photo: Ivan Herrera (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)
The surging St. Louis Cardinals finished a 7-2 road trip with two wins in three games in Kansas City. In the last week, Iván Herrera hit .524, second in the National League, with three doubles, a home run, five RBI and five runs scored. We again remember notable MLB debuts during this week in team history.
Game recaps
Monday, May 12, 2025 – Cardinals 3 at Phillies 2
The St. Louis Cardinals edged the Philadelphia Phillies in the opener of a three-game series in Citizens Bank Park on Monday. Starter Matthew Liberatore pitched 5 1/3 innings, gave up two runs on seven hits, struck out four and walked one.
Kyle Leahy relieved Liberatore and threw 2 1/3 scoreless innings to earn his first win of 2025. JoJo Romero hurled 1/3 of a scoreless inning. Ryan Helsley tossed a scoreless ninth for his eighth save.
The Cardinals took a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth inning. Nolan Arenado and Iván Herrera walked. Arenado advanced to third on a wild pitch. Arenado scored on a force out by Pedro Pagés.
The Phillies tied the game in the home fourth. St. Louis went ahead 2-1 in the top of the sixth on a solo home run by Herrera.
The Phillies tied the game again in the bottom of the sixth. The Cardinals regained the lead 3-2 in the seventh on a solo home run by Masyn Winn.
The Cardinals scored three runs on five hits. Lars Nootbaar was 2-for-4. The offense was 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base.
Tuesday, May 13, 2025 – Cardinals at Phillies (postponed)
This game was postponed due to rain and was rescheduled as part of a doubleheader on Wednesday, May 14.
Wednesday, May 14, 2025 – Cardinals 1 at Phillies 2 (game one)
The Cardinals lost a one run decision to the Phillies in the first game of a twin bill on Wednesday. Starter Erick Fedde pitched 5 2/3 scoreless innings, allowed three hits, struck out three and walked four.
Steven Matz relieved Fedde and surrendered two runs in 1 2/3 innings. Matz took the loss. Gordon Graceffo tossed the final 2/3 of a scoreless inning.
The game was scoreless until the top of the seventh, when the Cardinals broke through with one run. Iván Herrera doubled and scored on a single by Jordan Walker.
The Phillies answered with two runs in the home seventh and held on for the win.
The Cardinals scored one run on six hits. No Cardinal had multiples. Herrera’s double was the only extra base hit. The offense was 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base.
Walker stole his third base of the season. Masyn Winn was picked off and caught stealing.
On defense, Victor Scott had an outfield assist at first base.
Wednesday, May 14, 2025 – Cardinals 14 at Phillies 7 (game two)
The Cardinals pounded the Phillies by a 14-7 score in the second game of the twin bill. Starter Sonny Gray pitched only 3 2/3 innings, gave up seven runs on eight hits, struck out eight and walked one.
The bullpen shut down the Phillies offense. John King relieved Gray and threw a scoreless inning. Chris Roycroft hurled 1 1/3 scoreless innings to earn the win. JoJo Romero, Phil Maton, and Matt Svanson each tossed a scoreless inning.
The Cardinals scored one run in the top of the first inning. Lars Nootbaar and Masyn Winn singled. Nootbaar came home on a ground out by Nolan Arenado.
The Phillies answered with five runs against Gray in the home first. In the top of the third, the Cardinals added five runs to lead 6-5. Nootbaar thumped a solo home run. Winn walked. Brendan Donovan plated Winn on a double. Donovan later scored on a ground out by Willson Contreras. Iván Herrera singled and Alec Burleson followed with a two-run home run.
The Phillies tied the game in the home third, but St. Louis regained the lead again with three runs in the top of the fourth. Winn hit a solo home run. Arenado, Contreras and Herrera singled. Burleson drove in Arenado and Contreras on a single. The Cardinals led 9-6.
In the home fourth, the Phillies cut the lead to 9-7. In the eighth, the Cardinals added three runs to make it 12-7. Victor Scott singled and stole second base. Winn singled to score Scott. Donovan walked. Arenado reached on an error. Winn came home on a wild pitch. Donovan crossed the plate on a sac fly by Contreras.
St. Louis increased the lead to 14-7 in the ninth. Burleson singled and Jordan Walker pinch ran. Nolan Gorman drew a walk. Scott flied into a force out with Gorman out at second. Scott stole second base. Nootbaar hit a sac fly and Walker scored. Scott came home on a single by Winn.
The Cardinals scored 14 runs on 19 hits. Burleson was 3-for-5 with four RBI. Winn was 4-for-5 with three RBI and three runs scored. Nootbaar was 2-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored. Donovan was 3-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored. Iván Herrera was 3-for-5. Scott scored two runs. Contreras had two RBI.
