By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
The St. Louis Cardinals returned to Busch Stadium and opened up a series with the Detroit Tigers in dominating fashion with an 11-4 win as starting pitcher Sonny Gray recorded double digit strikeouts for the first time this season.
St. Louis shutout Detroit for much of the game, the Tigers not putting up any runs until the final two innings. The Cardinals opened the scoring in the first inning, Lars Nootbaar doubling to open the inning and later scoring on a single by Brendan Donovan. The Redbirds added another run in the fourth inning as Iván Herrera came home on a wild pitch.
A three run frame in the fifth extended the lead more as back to back to back singles by Nootbaar, Masyn Winn, and Donovan opened the inning before Nootbaar scored on a groundout by Willson Contreras. Herrera reached first on a fielders choice as Tigers second baseman Gleyber Torres attempted to throw Winn out at home, but Winn scored, and Donovan scored as Nolan Arenado grounded into a forceout, Herrera being thrown out at second base.
St. Louis broke the game open in the seventh inning, starting with Donovan doubling. After the double, rain forced the game to be delayed for just under half an hour, but after the delay back to back singles from Contreras and Herrera allowed Donovan to score. Jordan Walker doubled, clearing the bases and driving in both Contreras and Herrera, before scoring on a two run home run by Pedro Pagés. Victor Scott singled, and moved all the way to third base on a fielding error, coming home on a sacrifice fly from Nootbaar to cap off the six run inning.
Akil Badoo doubled home Trey Sweeney in the eighth inning, finally getting the Tigers on the scoreboard. Andy Ibáñez doubled home Justyn-Henry Malloy in the ninth and a sacrifice fly by Sweeney drove in Spencer Torkelson. Ibáñez scored on a groundout by Dillon Dingler.
Earning the win, Gray improved to 5-1 on the season and lowered his season ERA to 4.02 with six shutout innings, striking out 10 and walking one while giving up three hits. Donovan led the way at the plate going 3-5 with an RBI.
St. Louis and Detroit continue their series tomorrow. Erick Fedde (3-3, 3.44 ERA) takes the mound for the Cardinals against last years AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal (4-2, 2.67 ERA) for the Tigers. First pitch is at 6:45 pm, pregame coverage will be joined at 6:35 on KY 102 (102.5 FM).
Former Cardinals second baseman Kolten Wong retires
Longtime St. Louis Cardinals second baseman and two-time Gold Glover Kolten Wong has officially retired from baseball. The Cardinals paid tribute to their 2011 first-round draft pick in a post to X on Monday.
Wong first announced his retirement Friday night when he was inducted by alma mater University of Hawaii into the school's Circle of Honor.
"Pretty much right now, I'm done," Wong said. "I've kind of come to the conclusion that I'm probably going to be hanging them up. It's just one of those things where, the game how it's going now, there's no sense of chasing (it). ... I'm a dad now, yes, I'm enjoying that. I'm trying to be the best big league dad that I can be. So I'm going to stick to that."
Wong finishes with a .256 average and winds up 27 hits shy of 1,000 over an 11-year career in the majors. He hit 86 home runs, scored 511 runs and stole 120 bases. He earned Gold Glove honors in 2019 and 2020.
Wong played eight years with the Cardinals (2013-20). He also played two seasons in Milwaukee from 2021-22. Wong last played in 2023, batting .183 with four homers in 87 games with the Seattle Mariners and Los Angeles Dodgers.
You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.