By MATT PIKE
Jordan Walker blasted his first home run since winning the Home Run Derby, but the St. Louis Cardinals could not overcome two home runs by Jake McCarthy as the Colorado Rockies beat the Cardinals 8-6 at Busch Stadium.
McCarthy gave Colorado the lead on the first pitch of the game with his 420-foot drive to right-center field off Cardinals starter Matthew Liberatore. In the bottom half, St. Louis took the lead on José Fermín's two RBI double, scoring Iván Herrera and Alec Burleson, but in the third inning the Rockies took the lead back on Cole Carrigg's two-run double, driving in McCarthy and Kyle Karros, before Carrigg scored on Hunter Goodman's RBI single, putting Colorado up 4-2 after three innings.
TJ Rumfield extended the lead driving in Carigg with an RBI single in the fifth inning. In the bottom half of the inning, a sacrifice fly from Masyn Winn scored Herrera to cut the Rockies lead to 5-3. Liberatore's day was done after the fifth inning. Liberatore, who fell to 5-9 on the season, went five innings and struck out three while giving up five runs on nine hits while walking two. Luis Gastelum came on in relief and threw two innings, giving up McCarthy's second home run of the game, a two run shot scoring Ezequiel Tovar, in the sixth inning to push Colorado ahead 7-3.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Herrera drove in Everson Pereira cutting into the lead once again. Then in eighth inning, the Cardinals got within two runs after Walker's solo home run, his first since winning the 2026 Home Run Derby during All Star weekend and first in game home run since July 9th, making the score 7-5. But in the top of the ninth inning, Karros scored McCarthy with a sacrifice fly to cap the Rockies scoring.
Trailing 8-5, with two outs, Nathan Church drove in Fermín with an RBI single, after Fermin led off the inning with a single and stole second base, putting St. Louis down 8-6. Church moved to second base on defensive indifference, but pinch hitter César Prieto struck out to end the game. At the plate, Herrera led the way for the Cardinals going 3-for-5 with two doubles and an RBI.
St. Louis and Colorado wrap up their series tomorrow. Michael McGreevy (4-9, 3.59 ERA, 81K's) starts for the Cardinals against Michael Lorenzen (3-10, 6.94 ERA, 80K's) for the Rockies. First pitch is at 1:15pm, coverage begins at 1:05 on KY 102 (102.5 FM).
You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt.