Cardinals complete sweep with doubleheader wins over White Sox
CHICAGO, Ill. (KMIZ)
The Cardinals have escaped their early summer slump.
St. Louis (40-35) swept its doubleheader with Chicago (23-52), clinching a series sweep with a 5-4 win in the first game and a 8-6 victory in an extra-inning finale. This three-game set ended the trend of seven losses in eight games (June 8-15) for the Redbirds.
Manager Oliver Marmol's club delivered clutch plays in the late stages of both games. The Cardinals faced a 4-2 deficit in the eighth inning of game one, but Willson Contreras erased Chicago's lead with his 10th home run of the season, tying the game 4-4. Then, that eighth-inning rally reached the ninth spot in the batting order, leading to a pinch-hit, go-ahead RBI single from Yohel Pozo to regain the lead for St. Louis.
The Redbirds assembled a five-run lead in the nightcap through four frames, powered by back-to-back home runs from Alec Burleson (7) and Nolan Arenado (9) in the third inning and a two-RBI double from Contreras one frame later. However, Chicago tried to return the favor for its challenger's comeback in game one. The White Sox recorded a five-run frame to tie the game in the seventh inning, highlighted by Andrew Benintendi's grand slam, but the Cardinals didn't flinch, scoring two runs in extra innings on an RBI single from Arenado and a solo shot from Lars Nootbaar (9) to win the game.
Arenado hit his 350th career home run in the second contest of Thursday's action, becoming just the seventh player in Major League Baseball (MLB) history with 350+ home runs and 10+ gold gloves. Overall, the Cardinals third baseman finished the twin bill with three hits and two RBI's.
Contreras collected two hits and five RBI's across both games while Burleson totaled four combined hits and three RBI's on the evening.
Andre Granillo had a history-making performance, becoming just the second player in league history to record a win and save on the same day. It was also the first MLB win and save of the rookie's professional career.
Erik Fedde and Michael McGreevy both posted solid five-inning starts on the mound. Fedde allowed one earned run on six hits with four strikeouts in the opener. McGreevy also surrendered just one run while giving up three hits and striking out five batters in the finale.
Up next - St. Louis returns to Busch Stadium for a seven-game homestand against two divisional opponents. The action begins on Friday, June 20 with a weekend series against the Cincinnati Reds at 6:15 p.m.
