Despite possessing MLB's youngest roster, the Cardinals have welcomed the challenge of going on the road and quieting hostile crowds. In building a 23-18 road record, the Cards are scoring more runs (5.6 to 3.8) and hitting more homers (55 to 42) away from Busch Stadium in 2026.
Of all the surprises offered up thus far by the young and feisty Cardinals – compiling two six-game winning streaks, reaching a high-water mark of nine games over .500 three times and firmly positioning themselves to make the playoffs – the most shocking accomplishment of all is how they have fared in hostile road environments.
Take, for example, Friday when the Cards rolled into Wrigley Field to battle the red-hot and streaking Cubs – even though St. Louis had played (and won) in Atlanta a night earlier and didn’t get to their downtown Chicago hotel rooms until after 2 a.m. All the Cardinals did was hang a 17-1 thumping and the third-most lopsided victory in the 135-year history of the rivalry on the stunned Cubs.
The 17 runs, of course, were an outlier, but the game did give a peek into how much the Cards (46-39) have been warriors on the road this season. They have as many wins on the road (23) as they do at Busch Stadium (23), but they have played four more games outside of St. Louis. Already this season, the Cards have won road series in Washington, Houston (three-game sweep), Pittsburgh (four-game sweep), Sacramento, New York (Mets) and Atlanta. And following Friday’s drubbing, they are one victory away from adding the Cubs to their road list.
"I think the reality of it is we just don't care," said shortstop Masyn Winn, who drilled a three-run home and drove in four in Friday’s runaway victory. "We didn't get a lot of sleep (Thursday) night, we showed up late and we came out here to work. We don't really care. We're just having a good time and putting up a lot of runs."
Cards' offense, pitching more productive on the road
For whatever reason, the Cards are putting up more runs – and hitting with lots more power – on the road than they are at home. On the road the Cardinals are scoring 5.6 runs a game compared to just 3.75 at Busch Stadium. Even in four fewer road games, the Cards have more hits (361-349), doubles (63-56), triples (7-2), homers (55-42) and RBI (226-158) away from Busch Stadium.
More proof of how much the Cards enjoy bashing balls on the road than they do at home: Their batting average is eight points higher (.252 to .244), on-base percentage is 14 points higher (.332 to .318), slugging percentage is 46 points higher (.420 to .374) and their OPS is a whopping 60 points higher (.752 to .692). The Cards’ road OPS ranks second in the NL, while their home OPS is tied for 13th in the 15-team NL.
As for individual players, Walker leads all baseball in road RBI with 45. His 12 home runs on the road are also tied for the third most in MLB. Alec Burleson has 33 RBI (tied for seventh in MLB) and his nine road homers are the same amount as Shohei Ohtani.
A big key to the offensive success this season is the team’s willingness to stay in the strike zone, work deep into counts and having success hitting with two outs, manager Oliver Marmol said.
“Regardless of score, our guys were taking really gritty at bats and they weren’t giving away anything and I loved seeing it,” Marmol said of an offense that churned out 13 two-out runs on Friday. “I’m OK with mixing those (homers) in. You’re going to find different ways to win throughout a season and (Friday) we definitely slugged.”
While Busch Stadium’s famously difficult hitting conditions might play a factor in the success of the offense, the Cardinals pitching staff has also had more success on the road than at home with certain metrics. Cards pitchers are allowing fewer hits per game on the road (8.0) than at home (9.2) and a much lower road batting average allowed (.245) than at home (.261). In terms of runs, Cards pitchers are surrendering 4.68 a game on the road compared to 4.36 at home.
The biggest difference, of course, is the home run department. Cards pitchers have yielded just 31 homers at home – the best mark in the NL – but they have allowed 59 long balls on the road (14th in the NL).
Andre Pallante, one of the best bounce-back stories on the Cards in 2026, has game 6-0 on the road. That has helped him become the franchise’s first 10-game winner before the All-Star Game since Miles Mikolas in 2018.
Winn, who has hit three of his four home runs on the road this season, likes the challenge of going on the road and quieting the hostile crowds. That certainly what the Cardinals – MLB’s youngest team statistically – did at Wrigley Field on Friday while drubbing the Cubs.
“This (Cards-Cubs) rivalry is amazing, and they had (Wrigley Field) packed today and the energy was insane,” Winn said. “But it was a little quieter when we put up some runs. But it’s always great winning here.”
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