ST. LOUIS — The easy narrative is that Albert Pujols had his first three-hit game and first homer as a Cardinal since September 2011. But there was so much more going on at Busch Stadium Tuesday night in the Cardinals’ 6-5 interleague victory over the Kansas City Royals before an impressive April weeknight paid crowd of 40,398.
The Cardinals’ Nolan Arenado, just named Player of the Week for his exploits during the first few days of the season, got a jump on Week 2 with a two-run homer off Kansas City left-hander Daniel Lynch in the first inning.
Arenado’s third homer of the season was his sixth extra-base hit out of seven over his first four games. And he has driven in at least two runs in each of those games.
But after Pujols had followed Arenado’s homer with No. 680 of his career on his first hit of the season, the Royals tied the score only to have Cardinals backup catcher Andrew Knizner punctuate his first hit by lining it into the left-field seats. This three-run homer in the fourth broke a tie and ultimately made a winner of Jordan Hicks, who was making his first appearance in the majors since last May 1.
Hicks, after laboring through an 11-pitch at-bat against Cam Gallagher, the first Royals batter in the fifth, resulting in a walk, quickly set down the next five hitters, totaling six outs.
He struck out two besides inducing a double play in his two hitless innings of relief. The result of this snappy outing was the first win since May, 2019 to be recorded by the former Cardinals closer who soon will be starting.
But most will be talking about Pujols, who homered on the first pitch left-hander Lynch threw after allowing Arenado’s home run.
Pujols, who hadn’t homered as a Cardinal since Sept. 22, 2011, lofted a 93-mph fastball 368 feet into the left-field seats. After he toured the bases, he entertained the crowd’s entreaty for a curtain call by popping out of the dugout and doffing his helmet. Pujols, at 42, was four years older than Larry Walker as the oldest Cardinals DH to homer and his Cardinals home run was No. 446 in the birds-on-the-bat.
But Cardinals starter Dakota Hudson, who had breezed through the first two innings striking out two, served up two long homers in the second.
Kansas City DH Salvador Perez walloped a 441-foot drive to left center to cut the Cardinals’ lead to 3-1. The distance of the homer matched the number of pitchers off whom Pujols has homered in his career.
After Adalberto Mondesi beat out a broken-bat infield hit, Michael A. Taylor rifled a 407-foot homer to left center and the game was deadlocked.
The game settled briefly after these two outbursts. Neither team scored in the third and Cardinals second baseman Tommy Edman made a diving stop to his left to thwart Nicky Lopez to end the fourth when the Royals had a runner on.
Pujols slapped a slider to left for a single to open the Cardinals’ fourth and stopped at second on Edman’s single to left. But Harrison Bader struck out on a full swing and Paul DeJong on a checked swing. Then Knizner, making his first appearance of the season, zipped a three-run homer off a slider just inside the left-field foul pole and the Cardinals had their three-run lead restored.
Knizner hadn’t homered since Aug. 5 of 2021.
Dylan Carlson extended his two-season hitting streak to 11 games with an infield hit in the fourth before Paul Goldschmidt flied deep to left center.
Hicks, also appearing for the first time this season, relieved in the fifth after Hudson had thrown 70 pitches — only 39 for strikes — through four. The sinker baller, whose velocity topped out at 99 mph, erased his leadoff walk by getting Whit Merrifield to roll into a double play started by shortstop DeJong. On his 21st pitch of the inning, Hicks, who will join the rotation on Saturday, fanned rookie Bobby Witt Jr., on a wicked slider.
Pujols singled for his third hit, a single to center, with two out in the Cardinals’ fifth and Edman immediately followed with a double off the left-field wall. But Bader flied to center as the threat ended.
Lopez doubled in a run off Nick Wittgren in the seventh and Perez crushed his second homer, a 403-foot drive to left center in the eighth off Genesis Cabrera as leaping center fielder Bader was outfought for the ball by a fan in the bleachers who chucked the ball back onto the field in Bader's vicinity. Bader then fired the ball back into the stands.
Giovanny Gallegos gained his first save with a perfect ninth, knocking down pinch hitter Ryan O'Hearn's liner and scrambling to get the final out.
