How Ivan Herrera’s ‘emotional’ homer and Ryan Helsley’s perfect 9th secured a Cardinals win
Cardinals rookie catcher Ivan Herrera hadn't hit a home run in front of his home crowd since the first month of the season. Saturday night, his seventh-inning three-run home run gave his club the crucial runs necessary for a victory.
Herrera's home run and closer Ryan Helsley's 46th save of the season were the final touches on a 6-5 win over the newly-minted AL Central Division champion Guardians in front of an announced crowd of 41,317 at Busch Stadium in the second game of a three-game series.
The Cardinals (78-77) evened the series and can finish their home slate this season with a series win if they can claim a victory on Sunday afternoon.
Helsley, the National League saves leader, earned his 25th save at Busch Stadium this season. That tied Helsley with Trevor Rosenthal for the club's single-season record for the most saves at Busch Stadium.
Herrera went 2 for 3 with a walk, two runs scored and three RBIs. Jordan Walker (1 for 3, walk) also hit a home run with Herrera on base in the fourth inning. Masyn Winn went 1 for 4 with a double and a run scored.
Herrera, who had a stint on the injured list in late June and then spent a chunk of the season at Triple-A between early July and late August, hadn't hit a home run at home since April 10 against the Philadelphia Phillies.
"It feels good," Herrera said of his reaction to his seventh-inning homer. "It was kind of emotional to me. I had been, I don't know, four months, three months, without hitting a home run here. It was just a lot of grind, being sent down to Memphis trying to become the best version of myself as a player. I'm just happy that I can help the team win today."
Miles Mikolas' strong start got lost in the late-game back-and-forth between the Cardinals and Cleveland Guardians on Saturday night. Mikolas (9-11) allowed one run on four hits and did not walk a batter in six innings. He struck out four, and the lone run allowed came on a solo home run.
Mikolas turned the game over to the bullpen with the Cardinals clinging to a 2-1 lead. However, the Cardinals stretched that lead out in the bottom of seventh with help from Herrera.
The Cardinals first run in the four-run seventh inning came when Winn scored on a fielding error by Guardians first baseman Josh Naylor on a ball hit by Paul Goldschmidt, one of two errors in the inning by the Guardians.
After Goldschmidt reached on the error, Nolan Arenado got hit by a pitch to put two men on base with Herrera due up.
Herrera's pivotal at-bat came against reliever Nick Sandlin, who entered the night with a 3.93 ERA and 11 strikeouts per 9 innings in 66 appearances this season.
Sandlin's whiff rate (34.2%) ranked among the top 5% of pitchers in the majors. While his average fastball velocity (92.6 mph) isn't eye-popping or even among the top half of major-league pitchers, his offspeed run value ranks among the top 1% of pitchers.
Herrera took a cut at a first-pitch fastball at the top or slightly above the strike zone, and he missed. That put him in an 0-1 hole.
Herrera then read a reaction from Sandlin that tipped Herrera off about what pitch might be coming next. Herrera saw Sandlin shake off a pitch call from his catcher.
Especially after Herrera's first swing, an aggressive attempt to pull a fastball, he took the shake as confirmation that he'd get a slider.
"I was looking for the fastball first pitch and I swung at it, but I barely saw it," Herrera said. "It's very good. Then I saw him shaking and saying 'no.' I was like he's going to throw a slider because that's his pitch. I just sat on the slider and could connect really good."
Sandlin's slider hasn't gotten hit very hard or consistently this season. It has caused opposing hitters to swing and miss more at a 41.2% clip. Over the past two seasons, it's the pitch Sandlin has used more than any other in his arsenal (nearly half the time in 2023 and more than 1/3 of the time in 2024).
The slider from Sanlin to Herrera broke over the inner half of the plate and roughly in the bottom third of the strike zone. Herrera put his barrel on it and turned it around with an exit velocity of 104.3 mph. It landed an estimated 418 feet away in the left-center field stands.
Herrera admitted he didn't really track the ball after he'd hit it, but he said to himself "that has to go."
Herrera registered the first three-RBI game of his career in the majors. In 68 games this season in the majors, the rookie catcher has batted .293 with a .361 on-base percentage and a .409 slugging percentage.
Herrera entered the day leading all MLB players in batting average in close and late situations (.462). Close and late situations are defined as an at-bat in the seventh inning or later in a game with a margin of three runs or fewer.
"He's a good hitter. He takes a professional at-bat," Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said of Herrera. "He takes a lot of pride in his offense.
"But I'm proud of him because he takes a lot of pride in his defense too, just trying to get better behind the plate — at calling a game, at blocking, at framing, all of it. It's a lot, especially for a young kid at this level. So he's done a nice job of improving that side of the ball while taking care of his offense, but he's definitely a good hitter."
At the time, Herrera's blast made the score 6-1. It appeared the Cardinals might coast through the final two innings to a series-evening victory.
Instead, the Guardians rallied against the Cardinals bullpen for four runs in the eighth inning and made it a one-run game.
Cardinals reliever JoJo Romero gave up a pair of singles to start the eighth inning followed by a three-run home run by Guardians star third baseman Jose Ramirez. The homer by Ramirez, his 37th of the season, made the score 6-4 before an out had been recorded in the eighth inning.
The fourth run charged to Romero came with reliever Matthew Liberatore on the mound. Romero faced two batters after the home run. He got a grounder to second base for the first out of the inning, then he walked a batter before Liberatore took over.
Liberatore gave up an RBI double on a chopper that bounded high over the first base bag and up the right field line. The runner that scored reached on a walk by Romero.
Liberatore retired the next two batters on a pop up and a strikeout to end the inning and strand the tying run on second base. That set the stage for Helsley in the ninth inning.
Asked after the game if he'd started to let himself throttle down or think that he'd get the night off after the score reached 6-1, Helsley grinned and replied, "I feel like I've seen enough baseball games, we all have, it's like we know that stuff can happen in the blink of an eye. I still did my normal routine like I always do and was ready and had to out there tonight."
Helsley retired the side in order in the ninth. All three batters swung and missed at the third strike, flailing at breaking balls that darted late. Helsley recorded his 22nd perfect inning to close a game this year, which is also a single-season club record on top of the single-season record for saves at home.
Helsley has gone a perfect 25 for 25 in his home ballpark this season. He also credited with a "home" save in a game against the San Francisco Giants at Rickwood Field in Alabama in June.
Helsley's 46 saves are the most in a single season since Rosenthal saved 48 during the 2015 season to set the club single-season record.
"Pretty incredible," Helsley said of setting the home saves record. "This franchise has had a lot of good pitchers come through here, Rosenthal included. It's pretty cool to look up this far into the season and kind of see what I've accomplished as an individual, but obviously as a team we wanted to be in the postseason. It didn't happen, but I'm just trying to take the positives and keep going."
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