Cards discover spark as Walker extends historic streak

DENVER — This Cardinal goes to 11.

Rookie proper fielder Jordan Walker took one other step towards writing his method into the file books Tuesday, getting a success in his eleventh consecutive sport to begin his Major League profession. It can be tied the longest lively streak within the Majors.

Walker prolonged his streak to steer off the seventh inning, drilling a liner previous the glove of Rockies shortstop Ezequiel Tovar and into left area. The hit opened a four-run rally capped by a three-run double off the left-field wall by Nolan Arenado to tie the sport at 6. Walker’s hit sparked the offense to seven runs over the ultimate three innings as St. Louis climbed again from down 4 runs to take the sport, 9-6, marking its greatest comeback win of the season.

“He’s been awesome,” Nolan Gorman stated of Walker. “He’s a stud, and he’s helping us tremendously, so it’s great to have him up here.”

Walker handed Hall of Famer Ted Williams Monday to say the second longest streak for a participant 20 years outdated or youthful along with his tenth sport with a success, and with Tuesday’s hit, he moved inside one sport of Eddie Murphy, who set the file with a 12-game streak to open his profession with the Philadelphia Athletics in 1912.

Walker claimed the Cardinals’ rookie file Monday and will tie Murphy as the one NL/AL gamers beneath 21 to start their huge league careers with a 12-game hitting streak in Wednesday’s sequence finale in Colorado.

The Cardinals’ rookie file for a hitting streak at any level within the season is held by present bench coach Joe McEwing, who had a 25-game hitting streak from June 8 to July 4, 1999. The longest hitting streak to open a profession by a participant of any age is 17 video games, completed by David Dahl in 2016 and Chuck Aleno in 1941.

“He’s unbelievable, he really is,” Arenado stated. “For being 20 years old — when I was 20, I was in High-A, battling and getting in trouble, and this guy is just so mature for his age. His approach — he’s just gonna be so good. He’s still got a lot of room to get better. But I mean, his at-bats and the way he goes about his business — he’s probably the most impressive young player I’ve seen since [former Colorado teammate] Trevor Story.”

The seventh-inning rally answered a five-run fifth body from the Rockies, however better of all for Walker was the truth that he obtained to have a good time along with his teammates after incomes a win for the second time within the Cardinals’ final eight video games.

“Whether it’s a hit or not, he just continues to take good at-bats,” supervisor Oliver Marmol stated. “We like what we’re seeing from him. So another positive day for sure.”

Following Walker’s seventh-inning leadoff single, Rockies reliever Jake Bird retired the subsequent two hitters earlier than strolling Brendan Donovan. Tommy Edman got here to the plate a triple shy of a cycle and reached on a fielding error by second baseman Ryan McMahon to load the bases. Paul Goldschmidt walked to plate a run and preserve the bases full for Arenado, who shortly cleared them along with his arduous double to left. 

“We needed that big hit,” Marmol stated. “When you look at how things have been going, to get punched in the mouth that way with the crooked number there for them.”

In a sport with no scarcity of key moments, Goldschmidt’s stroll was a game-changer. As Marmol famous, Goldschmidt chased one unhealthy pitch on a 2-0 rely however regrouped and delivered.

“Watching Goldy have that great at-bat right before me, I just wanted to keep it going,” Arenado stated. “He got me fired up with his at-bat, and I was just trying to follow his lead.”

The Cards’ protection stymied the Rockies within the eighth, as Donovan made a leaping, somersaulting catch on the wall to rob Yonathan Daza of additional bases and protect a scoreless 4 innings from the bullpen after Miles Mikolas gave up six runs on 10 hits via 5.

“It’s frustrating, but it’s better than any other start I’ve had here,” Mikolas stated. “And we won, so in some odd parallel universe, I’m not super upset with today.”