The St. Louis Cardinals (9-9) rode a strong outing from Steven Matz and a three-run home run by Lars Nootbaar to power them over the Houston Astros (8-10) 4-1 Wednesday afternoon at Busch Stadium, taking the series two games to one.
Starting Pitchers
Steven Matz (STL): 5 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 5 K, 0 BB
Ronel Blanco (HOU): 5 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 1 K, 3 BB
Scoring Summary
1st inning
Jose Altuve led off with a single to center. Jeremy Peña followed with a hit to center, advancing Altuve and Isaac Parades brought him in with a groundout to second, giving Houston a 1-0 lead.
5th inning
Victor Scott II reached on a bunt single — his fourth of the season. Thomas Saggese followed with a single to right, putting runners at the corners. Nootbaar launched a three-run homer to center — his 10th RBI of the season — to give St. Louis a 3-1 lead.
NOOT TO DEAD CENTER! #STLCards pic.twitter.com/Ag7K9Azv3Z
— Sports Hub STL (@SportsHubSTL) April 16, 2025
Brendan Donovan extended his hit streak to 12 games (tying his career high) with a single to center.
6th inning
Ryan Fernandez entered in relief for the Cardinals and allowed only a single to Altuve.
Logan VanWey took over for Houston and gave up three consecutive opposite-field hits: singles from Jordan Walker and Yohel Pozo, and an RBI double from Saggese that scored Walker and pushed the Cardinals’ lead to 4-1.
Steven Okert came in and retired the next two batters to end the frame.
7th inning
Kyle Leahy surrendered a ground-rule double to Yainer Diaz but escaped without further damage.
8th-9th innings
Phil Maton pitched a clean eighth and Ryan Helsley closed the door in the ninth for his third save of the season.
Key Stats
Matz first start of 2025 officially began the six-man rotation for the Cardinals.
Donovan is now tied with Aaron Judge for the MLB lead in hits (27) and continues to lead the National League in batting average at .380.
Nootbaar became the fifth different Cardinal to hit a three-run homer this season, as his shot to center marked the team’s sixth this year. During the previous season, they had just 10.
St. Louis currently leads the MLB with a .280 team batting average.
Betting Recap
Cardinals ML (-108) cashed while the total score stayed UNDER 8.5 (-115). Eric Sontag's weekday afternoon getaway play (Under 4.5 in the first five innings at +100) cashed smoothly and is 3-0 so far in Cardinal games this season.
On Deck
The Cardinals open a four-game set against the New York Mets (11-7) on Thursday night at 6:10 p.m. CT. Andre Pallante (2-0) is scheduled to start for St. Louis against Mets right-hander Griffin Canning (1-1).