On the bases, Scott stole his 12th and 13th bases of the season.
Thursday, May 15, 2025 – Off day
Friday, May 16, 2025 – Cardinals 10 at Royals 3
The Cardinals walloped the Royals by a 10-3 score at Kauffman Stadium on Friday. Starter Andre Pallante pitched seven innings, gave up two runs on seven hits and struck out four to earn his fourth win.
Gordon Graceffo relieved Pallante and surrendered one run in the final two innings.
The Cardinals went up 1-0 in the second inning. Willson Contreras doubled, advanced to third on a ground out by Iván Herrera and scored on a wild pitch.
St. Louis added two runs in the top of the fourth to lead 3-0. Brendan Donovan doubled and scored on a double by Contreras. Herrera plated Contreras on a single.
The Royals scored single runs in the fourth and fifth to cut the Cards’ lead to 3-2.
St. Louis put up four runs in the sixth to widen the lead to 7-2. Masyn Winn and Donovan singled. Contreras reached on a fielder’s choice with an error. Herrera doubled to clear the bases. Pedro Pagés drove in Herrera on a single.
The Cardinals added another run in the top of the eighth to lead 8-2. Herrera doubled and scored on a single by Jordan Walker. Kansas City put up their third and final run in the bottom of the eighth to shrink the lead to 8-3.
St. Louis increased the lead to 10-3 in the ninth. Lars Nootbaar singled. Winn walked. Donovan singled and Nootbaar scored. Winn came home on a sac fly by Nolan Arenado.
The Cardinals scored 10 runs on 13 hits. Herrera was 3-for-4 with four RBI and two runs scored. Donovan was 3-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored. Contreras was 2-for-5 with an RBI and three runs scored. Nootbaar was 2-for-5. Winn scored two runs.
Saturday, May 17, 2025 – Cardinals 1 at Royals 0
The Cardinals beat the Royals in a 1-0 shutout on Saturday. Starter Miles Mikolas pitched six scoreless innings, allowed two hits, fanned four and walked two to earn his third win.
Kyle Leahy relieved Mikolas and threw two scoreless innings. Ryan Helsley tossed a scoreless ninth for his ninth save.
The game was scoreless until the sixth inning, when Jordan Walker hit a solo home run. The Royals threatened in the eighth, but terrific infield defense kept the lead intact.
The Cardinals scored one run on two hits. Iván Herrera had the only other hit, a single.
Sunday, May 18, 2025 – Cardinals 1 at Royals 2
The Cardinals were unable to complete the sweep, losing 2-1 to the Royals in the final game on Sunday. Starter Matthew Liberatore pitched six innings, gave up one run on six hits, fanned five and walked one.
The Cardinals went ahead 1-0 in the top of the fourth inning on a solo home run by Alec Burleson. The Royals quickly tied the game in the home fourth.
Chris Roycroft relieved Liberatore and surrendered one run in the seventh to take the loss. JoJo Romero threw a scoreless eighth.
The Cardinals scored one run on 12 hits. While the hits came, the team was unable to get the important hits with runners in scoring position. They were 0-for-8 in that category and left 13 runners on base.
The Big Picture
While the final game of the road trip was a disappointment, the road trip overall was a success. St. Louis went 7-2 over series against the Nationals, Phillies and Royals. The Nationals series was a sweep. The Cardinals have a record of 26-21 and remain in second place in the NL Central, two games back of the Cubs. They moved to as close as one game back but were unable to advance farther as the Cubs had a favorable schedule, going 5-1 over the last place Marlins and White Sox at Wrigley Field.
St. Louis’ offense was a highlight reel in many of the games, despite scoring only two runs in their final two games in Kansas City. They plated 24 runs over two games against the Phillies and Royals and began the road trip with three games in Washington in which they scored 20 total runs while giving up only three.
The top performers over the last seven days by OPS were Alec Burleson (1.400), Iván Herrera (1.393), Yohel Pozo (1.000 in four ABs), Brendan Donovan (.964), and Masyn Winn (.935). At the bottom were Pedro Pagés (.286), Nolan Arenado (.268), and Victor Scott (.217).
The starting pitching has been very good, other than one “clunker” start by Sonny Gray against the Phillies in which he didn’t make it out of the fourth inning and gave up seven runs. The remaining starters all had ERAs under 4.00 for the week. Erick Fedde and Miles Mikolas had 0.00 ERAs in their respective starts.
