JJ Wetherholt homered in his MLB debut and Alec Burleson capped an eight-run sixth inning with a towering, 432-foot smash in the Cardina;s 9-7 defeat of the Rays on Opening Day.
ST. LOUIS – Largely discounted because of their unloading of several All-Star players in the offseason and their plans to rebuild around youth for the future, the Cardinals showed on Opening Day that they still have plenty of scrap and firepower with which to compete in the season ahead.
Despite falling into a six-run hole, the Cardinals responded with a gritty eight-run, sixth inning – capped by a thunderous, two-run homer from Alec Burleson – in a 9-7 defeat of the Tampa Bay Rays that both surprised and delighted a sellout crowd of 45,037 at Busch Stadium.
“Being down six runs can deflate some dugouts, but we’re going to continue to play this way, play hard and fight to the end,” said Burleson, who had three hits, two runs scored and two RBI with his 432-foot blast on Opening Day. “This is the style of baseball that we want to play, and this is the style of baseball the fans here want to see.”
Those fans got to see a dazzling debut from rookie second baseman JJ Wetherholt, who homered in his second at bat for his first big-league hit. Wetherholt also had an RBI sacrifice fly in the game-changing sixth inning that lifted the Cardinals to victory.
“My mom asked if I was nervous and I said, ‘No, but only because I already knew she was nervous,” said Wetherhold, who pointed out that he also homered in his first collegiate game at West Virginia University. “Today was just a great effort and that’s who we are. We’re trying to play off one another and just play good baseball.”
Jeff Curry-Imagn ImagesManager Oliver Marmol showed confidence in the 23-year-old rookie by hitting him in the leadoff spot for his MLB debut – something only six Cardinals players have done in the history of the franchise – and he rewarded that confidence by smashing an 0-2 pitch onto “Freese’s Landing” for the game’s first run of the day.
Wetherholt also shined in the field, making a sliding stop in the third inning to rob Jonathan Aranda of a hit and a nifty back-handed grab in the eighth to deny former Cardinal Richie Palacios of a potential single.
“He’s definitely not afraid of the moment,” Marmol said. “He’s a pretty even-keeled guy and his heartbeat is (flat) all day long. Big swing, incredible moment (with the home run) for the dugout and fans. That was pretty special.”
Rookie Nathan Church and Burleson also added spectacular defensive plays – much to the delight of the crowd. Church, who is known primarily for his strong throwing arm, got his glove high above the wall in left to rob Ryan Vilade of a solo homer in the fifth inning. Then, with the Cards clinging to a 9-7 lead in the top of the eighth inning, Burleson dove into foul territory to snag an inning-liner off the bat of Cedric Mullins.
The afternoon seemed to have come apart in the top of the sixth inning when relievers Matt Svanson (three hits and three earned runs), Justin Bruihl (one hit and two earned runs) and Chris Roycroft (three hits and one earned run) were hit hard by the Rays in a six-run outburst that gave Tampa Bay a 7-1 lead.
The lengthy inning cast a pall over an otherwise strong outing from starter Matthew Liberatore, who rose to the occasion in the first Opening Day start of his MLB career. Liberatore limited the Rays to seven hits and one earned run over five innings, while striking out two.
Not to be outdone, the first seven Cardinals reached to open the bottom of the sixth inning with Nolan Gorman and Nathan Church plating two runs each with singles, Wetherholt sent another charge into the crowd when he drilled a pitch to the warning track to plate another run, and Ivan Herrera followed with another run-scoring sacrifice fly.
Burleson, who opened the sixth inning rally with a single, then delivered the biggest swing of the night when he smacked a 432-foot, no-doubter of a home run to vault the Cards into a 9-7 lead. Like Wetherholt earlier in the day, Burleson was treated to a curtain call of cheers by the sellout crowd of 45,037 at Busch Stadium.
“He knows he’s good and he’s going to continue to show it,” Marmol said of Burleson, whose newborn son was napping at the time of his home run, but woke up when fireworks filled the sky. “He takes a really professional at bat and he controls the strike zone. And then defensively, he feels good at first.”
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