ST. LOUIS — A day after what one might have considered the St. Louis Cardinals’ most complete effort of the 2025 season, the local nine may have topped themselves in an 8-3 takedown of the Houston Astros on Monday at Busch Stadium.
Sonny Gray spun a gem, getting over the hump of the seventh inning in a scoreless outing. Beyond the strong starting pitching, the steady drumbeat of the offense carried the torch.
In the span of a week, the Cardinals have bested Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola and Paul Skenes before pounding away again on Monday against Framber Valdez.
“The group deserves a lot of credit,” Nolan Arenado said after his 3-for-4 day at the plate. “We’re approaching every day the same. We’re not too concerned about who’s on the mound. We respect them, but we know that if we get pitches over the plate and try not to chase and not expand, we like our chances.”
| Team | R | H | E |
| Astros (7-9) | 3 | 7 | 2 |
| St. Louis Cardinals (8-8) | 8 | 14 | 0 |
| W: Gray 3-0) | L: Valdez (1-2) | Save: N/A | Time: 2:36 |
The Standouts
Brendan Donovan (STL): 4-for-4, 1 2B, 2 R, RBI
Sonny Gray (STL): 7.0 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 1 BB, 4 K
Nolan Arenado (STL): 3-for-4, 2 2B, HR, 2 R, 2 RBIs
The Moments That Mattered
The Lumber: Nolan Arenado blasted his second home run of the year in the seventh inning to put the cherry on top of a blowout. His swing to left-center field punctuated the Cardinals’ outburst at the plate as St. Louis scored runs in four separate innings on Monday.
Arenado pushed his batting average up to .316 and boosted his OPS to .935 with Monday’s showing offensively, which included three extra-base hits in total. He attributed the tide turning in a positive direction for his season, in part, to the recent efforts he’s put in with the Cardinals hitting staff behind the scenes.
“After that second game against Philly, I hit in the cage after the game and we were talking through some things,” Arenado said. “It’s good to see it coming to fruition. We’ve been working really hard and it was a great day.”
The Delivery: The Astros, as a lineup, came into Monday’s game at Busch Stadium still seeking its collective breakout this season. Sonny Gray didn’t let them find it, jamming for seven scoreless innings to lower his season ERA to 3.13.
The Leather: Jordan Walker made a pair of outstanding catches in the top of the third. First, he ranged into the netting down the left field line to snare a pop fly—bonus points for not getting injured on a tricky play toward the stands.
Walker may have topped himself with the next out of the inning, though, racing into the Bermuda triangle in foul ground to make a sprawling catch with grace.
Yet another stellar defensive play from #STLCards RF Jordan Walker, who covered 145 feet to catch this foul pop off the bat of #Astros star Jose Altuve. Walker, who is playing with more confidence and conviction in the outfield, got a plus-jump on both catches in the 3rd inning. pic.twitter.com/nuVmyTcnuF
— John Denton (@JohnDenton555) April 15, 2025
For good measure, Pedro Pagés nabbed a would-be base stealer to end what has to be the best defensive inning of the Cardinals season to date.
On The Move: To earn the Cardinals their first run of the game in the third inning, Willson Contreras busted it out of the box on a play that would have resulted in an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play if he hadn’t hustled. Though he was eventually stranded on the bases, Contreras stole second later in the inning.
Contreras showed off the wheels again in the fifth inning as he flirted with swiping second base during a lengthy Nolan Arenado at-bat. Arenado kept fouling off full-count pitches, so Contreras had to keep retreating to the bag.
If he was winded by the sequence, he didn’t show it. When Arenado rifled a double into the left-field corner, Contreras scored from first, heeding Pop Warner’s windmill motion all the way into a home-plate slide.
https://t.co/pmCeTdC5rk pic.twitter.com/msyoUIWekp
— cardinalsgifs (@cardinalsgifs) April 15, 2025
The Fulcrum
Pedro Pagés Opens Things Up: After three hits and a walk amounted to just one run for the Cardinals across the second and third innings, it appeared as though St. Louis was on the verge of failing to fully cash in on another ducks-on-the-pond scenario in the fourth.
But with one out in the frame, Pedro Pagés grinded out a tough plate appearance against the lefty Valdez, spitting on a couple of pitches before pulling a breaking ball for a double to score a pair, establishing a 3-0 lead. The Cardinals never looked back.
“That was one of my favorite at-bats,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said of the breakthrough sequence from his catcher. “Just knowing how he wanted to beat him and sticking to it. That’s a tough pitcher and to be able to be more stubborn than him is important. Our guys did exactly that.”
Around The Horn
This Time, Sonny Stays—And It Works: When’s the best time to pull the plug on a Sonny Gray outing has been a topic of conversation through his early turns in the rotation. Gray was lifted after five innings and 77 pitches on Opening Day, but stayed out to start the seventh inning in his next start against the Angels.
Logan O’Hoppe ended his day with a grand slam. In start No. 3, Gray was yanked following 71 pitches in chilly Pittsburgh.
On a mild St. Louis night Monday, Gray stayed the course for seven shutout innings on a season-high 92 pitches—and he found value in getting over the hurdle this time.
“That was big for me, because if you remember the last time I had a really good game through six, I did go out for the seventh and ended up giving up a four-spot and giving up a lead,” Gray said, alluding to the hump that was presented by O’Hoppe’s grand slam.
“So to be able to overcome that, get back out for the seventh, feel comfortable in your own skin, comfortable on your feet to get out there and continue to attack guys—obviously, it helps the way our offense was playing—but to get over that was a nice feeling, for sure.”
Gorm Quietly Getting It Done: It’s been a bit of a strange start to the season for Nolan Gorman. He was on that list of players that were supposed to get ample runway this season in St. Louis, but when Victor Scott II won the CF job out of spring training, Gorman was relegated to a part-time player. Then he got hurt.
But after recovering from the hamstring strain, Gorman has rejoined the fray and has continued producing. While his only contribution at the plate Monday was a run-scoring sac fly, Gorman turned in a strong defensive play just after being shifted to third base in the eighth inning. His OPS for the season still sits in the quadruple digits at 1.056.
Extra Bases
In The Crowd: Despite Willson Contreras’ pleas in Sunday’s postgame interviews, the crowd was sparse again at Busch Stadium, getting the ‘Monday night in April’ treatment with an announced paid attendance of 21,977.
The Perch: The Cardinals trailed the Cubs by 2.5 games in the Central entering Monday. St. Louis picks up half a game pending the result of Chicago’s late-night game out west against the Padres.
On Deck: The Cardinals will send Erick Fedde to the mound to oppose the Astros on Tuesday night at Busch Stadium. Hunter Brown is the probable starter for Houston.