By MATT PIKE
Iván Herrera had three hits and two RBIs, Cooper Hjerpe threw four perfect innings of relief in his major league debut and the St. Louis Cardinals held on to beat the Colorado Rockies 10-8 at Coors Field.
Hjerpe, the 22nd overall pick of the 2022 draft by the Cardinals, was recalled from Triple-A Memphis before the game and struck out six after relieving starter Kyle Leahy in the third inning. Leahy, a native of Boulder, Colorado struggled through his start giving up five runs through less than three innings, putting St. Louis behind 5-1 before a six run outburst in the sixth inning gave the Cardinals the lead. TJ Rumfield started the scoring for the Rockies against Leahy in the first, doubling in Jake McCarthy, before Rumfield scored on a single from Mickey Moniak.
St. Louis did cut the Colorado lead to one in the second inning, an RBI single from Nathan Church bringing home Thomas Saggese, but in the third inning the Rockies scored three more runs, all on a three run home run by Moniak driving in Cole Carrigg and Rumfield, signaling the end of Leahy's day and bringing on Hjerpe. Leahy pitched 2.2 innings and gave up five runs on six hits with six strikeouts. The Cardinals saved Leahy from a loss though in the fifth inning, putting up a six inning rally, one day after the Rockies scored six runs in the sixth inning to help them secure a win over St. Louis.
With two outs and the bases loaded, Leo Bernal started the rally with a two RBI single, scoring Iván Herrera and Alec Burleson. Joshua Báez followed Bernal's single with a two run single of his own, bringing home Jordan Walker and Bernal to tie the game, moving all the way to third base on a throwing error by Carrigg in center field, before Nolan Gorman added a go-ahead, two-run home run to cap the scoring for the Cardinals in the fifth inning, putting them ahead 7-5.
Both teams held each other off the board until the eighth inning, when the Cardinals added three more insurance runs. Herrera's RBI double drove in Saggese and José Fermín, and Burleson scored Herrera with an RBI single. In the bottom half of the eighth, in relief of Hjerpe, Luis Gastelum surrendered a solo home run to McCarthy that cut the St. Louis lead to 10-6.
In the ninth, with two outs and runners on the corners, George Soriano came on in relief of Ryne Stanek, and gave up a two RBI single to McCarthy, scoring Hunter Goodman and Zac Veen, but bounced back and struck out Troy Johnston with a runner on second base, after McCarthy advanced on defensive indifference to earn his third save of the season.
At the plate, Burleson was 3-for-5 with a double and an RBI, his team leading 103rd, with a run scored. Báez was 2-for-3 with an RBI, a run scored and a walk. Saggese was 2-for-4 with a double and two runs scored.
St. Louis will now travel to San Francisco tomorrow. Michael McGreevy (6-9, 3.97 ERA, 102Ks) will open the series for the Cardinals against Logan Webb (8-8, 4.21 ERA, 119Ks) for the Giants. First pitch is at 7:10pm, coverage will begin at 7pm on KY 102 (102.5 FM).
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