Like Cardinals Rookies Before Him, Leo Bernal Starts MLB Career with a Bang
Having already delivered a two-run single in his MLB debut game on Tuesday, rookie catcher Leo Bernal smashed a two-run homer on Wednesday that helped the Cardinals defeat the Dodgers 8-6 in 10 innings. Bernal, 22 has four RBI in his first two MLB games.
Video Transcript
These young and feisty Cardinals proved once again, they are not afraid in the slightest of the big, bad dynastic Dodgers.
The Cardinals won eight to six in 10 innings after they rallied back from a three-nothing deficit and a five-two deficit.
The Cardinals tied the game in the eighth inning when pinch hitter Joshua Baez roped a double down the third base line and came in to score on a sac fly by Alec Burleson.
Then in the 10th inning, the Cardinals scored three times, with the big blow being yet another double by Joshua Baez down the third base line to drive in two runs.
The victory locked up another series for the Cardinals over the Dodgers.
That's two this year that the Cardinals have beaten the Dodgers, and they've won all four series over the last two years against the mighty back-to-back champion Dodgers.
I'm John Denton with Roundtable Sports.
Joshua Baez is gonna have a hard time ever matching what he did in his debut by hitting home runs in his first three Major League at-bats.
But what he did on Wednesday night was nearly as impressive, to come off the bench and hit a double, in a, in a big spot in a one-run game and then come around and score, and then come up again in the 10th inning with another big two-run double.
That's pretty impressive, too.
Leo- Leonardo Bernal also had a huge night.
The, the switch-hitting catcher, who was the number seven prospect in the Cardinals organization, hit, hit the first home run of his Major League career, earlier in the game.
He got a three-two pitch from Yoshinobu, Yamamoto, drilled it over the wall in, in left f- in right field, to get the Cardinals back in the game.
He almost hit another one.
He hit a ball 370 feet, I think it was.
It would've been a home run in 24 of 30 ballparks that fell just short.
But the Cardinals also got a two-run home run earlier in the game from Tomas Sjercsas.
Yamamoto, the MVP of the World Series last year, was had a no-hitter going through five innings.
Jose Fermin broke it up, then two batters later, Sjercsas drilled a home run to get the Cardinals back within three-two.
And then after the Dodgers pushed it out to five-two, then Bernal's two-run home run made it a five-four game, and then Baez did the rest, in, i- in the, Baez, Baez scored in the eighth inning to tie the game at five-five.
It was a tough start for Bryson Motts.
He got the first start of his, of his Major League career.
He walked Shohei Ohtani on four pitches.
Then he hit Tommy Edmund.
And then after getting Mookie Betts to pop up, Freddie Freeman touched him for a three-run home run.
It looked like the game could get away from the Cardinals right away.
Nine Dodgers came to the plate in that first inning, but Alec Burleson made a diving stop to end the first inning and stopped the bleeding there.
One of the unsung heroes on the night is Gordon Graceffo.
If the Cardinals would've started Graceffo as they did last week against the Orioles, they might not have been in such a pickle.
Graceffo came in in the third inning and pitched three scoreless innings and struck out six batters.
Graceffo lowered his ERA to 278 on the season, so he's really coming on and finishing strong.
I mean, this, this whole night was about Cardinal young players.
Graceffo, Sjercsas, Bernal, Baez, all young guys, part of the future for the Cardinals, and it certainly looks bright on a night when they came from behind again and again and beat the Dodgers eight to six in 10 innings to win the series, at Chavez Ravine.
I'm John Denton with Roundtable Sports.
