The Cardinals won’t go away. They will stay, just a little bit longer. Maybe for a few days. Perhaps a few weeks. Or will the boys stick around for a few months, extending their visit like annoying house guests who just won’t leave?
Call them what you want. The rowdy Redbirds, the rankling Redbirds, the resilient Redbirds, the rugged Redbirds, the ready Redbirds, the riling Redbirds, the rebellious Redbirds, the resolute Redbirds.
With the Cleveland Guardians in downtown St. Louis for a three-day competition, the visitors won the opener and were one strike away from plucking the first two games of the series, which would have meant clinching the series.
OK. Not so fast. The rewinding Redbirds would circle back and have a say in this, because this was their style of game. Losing by a run with two outs in the ninth … and seemingly one pitch away from a demoralizing defeat … Well, let’s go get a win. That’s their attitude.
The Birds pounced on a costly Guards’ fielding error to stay conscious and upright. They didn’t succumb. They tied the score on the ninth and won in 10 innings.
The redeye Redbirds then retreated to the roost, got some sleep and provisions, and returned to the Busch Stadium to do it all over again on a rainy Wednesday afternoon.
Cleveland took an early 1-0 lead. No disrespect, but so what? The Cardinals did what they often do: put their heads down, set their jaws, and flew into the fray.
The Rainbirds outlasted the Clevelanders for a 5-3 winner before another small crowd. It was understandable given the inclement weather. But the paid audience for the first two games averaged 19,336.
That’s how it is now. The Cardinals are playing for themselves, playing for each other, playing to honor the all-time franchise greats responsible for 19 National League pennants and 11 World Series championships. The 2026 Cardinal players want to do their part to move the team up and back into prominence. They want to give their fans a reason to support them by coming to the ballpark.
I’ll yap about this again: I’m sure enjoying watching this group play ball. In Wednesday’s 5-3 win, the running Redbirds aggressively pushed to pick up an extra base to set up potential run-scoring opportunities. They pushed to put pressure on the Cleveland defense. The St. Louis hitters pushed the situational baseball to move the runners over. They shook off the latest bullpen emergency and persevered.
The Cardinals had two stolen bases. In the sixth, Pedro Pages had a sac bunt that set up the Cardinals for a go-ahead sac fly by JJ Wetherholt that staked the boys to a 2-1 lead. After Ivan Herrera was intentionally walked to load the pillows, Alec Burleson was the money man with a two-out, two-strike, two-run single that expanded the lead to 4-1.
Nathan Church had three hits, stole a base, scored twice, and knocked in a run. In addition to his valuable sac bunt, Pages the catcher swiped a bag. Lou Brock, baby!
Cards starting pitcher Dustin May pitched with conviction for the second time in a week and was touched for two earned runs in his 12 innings against the Red Sox and the Guardians.
It figures, because Dustin May is a comeback pitcher in more ways than one. His career has been a series of comebacks. And as a Cardinal, he had to come back from his first two starts that had a lot of people mumbling words like “bust” and “what the hell was Chaim Bloom thinking. May is working for the right team, that’s for sure. He’s a fit.
This is what the 2026 Cardinals do:
Play on.
Keep going.
Play on.
Keep grinding.
Play on.
Take a hit.
Play on.
Get off the ground.
Play on.
Just play, play on.
Wednesday the Cardinals got nine hits and walked seven times but couldn’t really bust through until scoring three runs in the sixth inning for a a 4-1 lead.
(Relevant side note: not counting Wednesday, Cardinal hitters have a .310 slugging percentage and a .614 OPS in the first innings of a game – and a .447 slug and .785 OPS from the sixth inning on. The fellers – true to their comeback nature – like to give us their version of a Late Show. That’s entertaining.)
When the Guards retaliated with two runs in the top of the seventh to slice the STL lead to a run (4-3) the Cards landed another flurry of jabs to increase their advantage to 5-3. And the last-stand bullpen protected it.
High-leverage lefty Jo Jo Romero is having another outstanding season. The formidable Riley O’Brien is a stone-cold closer who routinely breaks the other team’s spirit. He did that to the Guardians – twice – in less than 24 hours.
But this was, as they say, a true team victory.
“We had to do a lot of little things today,” manager Oli Marmol said. “And I feel like our guys were, in a 12:15 (p.m.) game, ready to show up on point in a lot of different areas.
“That's a good (Cleveland) team across the way. They're managed well. And they play the game the right way. So you have to be on point in a lot of areas in order to take the series from them. I felt like we did that.”
The Cardinals took the last two games from the Guardians without the benefit of a home run from Jordan Walker.
Later in his postgame media session, Marmol hit on his theme of the day for a second time.
“Different guys took advantage and took the extra 90 feet (on the bases) today,” he said. “And there's going to be a game where you need every bit of that. Everybody that started that game kind of contributed something and found ways outside of just the everyday base hit and that type of thing.”
I first brought this up last week. I’ll do it again here today and update.
