BALTIMORE -- Asked recently how he would describe an offense that ranks in the National League’s top five in five major statistical categories, Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol was succinct, but very descriptive with his one-word choice.
“Relentless,” Marmol marveled while pointing out that St. Louis has gotten contributions from players up and down the lineup on a regular basis.
One night after throttling the Orioles with 14 hits, the Cards manufactured their 24th double-digit hit game of the season, overcame three- and two-run deficits and rode the strength of Brendan Donovan's go-ahead home run to rally for a 6-4 win over the O’s at rainy Camden Yards.
Masyn Winn had four hits for the second time in May, including a double off the wall in the fifth inning to get the Cardinals within 4-3. One batter later, Donovan ripped a 3-2 pitch from Baltimore left-hander Cade Povich, a Statcast-projected 390 feet for a go-ahead, two-run homer.
“I mean, we’re nice, man,” said Winn, referring to his team’s rugged lineup. “Coming out of Spring Training, we didn’t really know what we had, but this first third of the season, we showed that we rake as a squad, top to bottom, every day. We’re just good hitters and we compete every day.”
Donovan, who was back in the lineup after sitting out Tuesday’s game with left hip tightness, came into the rubber game of the series ranked first among NL second basemen in batting average (.328), hits (66), total bases (93), OBP (.390), slugging (.463) and OPS (.853). On Wednesday, Donovan had three hits, two runs scored and two RBIs. His homer left the bat at 103.2 mph, per Statcast, and it continued a trend of Cardinals hitters feasting on pitchers the third time through the order.
The Cards came into the game tied for first in MLB with the Dodgers in RBIs the third time through the order and they added three more on Wednesday.
“I think a few of our guys had seen [Povich], but it’s all about gathering information,” Donovan said of his team’s success this season when facing a pitcher a third time in a game. “There’s also a maturity aspect of this club of, ‘How did they attack us?’ Maybe we didn’t come through the first time through, but then we have all of this information to go off of.
“[Povich] got me off the backdoor sinker [in his first at-bat], and then I knew he liked that out there. ‘Has he really landed his sweeper yet?’ He didn’t land one in my next at-bat, and then on the 3-2 pitch, I got the sinker. So, it’s all about gathering information, relaying information with each other and being students of the game.”
The Cardinals, who have come from behind in each of their past five victories, won for the 18th time in 23 games, and they improved to 8-1-1 over their last 10 series. A team that started the season 1-10 on the road has won 11 of its last 16 on the road over the past five series away from Busch Stadium.
“We’re playing good and I’ve been saying it for a couple of weeks now, but the boys are buzzing,” said Miles Mikolas, who struggled with the grip on his curveball in the rainy, wet conditions. “We’re having fun, we’re winning ballgames, we’re picking each other up and we’re playing good team baseball. Baseball can feel like an individual sport at times when you are leaning on a pitcher having a good game or leaning on a hitter that goes 4-for-4 with a big RBI game, but it’s a team sport and we’re playing really good team baseball right now.”
The Cardinals’ 24 double-digit hit games rank second in MLB only to the Athletics' 26. The Cards also rank first in MLB with 10 players totaling at least 15 RBIs on the season. St. Louis came into Wednesday ranked second in the NL in batting average, fourth in on-base percentage, fifth in OPS, third in doubles and fourth in runs scored.
“It’s relentless and [the lineup] is not trying to do too much,” Marmol said of his team’s high-scoring offense. “We’ll hit our homers from time to time, but the guys are taking really good at-bats, getting the next guy up, taking their knocks and using the whole field.
“It’s a gritty group and the way and it’s tough to go through us one through nine [in the batting order]. So, I like the overall mindset because it’s been very consistent.”