Gray Dominates as Cardinals Pound AL-Leading Tigers 11-4

The St. Louis Cardinals (27-21) rolled past the AL-leading Detroit Tigers (31-17) with a dominating 11-4 win Monday night at Busch Stadium. Behind a bounce-back start from Sonny Gray and a relentless offensive performance, the Cardinals racked up 16 hits as seven different players drove in a run and eight crossed the plate.

Starting Pitchers

Sonny Gray (STL): 6 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 10 K, 1 BB

Keider Montero (DET): 5.2 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 3 K, 2 BB
 *Note: Sean Guenther opened the game, allowing three consecutive hits and one earned run.

Scoring Summary

1st Inning

Lars Nootbaar doubled to center, followed by a Masyn Winn bloop single to left. Brendan Donovan drove in Nootbaar with an RBI single to left, giving the Cardinals an early 1-0 lead.

4th Inning

Nootbaar made a highlight defensive play, tracking 82 feet to catch a foul popup near the left field wall.

Iván Herrera singled, advanced to third on Alec Burleson's base hit and scored on a wild pitch as Montero stumbled on the mound.

5th Inning

The top of the Cardinals lineup strung together three straight singles, all of whom came around to score:

Nootbaar scored on a Contreras groundout, Winn crossed home on Herrera’s fielder’s choice and Donovan came in after Arenado narrowly beat out a potential double play ball to shortstop, extending St. Louis' lead to 5-0.

7th Inning

After a 30-minute weather delay, the Cardinals — like the rain — kept pouring it on.

Brendan Donovan opened the inning with his third hit of the night, a double to right. Willson Contreras followed with a routine single, but advanced to second on a lazy throw by right fielder Kerry Carpenter, moving Donovan to third. Iván Herrera drove in Donovan with an RBI single and Jordan Walker — pinch-hitting for Alec Burleson — ripped a two-run double to center.

Pedro Pagés kept the rally going, launching a 396-foot two-run homer to left field. Victor Scott added a hustle triple and later scored on a Lars Nootbaar sac fly, capping off a six-run inning and giving the Cardinals a commanding 11-0 lead.

8th Inning

Detroit broke up the shutout with three consecutive hits off John King, including an RBI double from Akil Baddoo.

9th Inning

Pinch-hitter Justyn-Henry Malloy scored on Andy Ibáñez’s double. Spencer Torkelson walked and scored on a sac fly while Ibáñez added another run on a groundout.

Final Score: 11-4, Cardinals.

Stats & Notes

Brendan Donovan recorded his eighth 3-hit game of the season, tying Aaron Judge for the most in MLB. He also ranks second in the league in total hits with 61.

St. Louis now leads MLB with 22 games of 10+ hits.

The Cardinals improved to 16-6 at home, the third-best home record in baseball. They've now won 13 of their last 15, outscoring opponents 85-36 during that stretch.

Standings Update

The NL Central-leading Cubs were walked off by the Marlins on Monday night, allowing the Cardinals to pull within one game of first place.

Betting Recap

Cards ML (-162) cashed while the total score soared OVER 8 (-105) due to St. Louis' offensive barrage.

Eric Sontag remains red-hot, hitting on 10 of his last 12 SportsHubSTL picks with his Iván Herrera prop cashing smoothly before the fifth inning.

On Deck

Erick Fedde is set to face Tigers ace and 2024 AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal in Game 2 of the series. First pitch is scheduled for Tuesday at 6:45 p.m. CT.

Cards Hub Postgame: St Louis Cardinals "Pour It On" Tigers, 11-4

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