STL Survives Moniak's 436-Foot Bomb, Outlasts COL 10-8

Mickey Moniak crushed a 436-foot three-run homer in the third inning that swung Colorado's win probability from 62% to 87% — and St. Louis answered by scoring six runs in the fifth to flip the entire game. Cooper Hjerpe threw four perfect innings to open it, and Nolan Gorman's 426-foot blast to center was the knockout punch in a 10-8 Cardinals win.

Colorado looked like it had this one locked up early. Rumfield doubled to left to score McCarthy in the first, then Moniak singled home Rumfield to make it 2-0. St. Louis scratched one back in the second on a Church single, but Moniak blew the game open in the third — a 436-foot shot to center that scored Carrigg and Rumfield and pushed Colorado to a 5-1 lead. That swing moved Colorado's win probability from 62% to 87%. At that point, the Cardinals looked cooked.

Then the fifth inning happened. A Bernal single scored Burleson and Herrera to cut it to 5-3. Then Carrigg — the same center fielder who scored on Moniak's homer — committed a fielding error that allowed Walker and Bernal to score, tying the game at five. Two batters later, Gorman launched a 426-foot two-run shot to center, and just like that St. Louis led 7-5. The Cardinals added three more in the eighth on a Herrera double and a Burleson single, pushing the lead to 10-5. Colorado made it interesting — McCarthy hit a 435-foot solo shot in the eighth, and a McCarthy single in the ninth scored Goodman and Veen to make it 10-8 — but St. Louis held on.

The story of the night was the Cardinals' fifth-inning eruption, and it looks like Carrigg's error was the hinge the whole game swung on. Hjerpe was brilliant through four — no hits, no walks, six strikeouts — but Colorado's bullpen ultimately couldn't hold the lead Moniak built. Moniak finished 2-for-4 with a homer and 4 RBI; McCarthy went 3-for-5 with a homer and 3 RBI in a losing effort. For St. Louis, Herrera went 3-for-5 with 2 RBI and 2 runs, and Burleson added 3 hits and an RBI. This one had everything: a dominant starting pitching performance, a momentum-flipping error, and two teams combining for 18 runs. St. Louis earns the 10-8 final.