By MATT PIKE
The St. Louis Cardinals waited until the eighth inning to score the final runs they needed, but pulled off the victory over the Colorado Rockies in their series opener on Monday evening at Busch Stadium, earning a 3-2 win thanks to a pinch hit triple by Brendan Donovan.
The Cardinals did take the lead first however, scoring in the third inning with an RBI single by Alec Burleson driving in Victor Scott II who led the inning off with a walk and also stole second base. St. Louis held that lead all the way until the seventh inning. Back to back singles by Jordan Beck and Mickey Moniak put runners on the corners, before Warming Bernabel grounded out scoring Beck to tie the game, moving Moniak to second. Moniak later scored with two outs on an RBI single from Brenton Doyle.
Trailing 2-1, the Cardinals were retired in order in the bottom half of the seventh inning, in the eighth though, St. Louis came back to take the lead late. Nolan Gorman walked and Thomas Saggese singled putting two runners on with one out. Donovan pinch hit for Pedro Pagés and Garrett Hampson pinch ran for Gorman, a pinch runner not necessary though as Donovan hit a double into right field, driving in both runs to give St. Louis the lead.
DONNIE DELIVERS! pic.twitter.com/BTVSkAwL1E
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) August 12, 2025
Kyle Leahy earned the win in relief, improving to 3-1 on the season, pitching 2 1/3 innings and giving up just one hit while striking out two. In a no decision, Miles Mikolas started and pitched 6 2/3 innings giving up two runs on four hits with one walk and two strikeouts. At the plate, Burleson was 2-for-4 with an RBI. Saggese was 3-for-4 with a run scored, while Donovan was 1-for-1 with the double and two RBIs.
St. Louis and Colorado continue their series tomorrow. Matthew Liberatore (6-9, 3.98 ERA) takes the mound for the Cardinals against Kyle Freeland (2-12, 5.53 ERA) for the Rockies. First pitch is at 6:45, coverage will begin around 6:35 on KY 102 (102.5 FM).
You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt.
