victory Sunday over the rival Cubs.
The win gave the Cardinals a second straight series victory over a likely playoff team. The Cardinals took two of three from the Dodgers earlier in the week in Los Angeles and grabbed two of three against their rivals before a split crowd at Busch Stadium. Also, the victory evened the season series at 5-5.
The work by Walker and Gorman made a winner of Sonny Gray, who limited the Cubs to five hits, two runs (one earned) and a walk, while striking out seven over seven innings. The Cardinals are 18-6 when Gray starts this season, but 11 games under .500 when any other starter pitches (42-53). Gray came into the night tied with Tigers star lefty Tarik Skubal and Phillies standout Cristopher Sánchez for the best team record for any pitcher with at least 20 starts this season.
Gray struck out the side in the top of the third, and catcher Pedro Pagés carried that momentum over to the bottom half of the inning when he drilled a two-run homer over the wall in left-center. Pagés, who had one of MLB’s most feel-good moments of the 2024 season when he hit a game-winning home run on Father’s Day with his dad sitting behind home plate, now has three home runs and 10 RBIs in his career against the Cubs – the most of any opponent he has faced.
Two innings later, the Cubs tied the game when they similarly got a big blast from the bottom of their order. No. 9 hitter Matt Shaw followed a throwing error on third baseman Gorman that allowed Dansby Swanson to reach with a two-run, game-tying homer. Shaw hit a 1-2 sweeper – just the fourth long ball that Gray has allowed this season with his best pitch.
