DENVER (AP) — Nolan Gorman hit a late tiebreaking home run for the second straight day, lifting the St. Louis Cardinals over the Colorado Rockies 7-4 on Wednesday.
Nolan Arenado hit his 139th home run at Coors Field and Tyler O’Neill got his first home run since opening day.
“When everybody gets right, it’s a pretty good lineup,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “There’s guys that are still not clicking. Once they all start clicking it will be pretty good.”
With the score 4-4 in the eighth, Willson Contreras hit a two-out chopper off Justin Lawrence (0-1) to second baseman Ryan McMahon. C.J. Cron, playing several steps off first, moved toward second and was beaten by Contreras to the first base bag. Cron was charged with an error.
Gorman hit a tiebreaking three-run homer in the ninth inning on Tuesday night after McMahon’s fielding error on Tommy Edman’s grounder. This time, Gorman drove a sinker into the left-field seats for his fourth homer and a 6-4 lead. Paul Goldschmidt added an RBI double in the ninth against Connor Seabold.
Colorado had tied the score in the seventh when Elias Díaz hit an RBI single off Drew VerHagen and Jurickson Profar had a run-scoring grounder against Andre Pallante (1-0).
Ryan Helsley struck out two in a perfect ninth for his third save.
Rookie Jordan Walker, who doesn’t turn 20 until May 22, extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a broken-bat single leading off the ninth. He tied Eddie Murphy of the 1912 Philadelphia Athletics for the longest streak to start a season by a player 20 years old or younger.
“That’s special,” Marmol said. “I couldn’t care less how he got that hit. It’s been fun to watch, he’s done a really nice job. He’s battling a little bit of altitude here, not feeling a hundred percent but still was able to give us that last at-bat.
Profar homered on the first pitch of the game from Jack Flaherty, who allowed two runs — one earned — and five hits in 5 1/3 innings.
Rockies starter José Ureña gave up three runs and five hits in five innings.
O’Neill’s second-inning homer tied the score. Arenado, who spent eight seasons with the Rockies before he was dealt to the Cardinals, hit a two-run homer in the fourth for a 3-1 advantage. Cron hit into a run-scoring double play in the bottom half after Contreras’ passed ball, and Taylor Motter boosted the lead to 4-2 with an RBI double in the seventh.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Cardinals: OF Dylan Carlson was out of the lineup for the second straight day with neck stiffness but is not expected to be placed on the injured list. ... OF Lars Noothbar (left thumb bruise) was to start a rehab assignment Thursday at Double-A Springfield.
Rockies: RHP Germán Márquez went on the 15-day IL with right forearm inflammation, retroactive to Tuesday. ... 3B Elehuris Montero (thumb) was out of the lineup for the second straight game.
ALWAYS EXCITING
Even Walker’s outs can be entertaining. The rookie struck out to end the top of the second inning and his bat flew out of his hands at toward the Cardinals on-deck circle. Taylor Motter had to jump to his right to avoid getting hit with the lumber.
“I thought it was pretty funny,” Walker said. “I didn’t put enough grip on there and I almost took Mott but he was he was pretty quick to get out of the way.”
UP NEXT
Cardinals: LHP Jordan Montgomery (2-0, 2.25 ERA) opens a four-game home series against Pittsburgh on Thursday night.
Rockies: LHP Austin Gomber (0-2, 6.75) goes against Colorado native Marco Gonzales when the Rockies open a three-game series at Seattle on Friday night.
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