A Silver Slugger winner in 2025 for the first time as a utility fielder when he split the season as at first base 50 games, the outfield 75 games and as a designated hitter 34 games, Cardinals slugger Alec Burleson has certainly stated a strong case for the 2026 award at one of the most offensively ambitious positions.

Burleson, now a full-time first baseman with 120 starts there, moved into the MLB lead in RBI by smashing a two-run double in the first inning and six Cardinals pitchers made it stand up in a 2-1 victory over the Reds in Game 1 of a split doubleheader.

The suddenly surging Cardinals (64-61) won for the third straight time and for a 10th time in the past 14 games. St. Louis fell a season-worst three games below .500 on Aug. 1, but it has gotten back into the playoff chase by winning series over the Yankees, Rockies, Phillies and Cubs. They carried the momentum over from winning the final two at Wrigley Field into the first game of this five-game series over four days in Cincinnati. Monday’s first game was a makeup game because of a May 22 washout at Great American Ball Park.

Burleson, one of the eldest players on the young and feisty Cardinals now at 27, has been on a tear since the break for the MLB All-Star Game. In 29 games, he’s hit .339 (fifth in MLB) with a .993 OPS (fourth), nine doubles (tied for fourth), six home runs (tied for 24th) and 23 RBI (seventh). He leads MLB in doubles at 32 and RBI at 92.

Burleson was 2 for 4 on a day when the Cardinals' offense generated just seven hits.

Rookie Quinn Matthews pitched well for four innings, and the Cardinals bullpen did the rest by getting scoreless work from Luis Gastelum, Gordon Graceffo, George Soriano, Ryne Stanek and Riley O’Brien. Those five relievers allowed just one hit over the final five innings O'Brien, the All-Star closer, struck out the side in the ninth for this 31st save to make him the leader in the National League.

Making his second MLB start after being added as the 27th player for the split doubleheader, Mathews pitched especially well over four innings of work. He opened the first inning by striking out Elly De La Cruz, Sal Stewart and Tyler Stephenson and he added a punch out of Eugenio Suarez to start the second inning to set the stage for a seven-strikeout effort. The rail-think lefty had at least one strikeout in all four of his innings.

Two of Mathews’ three walks came in the second inning, when the Reds loaded the bases and posed their biggest threat. However, the Cards’ rookie lefty pitched out of trouble by getting Noelvie Marte to foul out and Ke’Bryan Hayes to ground to third. His only trouble came when opening the third inning and Dane Myers made him throw 11 pitches by fouling seven of them off. On the 11th pitch, Myers hit his fourth homer by smashing a slider 391 feet.

The Cardinals took a 2-0 lead just four batters into the game when Báez was plunked on the shin while batting from the leadoff spot. Following an Ivan Herrera walk and a Jordan Walker strikeout, Burleson drilled a center-cut sinker into the right field corner to plate two.

Burleson is likely battling Atlanta's Matt Olson and Cincinnati's Sal Stewart for the NL's Silver Slugger award at first base. Olson has 30 doubles and 36 homers, but he's driven in just 77 and he's hitting only .264. Stewart, who is locked in a duel for Rookie of the Year with JJ Wetherholt, has 26 homers, 24 doubles and 91 RBI, but he's seen his batting average dip to .258. As for Burleson, he's hitting .290 with 21 homers and MLB highs in RBI (92) and doubles (32).   

Even though Kent Emanuel was making his first career start after battling his way back to MLB via the Frontier League, the Cardinals struggled to convert in big spots against the 34-year-old left-hander. Emanuel gave up five hits and three walks, but he yielded just two runs by holding St. Louis to one for 12 with runners in scoring position in the game’s first five innings.