By MATT PIKE
St. Louis Cardinals rookie JJ Wetherholt hit a two-run home run, José Fermín drove in two with a double during a four run first inning and the Cardinals beat the Athletics 6-4 at Sutter Health Park to open their series in Sacramento.
Jordan Walker drove in the first run with a single, scoring Wetherholt, before Fermín's double brought both Walker and Iván Herrera to start the four run first inning. Later in the frame, Yohel Pozo singled to score Fermín for the final run of the inning.
The A's answered in the second when Nick Kurtz hit an RBI single, bringing home Darell Hernaiz, to extend his on-base streak to 35 games. Shea Langeliers added an RBI double, scoring Kurtz, in the inning and also driving in Jeff McNeil to cut the Cardinals lead to one run at the end of the second inning 4-3.
In the sixth inning though, Wetherholt's shot to right field off Joel Kuhnel, driving in Nolan Gorman put the Cardinals ahead 6-3. The Athletics got their final run in the bottom of the eighth, a solo home run by Langeliers off reliever George Soriano.
The Cardinals snapped a two-game skid and improved their major league-best road record to 14-7. They have yet to lose three straight road games this season. Andre Pallante earned the win, improving to 4-3 on the season, striking out four and allowing four hits and three runs in five innings. Four relievers followed, with Riley O'Brien working around a leadoff walk in the ninth for his 12th save.
At the plate, Wetherholt was 2-for-4 with a home run and a walk with two RBIs. Herrera was 2-for-5 with a run scored as the two led hitters in the game. Fermin was 1-for-3 with a double, two RBIs, and a walk.
St. Louis and the Athletics continue their series on Wednesday. Matthew Liberatore (2-1, 4.07 ERA, 29K's) gets the start for the Cardinals against J.T. Ginn (1-1, 3.62 ERA, 31K's) for the A's. First pitch is at 8:40pm, pregame will air at 8:30 on KY 102 (102.5FM).
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