ST. LOUIS -- Even after making one of those hustling, hurtling, classic Nolan Arenado plays -- one where he wound up in the laps of a slightly startled family, feet dangling high above his head, somewhat tangled in the netting and with Juan Soto’s foul pop securely in his glove -- the superstar third baseman had a somewhat stunning declaration to make.
"That was one of the best plays I’ve ever seen,” said Arenado, the owner of 10 Gold Gloves and six Platinum Gloves.
Humble as ever, Arenado, of course, wasn’t talking about the headlong play he made in the eighth inning of the Cardinals' 5-4 defeat of the Mets -- a win that guaranteed them their second doubleheader sweep in a five-day stretch.
Instead, Arenado was referring to 5-foot-11 center fielder Victor Scott II leaping as high as he could and reaching up over the wall to rob Soto of a home run in the fourth inning of a game that was highlighted by the Cards' stellar defense.
"It was awesome, and I told [Scott] that was one of the best plays I’ve ever seen,” Arenado raved. “I played with Adam Jones in the WBC, and he made a play like that. Those are the two best plays I’ve ever seen made in center field.”
The Cardinals came into Sunday easily the MLB leader in outs above average with 21, well ahead of the Astros (14).
They strengthened their standing with the gems provided by Scott, Arenado and Jordan Walker, who made a sliding catch in the gap to end a fourth-inning threat. Scott didn’t hesitate when asked where the home run robbery of Soto ranked on his list of stellar plays.
"One, yeah that’s one. Easily one,” Scott said. “There’s no other feeling [to compare] than to that. That’s one of the best things in baseball, in my opinion, robbing a homer. That was really cool.”
The defense, combined with Alec Burleson’s two-run home run and Michael McGreevy’s 5 2/3 innings of scoreless relief, allowed the Cardinals to cap Sunday with two wins over the surging Mets. They stopped a nine-game skid to New York with a gritty 6-5 win in Game 1 and then came from behind to take the nightcap.
In the storied history of the rivalry between the Cardinals and Mets, they have now played 61 doubleheaders, with St. Louis earning sweeps 17 times. However, they hadn’t done so since Sept. 18, 1982. And the last time the Cardinals swept the Mets in St. Louis had been slightly more than 50 years ago (July 5, 1974).
"I don’t care who the team is because it’s really hard to sweep doubleheaders,” said Burleson, whose two-run blast in the second inning was his long-awaited first homer of the season. “It’s not an easy thing to do, especially with a team like that over there. We played a really good defense today and that was a part of it. We pitched really well with McGreevy coming in and we swung the bats enough to win two games.”
Added Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol, whose club also swept a doubleheader from the Reds on Wednesday: “Doubleheaders are tough, and it’s a grind on the guys you are playing in both and the bullpen as well. But I love the fact that these guys are up for the task, and they want to be in every game.”
McGreevy, who was recalled from Triple-A Memphis on Saturday, came on in relief of Andre Pallante, his former teammate at San Clemente High School in Southern California. McGreevy allowed one hit and struck out five to improve to 4-0 in his MLB career, including his 3-0 run in 2024.
Afterward, McGreevy talked about how he and Pallante used to look at Arenado’s retired number at El Toro High School in Lake Forest, Calif., and contemplate the greatness of the third baseman. On Sunday, McGreevy looked on in awe as Arenado made a hard-charging play where he barehanded a ball for an out and later when he careened into the crowd for another catch.
"His high school is 20 minutes from me and Pallante’s [school] and you see Arenado’s number retired and you think about how cool it is that a guy like that grew up close to me,” McGreevy raved. “All of a sudden, I’m sharing a locker room, sharing a field and cracking jokes with him.”
The father of a 3-year-old daughter, Arenado was horrified when he scared a small girl with his diving catch tumbling into the stands.
"I was worried about hitting her, but I didn’t feel contact, but I probably frightened her with that whole situation,” he said. “I’m glad they’re OK, I heard they’re fine. Thank God for that and I was able to make the play.”