By MATT PIKE
Jordan Walker hit solo home run to give the St. Louis Cardinals their first lead of the game, and then drove in the go-ahead run in the ninth inning to lead the Cardinals to a 5-4 win over the Athletics at Sutter Health Park.
Nick Kurtz opened the scoring in the first inning with a solo home run for the Athletics. The Cardinals trailed 1-0 until the fifth inning, when Victor Scott II hit a solo home run to tie the game up, before Walker hit his solo home run in the sixth inning to give the Redbirds the lead. Nolan Gorman followed with a single to right field, driving in Masyn Winn, to give St. Louis a 3-1 lead.
In the seventh inning the Cardinals gave the two run lead away as the A's scored three runs. Zack Gelof homered for the second consecutive day to cut the lead to one, and Shea Langeliers hit a two-run single, driving in Jeff McNeil and Colby Thomas to put the Athletics up 4-3 at the end of the seventh.
Trailing 4-3 in the ninth inning, Iván Herrera tied the game with a single to left field that scored Thomas Saggese, who pinch ran for Yohel Pozo before Walker's double put the Cardinals ahead bringing home Herrera for the 5-4 lead.
Matt Svanson earned the in in relief, improving to 1-1, pitching a scoreless eighth inning, giving up one hit and striking out two. Michael McGreevy got the start and threw six innings, giving up one run on five hits while striking out three. Riley O’Brien picked up his 13th save, striking out two and allowing no hits.
At the plate, Walker was 2-for-5 with the home run, a double, and two RBI's. Pozo went 3-for-4 at the plate while Gorman was 1-for-4 with a walk and an RBI.
St. Louis now returns to Busch Stadium to host the Kansas City Royals. Dustin May (3-4, 4.85 ERA, 32K's) starts for the Cardinals against Michael Wacha (4-2, 2.63 ERA, 42K's) for the Royals. First pitch will be at 7:15pm, you can hear the Cardinals broadcast on KY 102 (102.5FM) starting at 7:05, or the Royals broadcast on KFEQ (680AM/95.3FM) starting at 6:30.
You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt.