Contreras slides into career first to set the tone in Cards' dominant win over White Sox

CHICAGO -- Willson Contreras didn’t stop to question the thoughts of White Sox catcher Edgar Quero. Alec Burleson had just broken for second on a steal attempt, right as Nolan Arenado worked a fifth-inning walk. Quero, though he didn’t need to, threw to second in an attempt to catch Burleson.

Contreras was at third watching it all unfold. As soon as Quero unloaded the throw, Contreras was gone. Though he was initially called out, replays showed the swim move he pulled off at the plate was perfectly executed. Contreras was safe, stealing home for the first time in his 10-year career.

“There’s always a first time for everything,” Contreras said. “I don’t think they realized I was going to go home. It was just one of those plays that you flip the coin, and whatever happens is going to happen.”

What happened was a sign of how well the Cardinals’ series opener went on Tuesday night. Contreras’ fifth-inning gamble was one of the many bright spots during St. Louis’ 12-2 romp against the White Sox at Rate Field.

The steal occurred three frames after the Cardinals put up five runs in the second inning, immediately erasing a 1-0 hole. Contreras walked, then moved to third when Burleson followed with a single. The ball Quero threw to second hadn’t even made it past the pitcher’s mound before Contreras made his break home.

Upon realizing what was unfolding, second baseman Chase Meidroth cut the ball off at the infield grass, firing a strike back to Quero. As Quero turned to make the tag, Contreras swung his left arm up, shifting his body sideways and grazing the plate with his right hand. Within milliseconds of being called out by home-plate umpire Alfonso Márquez, Contreras signaled to his dugout to have them challenge it.

“I knew I was safe,” Contreras said. “He never touched me. In my mind, [it] was just to go to home plate after I saw the throw. But yeah, I knew I was safe.”

The replay review confirmed as much, completing a play manager Oliver Marmol admittedly didn’t see coming.

“Yeah, I was,” Marmol said when asked if he was surprised by the steal. “Once [Arenado] got the ball four call, I didn’t expect the throw down. … We were able to add one and then continue to go downhill.”

That would be putting it lightly. The Cardinals ended up scoring at least one run in each of the final five innings on a night when literally everything broke in their favor.

Struggling for production at the leadoff spot for several weeks now, Marmol kept Brendan Donovan at the top of the lineup for the second straight day. He then proceeded to watch St. Louis’ second baseman put up the fifth four-hit night of his career, which included a double and an RBI single.

“It’s good to see him at the top there just being able to get on several times and allow some other guys to do their jobs,” Marmol said. “I liked our approach today, I really did.”

On the mound, starter Matthew Liberatore -- who opened the season strong before struggling in his past two outings -- bounced back to throw his eighth quality start of the year. After allowing a combined 12 earned runs over his past two starts, Liberatore held the White Sox to two runs over six frames while striking out four.

“Tonight is definitely the most synced up I’ve felt out of my last three or four starts,” Liberatore said. “The offense made it easy on me tonight, let me just go out there and challenge guys. I didn’t have to go out and be perfect.”

Iván Herrera plated four runs on his own. Burleson continued his torrid stretch at the plate by slugging his sixth homer of the year during a three-hit game.

It was the kind of output St. Louis had been desperately craving. The club arrived in Chicago coming off a stretch of 12 games in 11 days, having lost eight of them. It needed to find a spark, and that arrived in the form of a night where eight different Cardinals crossed home plate.

That includes Contreras, who found a brand new way to score despite having been in the bigs for a decade.

“I love the way he plays,” Liberatore said. “He plays like his hair is on fire, and it’s infectious.”