– The Cardinals went into Wednesday’s game with 34 extra bases taken, excluding fielder’s-choice plays. They just keep moving up a bag at a time. Smart and methodical. No other MLB team had more than 22 extra bases taken through Tuesday. That 34 “XBT” count will be higher after Wednesday’s mad dashing.
– The Cards “XBT” percentage (48%) was the best in the majors before their latest win; and that rate certainly increased with their heads-up running that played such an important role in the two-run winning edge and series clincher.
– As part of this born to run equation, the Cards were also tied for the MLB lead with 26 productive outs before play commenced Wednesday.
– Jordan Walker, JJ Wetherholt, and Masyn Winn all currently rank in the top percentiles for baserunning value.
– With the speed of Victor Scott II and Winn and others, the Cardinals are consistently above the league average (40%) for taking the extra base on singles to the outfield.
– On doubles, the Cardinals’ opportunistic secondary leads and higher-end sprint speeds have fueled them to score from first base at a top-five rate in the National League.
– Because they don’t steal a lot of bases (10 before Wednesday) the Cards are slightly above average in the Team Baserunning Run Value (BsR) at FanGraphs. But the rolling Redbirds rarely get runners thrown out on the basepaths (only 3) and are sharp in their base-to-base efficiency.
“They're just looking for ways of advancing,” said Marmol, who then praised his coaches by name for their impact in scouting and shaping such an effective overall running game.
“You'll see every time (an opponent) makes a pitching change, guys come in. (Coaches) have a really good idea of where we can take advantage of the guy coming in,” Marmol said. “And just the hitters being prior to the game starting, guys have a really good idea of what's possible. And what we can expose. So, yeah, it was good.”
The Cardinals’ latest win added to their early-season success and reinforced the value of their aggressive but smart style of play. Their go-go attitude makes a difference. Marmol and the staff have done a fantastic job of cultivating a mentality that gets them some extra wins.
1. The racing-back Redbirds now have eight comeback wins this season, which ties them with the Dodgers for the most in the majors.
2. The Cards are 5-0 in one-run games and have won eight of nine contests determined by no more than a two-run margin. And of course the team is 3-0 in extra-innings affairs.
3. Marmol’s rambunctious Redbirds are 10-8 despite having a minus 17 run differential that’s the poorest among winning teams. Based on that run differential and other underlying factors including schedule strength, the Cards record should be 7-11.
4. With Wednesday’s win, the Cardinals are 4-2 against opponents that have a winning record. That may not sound like much but as I write this STL is only one of nine MLB teams with a “plus” record against winning opponents.
5. The Cardinals are currently among only seven MLB teams that have won at least four of their first six series early this season. The others are the Dodgers (5-1), Braves, Twins, Reds, Padres and Rays. That list could grow by one or two depending on how the Pirates and A’s do in their scheduled games for Wednesday night.
5a. As I type this the 10-8 Cardinals have a better record than the Yankees, Mets, Cubs, Brewers, Blue Jays, Phillies, Mariners, Red Sox, Guardians, Astros and Rangers.
Thanks for reading, and please pardon my typos …
– Bernie
Bernie was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2023. During a St. Louis sports-media career that goes back to 1985, he’s won multiple national awards for column writing and sports-talk hosting – and was the lead sports columnist at the Post-Dispatch from 1989 through 2015. Before that Bernie spent a year at the Dallas Morning News, covering the Dallas Cowboys during Tom Landry’s final season (1988) plus the sale of the team to Jerry Jones and the hiring of Jimmy Johnson as coach. Bernie has covered several Baseball Hall of Fame managers during his media career including Tony La Russa, Whitey Herzog, Earl Weaver, Joe Torre and (as an interim) Red Schoendienst. In his career as a beatwriter and columnist, Bernie covered Pro Football Hall of Fame coaches Joe Gibbs, Tom Landry, Jimmy Johnson and Dick Vermeil on a daily basis.
Bernie has covered and written about many great St. Louis sports team athletes including Albert Pujols, Kurt Warner, Brett Hull, Yadier Molina, Adam Wainwright, Jim Edmonds, Marshall Faulk, Scott Rolen, Mark McGwire, Orlando Pace, Isaac Bruce, Torry Holt, Adam Wainwright, Chris Carpenter, Al MacInnis, Brian Sutter, Bernie Federko, Chris Pronger, Dan Dierdorf, Jackie Smith and Aeneas Williams. Bernie covered every baseball Cardinals’ postseason game from 1996 through 2014 and was there to chronicle teams that won four NL pennants and two World Series. He provided extensive coverage on the “Greatest Show” St. Louis Rams and has written extensively on the St. Louis Blues, Saint Louis U, and Mizzou football and basketball. Bernie was/is a longtime voter for the Baseball Hall of Fame, Pro Football Hall of Fame, Heisman Trophy and the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame.
You can access his columns, videos and the podcast version of the videos here on STL Sports Central, catch him regularly on KMOX (AM or FM) as part of the Gashouse Gang, Sports Rush Hour, Sports Open Line or Sports On a Sunday Morning shows. And you can catch weekly “reunion” segments here at STL Sports Central featuring Bernie and his longtime friend Randy Karraker.