ST. LOUIS — An early display of force and panache by one of the top lineups in the National League was too much for even the Cardinals' steady, pesky lineup to keep pace.
Atlanta hammered three home runs in the first two innings to create a gap the Cardinals only threatened to close. The first National League foe to visit St. Louis this season sprinkled in a few runs late to salt an 8-4 victory Monday night at Busch Stadium.
The sunny, successful spring that ushered Jake Woodford into the rotation met the cold shock of the regular season when seven of the first 10 batters he faced reached base with a hit. Atlanta’s Austin Riley homered to a distant concourse for the game’s first run, and two multi-run homers followed in the second inning, including Ronald Acuna Jr.’s three-run shot. Acuna reached base in his first four plate appearances, doubling later off Jordan Hicks for Atlanta’s icing rally in the seventh.
Woodford (0-1) allowed six runs on seven hits and three walks.
He had allowed three homers total in his previous 36 big-league appearances.
Playing from behind throughout the game, the Cardinals maintained offensive pressure on Atlanta – but came a few feet shy of overtaking the lead.
In the moments after the Cardinals’ series victory against Toronto, manager Oliver Marmol mentioned the inches the Blue Jays offered that weren’t taken, and how that was a lesson for his team. A different reminder found them Monday. Forget inches, there are feet their home ballpark’s pitcher friendly dimensions will keep from them. With two runners on in the third inning, Willson Contreras socked a pitch to deep right that Ronald Acuna Jr. caught at the wall. In the fifth inning, with another two runners on base, Tyler O’Neill outdrove Contreras.
But he could not overcome the ballpark.
The ball fell just short of the wall, where center fielder Michael Harris II caught it.
When Paul Goldschmidt opened the seventh inning with his first homer of the season, the Cardinals had their 10th hit of the game. They have had at least 10 in their first four games. But on Monday could not get that one breakthrough hit, going one-for-11 with runners in scoring position and marooning 11 runners on base.
Atlanta thunders against Woodford
Despite a season spent yo-yoing between the majors and Memphis while also trying to adjust his slider in the way the Cardinals prescribed, Woodford maintained reliable performance in part because he did not allow homers. In 48 1/3 innings in the majors, the right-hander allowed one home run in 2022, and in 91 1/3 innings overall – shuttling between Class AAA and the Cardinals – Woodford allowed two homers, total.
Before he finished his second inning of this season, he had allowed three.
Ozzie Albies and Acuna drilled homers in the second inning as Atlanta went on a five-run joyride against the Cardinals’ starter. Albies’ two-run shot came before Woodford could get the first out of the inning, and Acuna’s three-run homer punctuated an inning that included three extra-base hits. Coupled with Riley’s homer in the first inning, Woodford allowed two 400-foot blasts and three homers total the first 10 batters he faced.
Atlanta had opened up a 6-1 lead on the Cardinals before the Cardinals had their second turn to hit. Woodford remained in the game to pitch into the fifth inning – not so much to buy time for the Cardinals’ persisting lineup but save some work from the perpetual active Cardinals’ bullpen. Woodford retired eight of the final 10 batters he faced to give the Cardinals fewer outs for the bullpen to cover.
Woodford is holding Adam Wainwright’s spot in the rotation, and the veteran made a significant stride Monday toward a rehab start with a bullpen session and medical review.
Walker collects RBI vs. boyhood team
Turner Field, the home ballpark of his favorite club, was a 5-minute drive from where Jordan Walker and his family would go to church every Sunday. Walker recalled the trip Monday and the half mile, at most, spent on the interstate to get from a Sunday morning service to a Sunday afternoon ballgame – and the late-inning tradition he developed as a boy.
Around the seventh inning of every Braves game, Walker headed to the mini-field for kids at Turner. There was a big screen TV to watch the game and there were at-bats to see if he could hit over the wall at the kid-sized park.
And he did.
Often.
“Quite a few times,” he said Monday with a smile. “I think that’s also what got me into it likely, having some success in the mini ballpark. That also helped me grow more in love with baseball.”
He called Monday a “new experience” facing the team he “idolized,” although that fondness for Atlanta’s club shifted right about the time St. Louis’ club drafted him 21st overall. Now, it’s just another club to get firsts against. Walker prolonged a rally with a single in the fourth inning for his first hit against Atlanta and first RBI against Atlanta, too.
Walker’s base hit was part of a fourth inning uprising that momentarily edged the Cardinals back into the game, 6-3. Three consecutive singles to open the inning produced a rally of two runs before flickering out.
Riley launches into Busch III history
Before the game got lousy with longballs, Woodford was one strike away from finishing the first inning without giving up a run. He recovered from early misses to get the count full against Riley, a top-seven finisher for the NL MVP each of the past two years. The Braves’ third baseman whiffed on a fastball and tipped a sinker to find himself in that 3-2 count.
After three consecutive decisive pitches, Woodford blinked.
Riley pounced for history.
His swing on a full-count fastball over the middle of the plate sent the ball hurtling toward an area of the ballpark usually explored only batting practice. The ball landed, on the fly, beyond the bleachers in left-center field and on the concourse. It is the type of distance that usually gets applause during batting practice, and it put Riley into exclusive company at Busch Stadium.
Measured at 473 feet, Riley’s homer is the fifth-longest hit at Busch III, per the Cardinals’ estimates and Statcast data. It came shy of the 489 foot blast hit by Keon Broxton for the Brewers back in 2017. That homer, however, was retconned by Statcast and reduced from the Cardinals’ in-house estimate. That makes Riley’s the longest homer hit by an opponent at Busch III, according to MLB’s Statcast data.
And the long-drive contest was just starting.
Contreras defies base burgling trends
Major League Baseball’s attempt to grease the basepaths and increase the team’s interest in attempting steals yielded some opening weekend crime sprees. With larger bases, 4 inches less on the basepaths, and limits on pickoff attempts, 21 of the 23 steal attempts on opening day were successful. That was the most steals on opening day since 1907.
One of the two baserunners nabbed was at Busch, by Contreras.
On Monday against Atlanta, the Cardinals’ new catcher became the second catcher in the majors with two runners caught so far this season despite the spike in running and successful steals. Acuna had a leadoff infield single on a slow roller to Nolan Arenado. The speedy outfielder – who hit 41 homers and stole 37 bases in 2019 – attempted to sneak his way into scoring position against Woodford. He took off on a slider that left Woodford’s hand at 82 mph. Contreras’ throw to second met Acuna there for the tag by Tommy Edman. Contreras was euphoric – pumping his glove in celebration as Acuna trotted off the field, no replay needed.
Through the first weekend of games, teams were stealing at an 83% percent clip.
Entering the final three innings Monday night, opponents were only one-for-three vs. Contreras on steal attempts.
