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Roundtable Sports' John Denton discusses Blaze Jordan's MLB stellar debut -- one that was ruined by veteran reliever Ryne Stanek surrendering three homers in a 9-8 loss to the Twins on Friday night.
The spot where Cardinals third baseman Blaze Jordan stood on Friday night at Minnesota’s Target Field – in the batter’s box in an MLB game and in position to drive in runs – was where he always seemed destined to be from a young age.
By age 11, Jordan had already gone viral for hitting a 395-foot homer at Globe Life Park, home of the Rangers. At 13 years old, he had a 500-foot homer to his credit in another Texas high school showcase.
Before he ever played a high school game at DeSoto Central in Southaven, Miss., Jordan had already committed to play collegiate baseball at Mississippi State University. By the time Jordan was a sophomore, he reclassified so that he could get to pro ball sooner – a decision reaffirmed by him hitting 27 homers at Cleveland’s Progressive Field to win the High School home run derby in 2019.
What Jordan never saw coming was the six Minor League seasons he would have to put in before finally reaching the big leagues. That moment finally came on Friday night and Jordan, 23, wasted no time in putting his fingerprints all over the game.
Jordan, who was promoted from Triple-A Memphis to the big leagues earlier in the day, singled in a run in his first MLB at bat, but struggling reliever Ryne Stanek allowed three homers spanning the seventh and eighth innings as the Twins rallied for a 9-3 defeat of the Cardinals on Friday night.
“I worked my whole life for this and for this day to actually come – when I was a kid it seemed so far away and to be here now, it’s great,” Jordan told Cardinals.TV before the game. “Me and my family, we’re just so happy. My family made a lot of sacrifices for me to be able to do this. I’m just super pumped.”
Stanek, who had improved in recent weeks following a slow start to the season, replaced Gordon Graceffo in the seventh inning, but he surrendered a three-run, game-tying homer to Kody Clemens. In the bottom of the eighth, Royce Lewis and Brooks Lee hit solo homers off Stankey to win the game for Minnesota.
Jordan also had a key single in the eighth inning for the Cardinals by handling the bat well and going the other way to move pinch-runner Bryan Torres to third base. Jose Fermin then drilled a hard-hit ball to shortstop Tristan Gray, who had no play as Torres scored to give the Cardinals a brief lead.
Jordan’s family drove the 14 hours from Southaven, Miss. to Minnesota to be on hand for their son’s debut. Jordan said there were quite a few tears on Thursday night upon alerting his father, Chris, and mom, Jennifer, of his big-league promotion.
“They’ve meant everything to me and I actually teared up last night while calling them because we’ve been through a lot together through this whole baseball journey,” Jordan said. “They’ve been there my whole life and through the ups and downs and they were always there with me. So, it was special calling them.”
The Cardinals and Twins combined for seven runs in the seventh inning. Another Jordan – Jordan Walker – laced a 111.7 mph double down the left field line to plate three runs and give the Cardinals a brief 7-4 lead. That lead would disappear when Stanek surrendered the three-run, game-tying homer to Clemens in the seventh inning.
Alec Burleson homered in a fourth straight game by drilling a Joe Ryan fastball 414 feet and halfway up the upper deck. Burleson's 12th homer of the season left the bat at 108.8 mph and was a no-doubter.
Burleson is the first Cardinals player to homer in at least four straight games since Nolan Arenado homered in five straight from May 12-16, 2023.
The Cards tacked on two more runs in the second inning when Jordan singled in Lars Nootbaar and standout rookie JJ Wetherholt singled in Masyn Winn.
Byron Buxton hit a solo homer in the first and the Twins got to Cardinals’ right-hander Kyle Leahy with a single run in the fifth inning and two more in the sixth inning. Leahy, a converted reliever, has had trouble getting through lineups a third time and Friday was no different.
The game was halted for 29 minutes in the top of the third inning because of a brief downpour.
