Masyn Winn delivered the go-ahead home run in the seventh inning as the St. Louis Cardinals extended their winning streak to nine games with a 3-2 road victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Monday.
Ivan Herrera also homered for St. Louis, which has the longest winning streak in the majors this season. Lars Nootbaar chipped in a pair of hits for the Cardinals, who only had five hits as a team.
J.T. Realmuto had two hits and an RBI for Philadelphia, which had won five of its previous six games. Nick Castellanos and Alec Bohm also notched two hits for the Phillies.
The decisive blast came in the seventh, when Winn swung at an 0-1 offering from reliever Matt Strahm (1-2) and sent it several rows into the seats in left field. The home run was Winn’s fourth of the season and the first allowed by Strahm.
Neither team scored until the fourth inning, when St. Louis took a 1-0 lead thanks to some wildness from Philadelphia. Cristopher Sanchez walked two hitters and uncorked a wild pitch before second baseman Edmundo Sosa’s throw was off on a potential inning-ending double play, allowing Nolan Arenado to score.
Sosa made amends in the bottom half of the frame with an RBI infield single.
Herrera’s opposite-field homer against Sanchez gave the Cardinals a 2-1 advantage in the sixth, but the Phillies promptly tied it when Kyle Schwarber led off with a single, advanced on a base hit by Castellanos and scored on a grounder by Realmuto.
Philadelphia nearly tacked on another run, but first baseman Willson Contreras made a diving stop on Max Kepler’s grounder to prevent any more damage.
St. Louis starter Matthew Liberatore allowed two runs and seven hits over 5 1/3 innings. He struck out four and walked one before giving way to Kyle Leahy (1-0), who logged 2 1/3 scoreless frames.
JoJo Romero recorded the final out of the eighth before Ryan Helsley slammed the door in the ninth for his eighth save.
Sanchez yielded two runs and four hits in six frames, striking out eight while walking three.
–Field Level Media