As for the bullpen, all was good as well despite one poor outing by Steven Matz, which was an outlier. Six relievers had ERAs of 0.00 last week – Ryan Helsley, John King, Kyle Leahy, Phil Maton, JoJo Romero, and Matt Svanson, who came up briefly as the 27th man for the doubleheader against the Phillies.
The Cardinals have been on a roll, winning 12 of their last 14 games, with only one loss each to the Phillies and Royals.
The schedule will get more difficult coming up, however, as the team next faces the Detroit Tigers, who have the best record in baseball. They end the week against the Arizona Diamondbacks, who are two games over .500 in the tough NL West. The Cubs’ schedule, on the other hand, gets easier on paper as they begin the week against the last place Marlins and end the week against the .500 Reds.
NL Central Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct | GB |
| Chicago | 28 | 19 | 0.596 | |
| St. Louis | 26 | 21 | 0.553 | 2 |
| Cincinnati | 24 | 24 | 0.500 | 4.5 |
| Milwaukee | 22 | 25 | 0.468 | 6 |
| Pittsburgh | 15 | 32 | 0.319 | 13 |
Trade and Acquisition Rumors
There are no trade and acquisition rumors to report.
Transactions
- 5/14 CF Michael Helman was claimed off waivers by the Pittsburgh Pirates.
- 5/14 The Cardinals recalled RHP Matt Svanson from the Memphis Redbirds (27th man for the doubleheader).
- 5/15 The Cardinals optioned RHP Matt Svanson to the Memphis Redbirds.
Injury Report
- LHP Zack Thompson (left lat strain) was placed on the 15-day injured list on March 24 and later moved to the 60-day IL. There has been no update on his status for more than a month.
Looking Ahead
The Cardinals return to St. Louis to begin a homestand starting with three games with the Detroit Tigers beginning Monday. Sonny Gray is scheduled for the Monday start, followed by Erick Fedde on Tuesday, and Andre Pallante on Wednesday.
Following an off day on Thursday, the homestand continues with a weekend series against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Cardinals end the month on the road with three games in Baltimore, followed by a weekend set in Texas with the Rangers.
Beginning Tuesday, June 3, the Cardinals return to St. Louis to begin a nine-game homestand with three games with the Royals at Busch Stadium. Next is a weekend series with the Dodgers, and a three game set with the Blue Jays.
The team goes on the road again to play the Brewers in Milwaukee for four. After an off day on Monday, June 16, the Cardinals play the White Sox in Chicago for three games ending Thursday, June 19.
Blast from the Past
This week’s Blast of the Past continues the series that began last season here, the Debut Series. In this series, we chronicle the major league debuts of notable current and former Cardinals during a relevant period in franchise history.
This week the installment looks at Cardinals players who made their major league debuts during the period May 12 through May 18. The name of the player, the date he debuted, how he performed, and any other important details follow.
May 14, 2016 –LHP Dean Kiekhefer made his major league debut with the Cardinals. Some fans may know Kiekhefer more for being the current assistant pitching coach for the Cardinals than they do for his brief time pitching for the team.
The Cardinals drafted Kiekhefer in the 36th round in 2010. He was called up to the major league team on May 13, 2016 and made his debut the next day in a 5-3 loss to the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Kiekhefer entered in the sixth inning in relief of Carlos Martinez. He struck out the first batter, Joc Pederson, and the third batter, Enrique (Kiki) Hernandez. Kiekhefer returned to pitch the seventh and struck out Scott Kazmir and Chase Utley before giving up a home run to Corey Seager.
Kiekhefer was placed on waivers after the 2016 season and was claimed by the Seattle Mariners.
May 16, 2008 – Relief pitcher Chris Perez made his major league debut with the Cardinals. Perez pitched the seventh in relief of Braden Looper in a 3-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays in Tampa. He pitched to four batters, one who reached on an error, but gave up no runs. His first major league strikeout came against his last batter, Evan Longoria, who struck out swinging.
Perez appeared in 41 games for the Cardinals in 2008 and 29 games in 2009 before he was traded to Cleveland for Mark DeRosa.
May 18, 2011 – On this day in 2011, Pete Kozma made his major league debut for the Cardinals. Kozma, later a fan whipping boy for his less than stellar performance with the bat in his five seasons in St. Louis, made his debut in a 5-1 win over the Astros at Busch Stadium.
Kozma entered as a pinch hitter for Lance Berkman in the fifth inning. In his first at-bat, he doubled to left field, scoring Tyler Greene, for his first major league hit and first RBI. Kozma remained in the game as the second baseman. In the eighth, he walked but was stranded.
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