By MATT PIKE
Cody Bellinger drove in three runs, Paul Goldschmidt had three hits against his former team and the New York Yankees beat the St. Louis Cardinals 8-4 on Sunday afternoon for a series sweep at Busch Stadium.
Second baseman Thomas Saggese made two errors in the Yankees' four-run ninth. He threw wildly to first, and leadoff batter José Caballero took second and then third on a passed ball.
Walks to pinch-hitter Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge loaded the bases. Saggese let Bellinger’s grounder get by him for two runs. Judge then scored on a fielder’s choice. Goldschmidt, who played for St. Louis from 2019 through 2024, hit his second double for the final run.
Luke Weaver pitched the final 1 1/3 innings. JoJo Romero, falling to 4-5 on the season, took the loss for the Cardinals.
The Yankees grabbed a 3-0 lead in the fourth inning on run-scoring singles by Jasson Domínguez, Ryan McMahon and Caballero. St. Louis scored two unearned runs in the fourth on a two-out double to right by Saggese. Alec Burleson drove in a run in the fifth to tie it.
Yohel Pozo led off the sixth with a homer to center off Yankees reliver Camilo Doval to put St. Louis up 4-3. As he was rounding the bases following his tiebreaking home run, Pozo not only had tears in his eyes but also thoughts of his son, Paul, and other ill kids at Mercy Children’s Hospital dancing in his mind.
Paul Pozo suffered a series of strokes after being born in March of 2020, and he walked and talked well ahead of when doctors ever thought he would do so. Paul’s painted handprint was on the 34-inch, 31-ounce maple bat used for Sunday’s homer, along with others from children fighting to get better at the nearby hospital.
Those kids playfully asked Pozo to hit them a homer during the catcher’s visit to the hospital last week, and his only promise was that he would give it everything he could against the Yankees.
“The kids asked me if I could hit a homer and I was like, ‘Well, I’m going to try,’ and then when it happens -- as soon as I saw the ball and it was a homer -- I almost started crying running the bases just thinking about it,” Pozo told reporters following the game.
New York tied it at 4 in the seventh when Trent Grishman drew a leadoff walk and scored on Bellinger's sacrifice fly.
St. Louis manager Oliver Marmol was ejected in the seventh. It was his fifth ejection this season. Yankees coach Tanner Swanson was ejected in the fourth inning.
St. Louis will now depart the comforts of Busch Stadium and travel to Miami starting tomorrow. Matthew Liberatore (6-10, 4.08 ERA) opens the series for the Cardinals against Eury Pérez (5-3, 3.58 ERA) for the Marlins. First pitch is at 5:40pm with coverage beginning around 5:30 on KY 102 (102.5 FM).
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