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Cardinals’ manager Oli Marmol discusses his team’s resolve after pulling a ff its 15th come-from-behind win and its seventh victory in extra innings.
ST. LOUIS – Iván Herrerahad just hit one of the biggest homers of his life and he had barely gotten around first base before he raised his right hand in the air and pretended to twirl an imaginary shirt above his head in the direction of a group of fans who have completely changed the vibes of the season for the surprising Cardinals.
Despite being in a 0-2 hole, Herrera hit a titanic three-run homer over the wall in left field for the first walk-off winner of his career in the 10th inning as the Cardinals beat the Pirates 9-6 before 22,958 shirt-waving fans at Busch Stadium.
With the Stephen F. Austin club baseball team in full-on “Tarps Off” mode and in the right field seats one last time before heading back to East Texas, the Cardinals (28-19) won for a 15th time in come-from-behind fashion. Also, the cardiac Cardinals improved to 7-1 in extra-inning games.
The good-natured Herrera playfully thought that if he found a way to win the game, he would do something to shout out a noisy cheering section that has energized an already fiesty Cardinals club.
“It’s definitely been cooler hitting right now because those guys have had it going out there and, I mean, doing it the whole game,” Herrera said of the bare-chested, shirt-waving fans that have started a flash mob trend that is already spreading throughout MLB ballparks. “I was thinking, ‘We’ve got to deliver for them,’ and I’m so happy we did it today and I’m happy about those guys continuing to support us.”
Tuesday’s win was the fifth straight this season against the rival; Pirates. Also, the game was the first of 12 straight against rivals from the vastly improved National League Central Division with series against the Reds, Brewers and Cubs to follow the Pirates. Since being swept by the Mariners (April 25-27) at Busch Stadium, the Cardinals have responded by winning 14 of 20 games.
“We’re just continuing to fight until the last out and it’s just so much fun to be with this group,” said Alec Burleson, who tomahawked a letter-high pitch for a homer in the eighth inning and added two more stellar defensive plays at first base. “There’s not much really that’s going to faze this group right now. I’m sure there’s something that will come down the line and we’ll address that at that time, but right now we’re just going to keep it going.”
A Cardinals team that wasn’t expected to be overflowing with power in 2026 got a three-run homer from Herrera, two-run homers from Nolan Gorman and rookie JJ Wetherholt and Burleson’s solo shot for eight of the nine runs. Gorman smashed the 80th homer of his career and Wetherholt – a native of Mars, Pa. and a Pirates fan while growing up – burned his childhood team for a third homer this season.
“In here, we’ve always known that we have guys who can hit the ball out of the park,” said Gorman’s whose two-run shot in the sixth inning vaulted the Cardinals into the lead. “We talk amongst each other in between at bats and we’re able to put a pretty good game plan together each time we go to the plate.”
Pirates’ manager Don Kelly pulled starter Mitch Keller in the sixth inning and opted for lefty reliever Evan Sisk, who had never allowed a homer to a left-handed hitter.
Gorman changed all that by hitting a Sisk sinker 437 feet for a two-run homer that propelled the Cardinals into the lead.
Gorman has faced right-handers four times as often as he has lefties in his career, so 66 of his 80 homers have come against righties. However, he has held his own against southpaws with 14 homers and an OPS (.710) close to what’s he’s done against righties (.719).
“You’ve just got to try and get your (front) foot down and try to see the ball in one spot and you can’t chase (Sisk) all over the zone because he’s a good pitcher,” Gorman said. “You have to pick one spot and hope he throws it there.”
Incredibly, Gorman hit his 11th career home run in a game started by childhood friend and Cardinals’ teammate Matthew Liberatore, who was on the hook for the loss before the two-run, go-ahead blast. Gorman’s homer, which left the bat at 108.2 mph, was the sixth of the season and the 80th of his career.
“That’s just really cool,” Liberatore said of the way his childhood buddy from the suburban Phoenix area has backed him at the plate and defensively. “He made that really nice play in the first inning on (Konnor) Grifin’s ground ball. And for him to put another swing like that on a (home run) ball so that we could take the lead, that was huge.”
The Cardinals had to rally in the 10th inning after usually reliable closer Riley O’Brien surrendered two runs in the ninth inning to knot the score at 6. The offense was dominant again against Pittsburgh with the Cardinals mashing 10 homers, hammering out 20 extra-base hits and scoring 39 runs.
In 2025, Herrera had 12 of his 19 homers go for tying or go-ahead shots. On Tuesday, he came up big again in the most significant moment of the night.
“I just felt really focused and even though it was 0-2 I got in the box really fast because I was locked in and I was like, ‘There is no way you’re getting me out here,’” said Herrera, who noted that he had never had a walk-off homer in the Minor Leagues or MLB before Tuesday. “That’s just the thought that I have in that situation. That’s what ha helped me be good in those situations.”
