CINCINNATI -- At the top of the Major Leagues in terms of doubles and second in batting average, the Cardinals aggressively sought ways to put players in better positions to drive more balls out of the park and into the gaps, and they made two slight tweaks to their batting order for Wednesday night.
Considering the way the Cards smashed the ball in both games of a split doubleheader against the rival Reds, they might just be onto something with igniting their power potential.
Facing a Reds team that came into the day as winners of five straight, the Cardinals smashed four homers in a Game 1 win, hit two more long balls and put up nine runs in the first three innings of Game 2 in a 9-1 victory for a twin-bill sweep at Great American Ball Park.
Masyn Winn, who was batting in the No. 2 spot for the first time in his MLB career, homered twice in Game 1 and opened Game 2 with a single and a double off an eight-pitch at-bat. Willson Contreras, who was dropped to fifth and fourth in the order in the two games in hopes of tapping into some of his power and run production, drilled a three-run homer in the first inning of the nightcap.
“Early in the game, pitchers are really trying to throw strikes and go at you, so I feel like I get better pitches to hit, maybe,” Winn said of hitting in the two-hole after going 4-for-8 with two home runs, four runs scored and two RBIs in the doubleheader. “Especially with [Lars] Nootbaar walking as much as he does, it opens up a lot for me. They’ve got to throw strikes to me and then I can try to drive the ball.”
Victor Scott II’s three-run homer in Game 1 and Contreras’ blast in Game 2 gave the Cardinals eight three-run homers, good for second in MLB behind the Red Sox (12). To put that into perspective, the Cards had an MLB-worst 10 three-run homers in 2023 -- their lowest total in 32 years.
Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said before the doubleheader that Contreras was close to breaking out of a slow start to the season. And he knew slotting him into the No. 5 spot in the opener and in the cleanup role in the nightcap would be comfortable fits for the slugger.
“We want to inject some speed into that No. 2 spot with Masyn, who has been getting closer to doing what he wants with the bat,” Marmol said before the twin bill in explaining the thinking behind the lineup change. “Not having [injured catcher Iván Herrera] has been a factor [in the home run drop-off], but I really do believe that Contreras and [Nolan Arenado] will turn it on. I truly believe that Contreras will look very different [going forward] than what we’ve seen, and we’ll get some real production out of him.”
Pedro Pagés, who has done a solid job filling in for the injured Herrera over the past 3 1/2 weeks, worked Cincinnati rookie pitcher Chase Petty for an 11-pitch at-bat in the second inning by fouling off six straight pitches at one point. On the 11th pitch, Pagés hit the ball into the seats in left for St. Louis’ sixth home run of the day.
His 11-pitch at-bat tied for the second longest in MLB this season that ended in a homer, per MLB Research. Washington catcher Keibert Ruiz’s 12-pitch at-bat and homer on March 27 against Philadelphia ace Zack Wheeler was the only longer AB of the season to end in a homer.
“Yes, I really was [exhausted], and I was taking deep breaths out there and trying to stay as calm as I could and stay within myself,” joked Pagés, referring to the six pitches that he fouled off before the home run.
The grit of Pagés and the new-look production from the offense made a winner out of Cardinals rookie Gordon Graceffo, who picked up his first MLB victory. Working for weeks to refine his mechanics and harness his power, Graceffo had the five fastest pitches of the night. His four-seam fastball topped out at 98.9 mph and he even hit 93 mph with his power slider.
After earning his first win, Graceffo got a laundry cart ride into the shower, where he had various liquids poured all over him.
“I still taste a little bit of what I heard was ketchup, mustard and chocolate milk,” he said. “It’s [a] good [taste] now.”