By MATT PIKE
Alec Burleson survived the MLB Trade Deadline and smashed three home runs, his third part of a seven run eighth inning, to help power the St. Louis Cardinals to a 13-7 win over the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium.
Burleson's first two run home run of the game in the first inning, scored JJ Wetherholt after his leadoff walk, and gave the Cardinals a 2-0 lead. José Fermín's RBI double in the second inning drove in Nathan Church to extend the lead, then in the third inning Church singled home Iván Herrera for another run to put St. Louis up 4-0 at the end of three innings.
In the fourth inning, with two outs, Jordan Walker singled and Burleson hit his second home run of the game, another two run shot, to put the Cardinals up 6-0. New York began to chip away at the St. Louis lead in the bottom of the fifth inning scoring three runs, two on a two run home run by Austin Wells, driving in Ryan McMahon, and the third coming in the very next at bat with a solo home run by Trent Grisham, putting the Cardinals up 6-3 at the end of five innings.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, the Yankees took the lead scoring four runs, back-to-back home runs by McMahon and José Caballero cutting the lead to 6-5. Grisham doubled, and after Ben Rice flew out for the second out, Luis García Jr. in his first game since being traded by the Washington Nationals to New York hit a two run home run to put the Yankees ahead 7-6. In the eighth inning though, the Cardinals rallied for seven runs to take the lead for good.
Blaze Jordan led the inning off with a triple and Masyn Winn walked before Church hit a three run home run to put St. Louis up 9-7. Still with no outs, Fermin singled and Jimmy Crooks hit a two run home run to extend the lead. Wetherholt singled before the Yankees finally got the first out on a flyout by Walker, but then Burleson hit the third home run of the inning, his third home run of the game, another two run home run scoring Wetherholt for the final runs of the game.
Burleson was 3-for-5 with three home runs and six RBI's. Church was 2-for-3 with two walks, a home run, and four RBIs. Crooks was 1-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs. Gordon Graceffo earned the win in relief, improving to 7-1 from the bullpen, throwing two scoreless, hitless innings and striking out two. Starter Michael McGreevy threw 4.1 innings and gave up two runs on four hits with five strikeouts and one walk.
St. Louis and New York continue their series on Tuesday. Hunter Dobbins (2-1, 3.74 ERA, 32K's), recalled after the trade of Dustin May, will start for the Cardinals against Ryan Weathers (4-7, 3.99 ERA, 126K's) for the Yankees. First pitch is at 6:05pm, coverage begins at 5:55 on KY 102 (102.5 FM).
You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt.