By MATT PIKE
The St. Louis Cardinals secured a win over the powerhouse of the National League West, thanks to Nolan Arenado’s walk off hit, the Redbirds winning 2-1 on Saturday afternoon at Busch Stadium.
It was a pitchers duel between both teams as starting pitchers Erick Fedde (5 1/3 innings) and Yoshinobu Yamamoto (six innings) combined to give up just eight hits. Fedde did also walk four, and struck out two, while Yamamoto struck out nine. Things continued with both bullpens as Dodgers reliever Alex Vesia pitched a hitless seventh, while Steven Matz for the Cardinals gave up just two hits over 1 2/3 innings and Kyle Leahy gave up a single hit and a walk in one inning.
It wasn’t until the eighth inning against Ben Casparius the Cardinals were able to get on the board. Masyn Winn and Brendan Donovan hit back to back singles with one out after Lars Nootbaar opened the inning with a pop out to third base. Casparius got Willson Contreras to fly out to right field for a second out, but Alec Burleson singled driving in Winn to give St. Louis the 1-0 lead.
THAT'S WHAT SPEED DO 🔥 pic.twitter.com/FOrPU1cywI
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) June 7, 2025
Caparius avoided anymore damage, getting Iván Herrera to pop out to shortstop to end the inning, and it appeared he would get a no decision as the Dodgers tied things up in the top of the ninth. Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts hit back to back singles, Ohtani advancing to third base on Betts single. Freddie Freeman struck out facing Ryan Helsley, but a wild pitch allowed Ohtani to come home to score tying up the game.
Caparius stayed on to pitch the bottom of the ninth though, and did not record another out. Nolan Gorman hit a ground rule double, and was pinch ran for by Jose Barrero who moved to third base as Pedro Pagés went for a sacrifice bunt, however Casparius could not field the bunt cleanly and threw it high to the first baseman, allowing Pagés to reach safely. Arenado stepped to the plate with runners on the corners and singled into left field for the walk off win
NADO CALLED GAME!! pic.twitter.com/oDamFRCUxG
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) June 7, 2025
Despite having his fourth blown save of the season, Helsley earned the win and improved to 3-0, pitching one inning and giving up one run on two hits, striking out three. Winn (2-4, 1 R) and Gorman (2-4, 1 2B) led the way hitting on the day for the Cardinals.
With the series win secured, St. Louis now looks for a sweep of Los Angeles on Sunday. Michael McGreevy (1-0, 0.00 ERA) takes the mound for the Cardinals in the finale against Clayton Kershaw (0-0, 5.17 ERA) for the Dodgers. First pitch is at 1:15pm, pregame will be joined at 1:05 on KY 102 (102.5 FM).
You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt.
