By MATT PIKE
The St. Louis Cardinals again struggled against their former teammate, as Willson Contreras homered against and matched a career high with four hits, leading the Boston Red Sox past the Redbirds for a 9-3 win at Busch Stadium.
Contreras launched a two-run shot in the second inning, to give the Red Sox the lead. Boston added another run in the top of the second inning on an RBI single from Roman Anthony, scoring Trevor Story, who also finished with four hits in the game to extend their lead, before St. Louis broke into the scoring column in the bottom half of the inning with Jordan Walker's major league leading seventh home run of the season to make it 3-1.
Boston added to their lead in the fourth inning with a four run inning. Jarren Duran lined a three-run double over Cardinals center fielder Victor Scott II’s head, driving in Connor Wong, Ceddanane Rafaela, and Caleb Durbin, before later scoring in the inning on an RBI single from Contreras to put the Red Sox ahead 7-1.
The Cardinals added another run in the sixth inning on a sacrifice fly from Nolan Gorman, scoring Iván Herrera. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Alec Burleson hit his second home run of the season to left center field to cut the Boston lead to 7-3. In the top of the ninth, Story doubled to drive in the final two runs of the game, scoring Duran and Wilyer Abreu.
It was his eighth career four-hit game and first since June 2023 with the Cardinals against the Chicago Cubs in London for Contreras. Andre Pallante fell to 1-1 on the season, giving up seven runs and 10 hits in five innings, striking out two and walking one.
Cardinals shortstop Masyn Winn missed his second consecutive game with a bruise below his left knee after he was hit by a pitch Friday night. At the plate, Walker and Burleson led the way, each going 2-for-4 with a home run and an RBI
St. Louis stays home and hosts the Cleveland Guardians next. Matthew Liberatore (0-0, 3.38 ERA. 10K's) takes the mound for the Cardinals facing Gavin Williams (1-1, 2.04 ERA, 25K's) to begin the three-game home series. First pitch is at 6:45pm pregame will be joined near the start at 6:35 on KY 102 (102.5 FM).
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