September 22 – Ivan Herrera hit a three-run homer and scored twice, helping the St. Louis Cardinals beat the visiting Cleveland Defenders 6–5 on Saturday night.
However, the Guardians (90-66) still won the AL Central. They had the magic number one heading into Saturday’s game, and the No. 2 Kansas City Royals’ 9-0 loss to the San Francisco Giants earlier in the day was enough to get the job done.
Jordan Walker hit a two-run shot for the Cardinals (78-77), who won for the fourth time in their last six games.
St. Louis starter Miles Mikolas (9-11) allowed one run on four hits in six innings. He struck out four but did not walk. Ryan Helsley earned his ninth save and 46th of the year.
José Ramírez hit a three-run homer and Bo Naylor had a solo shot for the Guardians.
Cleveland starter Matthew Boyd (2-2) allowed two runs on four hits in four innings. He struck out six and walked three.
The Guardians lost the game in the second inning. Lane Thomas singled and Andres Jimenez went to third. When the outfield pitch went beyond a cutter, Masyn Winn recovered the ball and threw Thomas out at home.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Herrera loaded the bases and Walker hit a home run, giving the Cardinals a 2–0 lead.
Naylor’s fifth-inning blast cut Cleveland’s deficit to 2–1.
The Cardinals extended their lead to 6–1 in the seventh inning against reliever Nick Sandlin. Michael Siani hit a single in the first and Winn scored on an error.
After Alec Burleson’s double, Paul Goldschmidt’s error allowed Winn to score from second. Nolan Arenado was hit by a pitch and then Herrera hit a three-run home run.
Cleveland tied the score at 6–5 in the eighth inning against JoJo Romero and Matthew Liberatore. Angel Martinez and David Fry had singles, Ramirez had a home run, Thomas had a walk and Jimenez had an RBI double.
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