Back in the city where he once idolized All-Star Jose Altuve, learned from former MLB pitcher Anthony Young and dreamed of becoming a big leaguer while cheering on the Astros, shortstop Masyn Winn starred for a third straight game to push the Cardinals winning streak to five games.
Even though he was trying to lift the ball for a sacrifice fly, Winn drilled a double down the third base line that scored three and proved to be the difference in the Cardinals 7-5 defeat of the Astros in 10 innings at Daikin Park.
Hometown hero! Masyn clears the bases in extras! pic.twitter.com/ZD55albE8Z
St. Louis not only swept the three-game series against Houston, but they also improved to 5-0 in extra innings on the season. Additionally, the Cardinals improved to 10-0 in games decided by two runs of fewer.
Usually reliable relievers JoJo Romero and Riley O’Brien were touched up for three runs in the eighth inning to tie the game at 4. However, Winn – the Katy, Texas native who had 30 friends and family in the crowd – bailed the Cards out in the 10th inning.
“I’ve got 30 (friends and family) up there screaming my name, so knowing that they are backing me up every second of the way is amazing,” Winn said to Cardinals. TV after the win. “Knowing that I have these great teammates behind me as well is also a blessing.”
In the three-game series, the Cardinals scored 23 runs, hammered out 27 hits and added five homers, six doubles, six hit by pitches and 11 walks.
Here are three takeaways from the Cards third straight win in Houston:
How much of a bump did the 24-year-old Winn get by playing in front of dozens of friends and family and close to his home in South Texas?
He had three more hits and three RBI on Sunday to key the victory. In the three-game series, Winn had five hits, a homer, a double and seven RBI. To put that into perspective, Winn had just one RBI before Friday’s series opener in Houston.
With Ivan Herrera (extra-innings runner), Jordan Walker (reached on an error) and Ramon Urias (hit by pitch) on base, Winn smashed a hot shot down the third base line to score all three.
“I’m just trusting the preparation, trusting what we’re doing in the cages with the hitting staff, and I just wanted to go out there and do a job,” said Winn, who is hitting .222 with five extra-base hits on the season. “I was trying to hit the ball in the air (for a sacrifice fly), but sometimes it pays to be lucky. So, that was a good one for us.”
Houston starter Mike Burrows came into Sunday with a six-plus ERA, but he completely baffled the Cardinals over the first 4 2/3 innings of the game. In setting down the first 14 batters he faced, Burrows seven and had very few hard-hit balls.
However, Winn got a rally started with the first hit of the day for the Cardinals – a hard grounder through the left side of the infield. Following a Nathan Church walk and an infield single by Pedro Pages, Victor Scott II walked to force in St. Louis’ first run to tie the score.
JJ Wetherholt then laced a high fastball into right field, allowing Church and Pages to score. Ivan Herrera capped the rally by ripping another single to score Scott and put the Cards ahead 4-1.
Cardinals’ Opening Day starter, Matthew Liberatore, pitched well over his first four starts, but remained winless going into Sunday’s game. He remained winless when the usually solid one-two punch of Romero and O’Brien wobbled in the eighth inning and surrendered three runs.
Using his big, overhand curveball, Liberatore kept the Astros off balance, and he allowed only one run off a Carlos Correa sacrifice fly in the third innings. Over six innings of work, Liberatore continued a frustrating season for the Astros by limiting them to just three hits and a run while striking out four and walking two.
Libby provides a quality start! pic.twitter.com/eKHuaR5Pf6
The Astros hit just four balls hard off Liberatore all game. Of his 82 pitches, he got seven swings and misses. Also, of the 31 four-seam fastballs, Houston hitters got just one hit off those pitches.
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