By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
The St. Louis Cardinals are 3-0 for just the 17th time in 134 seasons and for the first time since 2006 after beating the Minnesota Twins 9-2 on a stormy Sunday at Busch Stadium to complete the opening series sweep. That 2006 season of course, the Cardinals swept the Phillies on the road and went on to win the franchise’s 10th of 11 World Series titles.
For the first time all series, the Twins took the first lead of the game in the first inning, an RBI single from Byron Buxton driving in Matt Wallner, but the Cardinals wasted no time taking the lead back the very next inning, scoring three runs in the bottom of the second, a three run shot coming off the bat of Victor Scott II to right field that also drove in Nolan Gorman and Pedro Pagés.
St. Louis added five more runs in the bottom of the third inning, the first two on an RBI double by Alec Burleson that drove in Brendan Donovan and Nolan Arenado. And after Gorman singled, Pagés hit a three run home run of his own to score Gorman and Burleson, pushing the Cardinals lead to 8-1 after three innings
Pagés finished a triple shy of the cycle after racking up a double, home run and single in the game’s first five innings.
Minnesota scored their final run of the game in the fourth inning thanks to a solo home run from Willi Castro to right center field. The game ended up delayed during the fifth inning due to inclement weather in the area.
The rain delay lasted just around an hour before the game resumed. St. Louis scored its final run of the game in the bottom of the seventh inning on Gorman's first home run of the season, a solo shot to right center.
Andre Pallante earned the win for the Cardinals, pitching five innings and giving up two runs on four hits, striking out three while walking two batters. Pagés (3-4, 1 HR, 3 RBI) and Gorman (3-4, 1 HR, 1 RBI) led the way hitting for St. Louis.
The Cardinals will stay in the comforts of Busch Stadium to host the Los Angeles Angels next. Miles Mikolas will make his season debut for St Louis against Tyler Anderson for the Angels. First pitch is at 6:45pm, pregame coverage will begin at 5:50 on KY 102 (102.5FM).
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