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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ST. LOUIS – Iván Herrerahad just hit one of the biggest homers of his life and he had barely gotten around first base before he raised his right hand in the air and pretended to twirl an imaginary shirt above his head in the direction of a group of fans who have completely changed the vibes of the season for the surprising Cardinals.
Despite being in a 0-2 hole, Herrera hit a titanic three-run homer over the wall in left field for the first walk-off winner of his career in the 10th inning as the Cardinals beat the Pirates 9-6 before 22,958 shirt-waving fans at Busch Stadium.
With the Stephen F. Austin club baseball team in full-on “Tarps Off” mode and in the right field seats one last time before heading back to East Texas, the Cardinals (28-19) won for a 15th time in come-from-behind fashion. Also, the cardiac Cardinals improved to 7-1 in extra-inning games.
The good-natured Herrera playfully thought that if he found a way to win the game, he would do something to shout out a noisy cheering section that has energized an already fiesty Cardinals club.
“It’s definitely been cooler hitting right now because those guys have had it going out there and, I mean, doing it the whole game,” Herrera said of the bare-chested, shirt-waving fans that have started a flash mob trend that is already spreading throughout MLB ballparks. “I was thinking, ‘We’ve got to deliver for them,’ and I’m so happy we did it today and I’m happy about those guys continuing to support us.”
Tuesday’s win was the fifth straight this season against the rival; Pirates. Also, the game was the first of 12 straight against rivals from the vastly improved National League Central Division with series against the Reds, Brewers and Cubs to follow the Pirates. Since being swept by the Mariners (April 25-27) at Busch Stadium, the Cardinals have responded by winning 14 of 20 games.
“We’re just continuing to fight until the last out and it’s just so much fun to be with this group,” said Alec Burleson, who tomahawked a letter-high pitch for a homer in the eighth inning and added two more stellar defensive plays at first base. “There’s not much really that’s going to faze this group right now. I’m sure there’s something that will come down the line and we’ll address that at that time, but right now we’re just going to keep it going.”
A Cardinals team that wasn’t expected to be overflowing with power in 2026 got a three-run homer from Herrera, two-run homers from Nolan Gorman and rookie JJ Wetherholt and Burleson’s solo shot for eight of the nine runs. Gorman smashed the 80th homer of his career and Wetherholt – a native of Mars, Pa. and a Pirates fan while growing up – burned his childhood team for a third homer this season.
“In here, we’ve always known that we have guys who can hit the ball out of the park,” said Gorman’s whose two-run shot in the sixth inning vaulted the Cardinals into the lead. “We talk amongst each other in between at bats and we’re able to put a pretty good game plan together each time we go to the plate.”
Pirates’ manager Don Kelly pulled starter Mitch Keller in the sixth inning and opted for lefty reliever Evan Sisk, who had never allowed a homer to a left-handed hitter.
Gorman changed all that by hitting a Sisk sinker 437 feet for a two-run homer that propelled the Cardinals into the lead.
Gorman has faced right-handers four times as often as he has lefties in his career, so 66 of his 80 homers have come against righties. However, he has held his own against southpaws with 14 homers and an OPS (.710) close to what’s he’s done against righties (.719).
“You’ve just got to try and get your (front) foot down and try to see the ball in one spot and you can’t chase (Sisk) all over the zone because he’s a good pitcher,” Gorman said. “You have to pick one spot and hope he throws it there.”
Gorman helps childhood buddy, teammate again
Incredibly, Gorman hit his 11th career home run in a game started by childhood friend and Cardinals’ teammate Matthew Liberatore, who was on the hook for the loss before the two-run, go-ahead blast. Gorman’s homer, which left the bat at 108.2 mph, was the sixth of the season and the 80th of his career.
“That’s just really cool,” Liberatore said of the way his childhood buddy from the suburban Phoenix area has backed him at the plate and defensively. “He made that really nice play in the first inning on (Konnor) Grifin’s ground ball. And for him to put another swing like that on a (home run) ball so that we could take the lead, that was huge.”
The Cardinals had to rally in the 10th inning after usually reliable closer Riley O’Brien surrendered two runs in the ninth inning to knot the score at 6. The offense was dominant again against Pittsburgh with the Cardinals mashing 10 homers, hammering out 20 extra-base hits and scoring 39 runs.
In 2025, Herrera had 12 of his 19 homers go for tying or go-ahead shots. On Tuesday, he came up big again in the most significant moment of the night.
“I just felt really focused and even though it was 0-2 I got in the box really fast because I was locked in and I was like, ‘There is no way you’re getting me out here,’” said Herrera, who noted that he had never had a walk-off homer in the Minor Leagues or MLB before Tuesday. “That’s just the thought that I have in that situation. That’s what ha helped me be good in those situations.”
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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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