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The spot where Cardinals third baseman Blaze Jordan stood on Friday night at Minnesota’s Target Field – in the batter’s box in an MLB game and in position to drive in runs – was where he always seemed destined to be from a young age.
By age 11, Jordan had already gone viral for hitting a 395-foot homer at Globe Life Park, home of the Rangers. At 13 years old, he had a 500-foot homer to his credit in another Texas high school showcase.
Before he ever played a high school game at DeSoto Central in Southaven, Miss., Jordan had already committed to play collegiate baseball at Mississippi State University. By the time Jordan was a sophomore, he reclassified so that he could get to pro ball sooner – a decision reaffirmed by him hitting 27 homers at Cleveland’s Progressive Field to win the High School home run derby in 2019.
What Jordan never saw coming was the six Minor League seasons he would have to put in before finally reaching the big leagues. That moment finally came on Friday night and Jordan, 23, wasted no time in putting his fingerprints all over the game.
Jordan, who was promoted from Triple-A Memphis to the big leagues earlier in the day, singled in a run in his first MLB at bat, but struggling reliever Ryne Stanek allowed three homers spanning the seventh and eighth innings as the Twins rallied for a 9-3 defeat of the Cardinals on Friday night.
“I worked my whole life for this and for this day to actually come – when I was a kid it seemed so far away and to be here now, it’s great,” Jordan told Cardinals.TV before the game. “Me and my family, we’re just so happy. My family made a lot of sacrifices for me to be able to do this. I’m just super pumped.”
Stanek, who had improved in recent weeks following a slow start to the season, replaced Gordon Graceffo in the seventh inning, but he surrendered a three-run, game-tying homer to Kody Clemens. In the bottom of the eighth, Royce Lewis and Brooks Lee hit solo homers off Stankey to win the game for Minnesota.
Jordan also had a key single in the eighth inning for the Cardinals by handling the bat well and going the other way to move pinch-runner Bryan Torres to third base. Jose Fermin then drilled a hard-hit ball to shortstop Tristan Gray, who had no play as Torres scored to give the Cardinals a brief lead.
Jordan’s family drove the 14 hours from Southaven, Miss. to Minnesota to be on hand for their son’s debut. Jordan said there were quite a few tears on Thursday night upon alerting his father, Chris, and mom, Jennifer, of his big-league promotion.
“They’ve meant everything to me and I actually teared up last night while calling them because we’ve been through a lot together through this whole baseball journey,” Jordan said. “They’ve been there my whole life and through the ups and downs and they were always there with me. So, it was special calling them.”
The Cardinals and Twins combined for seven runs in the seventh inning. Another Jordan – Jordan Walker – laced a 111.7 mph double down the left field line to plate three runs and give the Cardinals a brief 7-4 lead. That lead would disappear when Stanek surrendered the three-run, game-tying homer to Clemens in the seventh inning.
Burleson homers for fourth straight game
Alec Burleson homered in a fourth straight game by drilling a Joe Ryan fastball 414 feet and halfway up the upper deck. Burleson's 12th homer of the season left the bat at 108.8 mph and was a no-doubter.
Burleson is the first Cardinals player to homer in at least four straight games since Nolan Arenado homered in five straight from May 12-16, 2023.
The Cards tacked on two more runs in the second inning when Jordan singled in Lars Nootbaar and standout rookie JJ Wetherholt singled in Masyn Winn.
Byron Buxton hit a solo homer in the first and the Twins got to Cardinals’ right-hander Kyle Leahy with a single run in the fifth inning and two more in the sixth inning. Leahy, a converted reliever, has had trouble getting through lineups a third time and Friday was no different.
The game was halted for 29 minutes in the top of the third inning because of a brief downpour.
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Remember to join our CARDINALS on ROUNDTABLE community, which is FREE! You can post your own thoughts, in text or video form, and you can engage with our Roundtable staff, as well as other CARDINALS fans. If prompted to download the Roundtable APP, that's free too!
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