In the first game of Saturday's doubleheader between the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs, St. Louis erupted for nine runs in the first inning.
That offensive explosion helped pace a twin-bill sweep by the Cardinals, 11-3 and 5-4. After the game, St. Louis manager Oliver Marmol spoke out on that decisive first inning, per Bally Sports Midwest:
Marmol on the #STLCards' bounce back from last night with a nine-run first inning: "It was good, yesterday was a tough one offensively and we came out of the gates and they made some mistakes but we also had a good approach and took advantage of it."
Said Marmol, “It was good, yesterday was a tough one offensively and we came out of the gates, and they made some mistakes, but we also had a good approach and took advantage of it.”
The Cardinals on Friday had only managed six hits and a single ninth inning run against the Cubs. On Saturday, St. Louis sent 12 men to the plate in the first, its biggest inning in more than a year, to provide more than enough support for starter Lance Lynn. He allowed two runs on five hits and struck out six.
The nine runs scored were the most for the Cardinals in a single inning since scoring 10 runs in the eighth against Counsell’s Milwaukee Brewers on May 15, 2023.
Cardinals' Nolan Arenado reminds why he has 10 Gold Gloves
While the Cardinals dominated with the bats in that opening inning, Gold Glove third baseman Nolan Arenado executed a remarkable double play in the top of the first inning that played a key part in St. Louis gaining early momentum in the game.
You'll see this play on all the highlight shows tonight -- #STLCards star third baseman Nolan Arenado pulled off the almost unthinkable 5-3 double play by stepping on second himself and throwing onto first base for the twin killing.
With Lance Lynn on the mound for the Cardinals, Nico Hoerner opened the game with a walk. Michael Busch then followed with a ground ball to the left side of the infield. Since Busch is predominantly a pull hitter, Arenado was in the position normally occupied by shortstop Dansby Swanson, who was much closer to second base. Arenado picked up the grounder as he approached second base, and then he stepped on the bag for the force play and threw to first baseman Alec Burleson.
Arenado's play was unique because a third baseman is almost never in a position to complete a force play by himself at second base, let alone make the throw to finish the double play.
Lynn was left impressed by Arenado's acrobatics. “I don't think I've seen one like that. For him to be able to run across the bag and make that throw across his body like that and get a double play, that was amazing, but that's why he (won) 10 straight Gold Gloves.”
On Sunday, the series wraps up as Cubs right-hander Jameson Tailon will oppose Cardinals righty Miles Mikolas.
