Rookie Nathan Church's third home run robbery of the season sealed the win for the Cardinals against the Pirates.
It’s not the first, and hopefully won’t be the last, time that St. Louis Cardinals rookie Nathan Church has stolen the game away from their opponent. Church robbed Pittsburgh Pirates’ Nick Gonzales of a walk-off, two-run homer on a leaping catch that sealed the Cardinals’ 5-4 victory on Wednesday night. It marked the third home run stolen by the 25-year-old rookie, all of which would have either tied or won the game. This time, it came off a drive by Gonzales that went 373 feet from home plate and above the 6-foot-wall, which, according to Statcast, would be good for a home run in 27 of the 30 MLB parks.
It was a shock to St. Louis reliever Riley O’Brien, who notched his eighth save with Church’s play after initially thinking the ball was a goner. He was very effusive in his praise to Church in his postgame remarks. The game-saving play came just four days after Church had another robbery, that time stifling a tying homer by Seattle Mariners’ Mitch Garver. His first came on Opening Day when an electric leap at the wall to grab one by Tampa Bay Rays’ Ryan Vilade, which also would have tied the contest.
To read more on the major victory for the team against Pittsburgh, here is the full story from Cardinals Roundtable writer John Denton.
Church is showing off his elite prowess as a defender, a trait he illustrated while in the minor leagues and is proving at the major level. He is also on a strong streak at the plate, where he’s hitting .281 with four homers in the last eight games, including his first career two-homer game in that same game against the Mariners.
Church credited his work with outfield coach Jon Jay, who works on that skill with him at the start of every series. He’s proving his way to the top after being selected by St. Louis in the 11th round of the 2022 draft, and is garnering the respect of his teammates quickly.