Gorman snaps slump with walk-off homer to give Cardinals 5-3 win over Diamondbacks
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Nolan Gorman snapped an 0-for-19 slump with a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning that gave the St. Louis Cardinals a 5-3 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday night.
“I knew right off the bat,” Gorman said. “I’ve been scuffling. I’m not someone to throw my stuff in and quit. They say fake it until you make it. I got a pitch down the middle and I put a good swing on it. I wanted to run the bases quick and get with my teammates to celebrate.”
It was the fourth home run this season for Gorman, who entered as a defensive replacement in the eighth. Paul Goldschmidt, who homered earlier, reached on an infield single before Gorman hit left-hander Kyle Nelson’s only pitch into the right-field seats for his first career walk-off RBIs.
“No doubt, this was special,” Gorman said. “I’ll remember it for sure.”
Ryan Helsley (2-2) worked a scoreless inning and the Cardinals overcame a 3-0 deficit to halt a four-game losing streak. Lars Nootbaar began the comeback with a two-run single in the sixth.
“I think this was the biggest win of the season,” Nootbaar said. “In this dramatic fashion, this was even better.”
It was the first walk-off win for St. Louis since Aug. 30, 2023.
“Oh, we needed that one,” manager Oliver Marmol said. “We just keep competing. We figured out a way to tie it and then take the win.”
Eugenio Suárez sparked Arizona with three hits and two RBIs. Ryan Thompson (0-1) took the loss.
Brandon Pfaadt pitched 5 1/3 innings, giving up two runs on two hits and three walks. He retired his first 12 batters before giving up a leadoff single to Nolan Arenado in the fifth.
“It was a tough one to swallow,” Pfaadt said. “It just didn’t go how we wanted it. The funny thing about baseball is you can feel so good and then it flips the script pretty quick. And that’s frustrating and obviously I wish it would have turned out a little better.”
Lance Lynn lasted five innings for the Cardinals, throwing 94 pitches. He allowed seven hits and three runs, stranding eight baserunners.
“I kind of did it to myself with a couple of walks and bad pitches,” Lynn said. “I’ve just got to be a little better.”
Goldschmidt tied it 3-all with a leadoff homer to right-center in the seventh — his first since the season opener. Those are his only two extra-base hits this year. It was the Cardinals’ first home run since April 12.
“This was a good one,” Goldschmidt said. “The energy today was maybe even great. It wasn’t looking good early but we kept talking in the dugout. But it’s just one game.”
Arizona scored twice off Lynn in the second on an RBI single by Suárez and Ketel Marte’s bases-loaded sacrifice fly.
Suárez made it 3-0 in the fifth with a run-scoring double.
“I feel like we let the Cardinals hang around,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said. “We had some opportunities to really break this game open offensively and we didn’t.”
St. Louis chased Pfaadt in the sixth. He walked three batters before getting a shallow flyout, but Nootbaar hit a two-run single. Those runs snapped a string of 14 innings without scoring for the Cardinals. Scott McGough entered and got Arenado to bounce into an inning-ending double play.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Diamondbacks: INF Blaze Alexander was out of the lineup but is not expected to go on the injured list. Alexander left Sunday’s game in the fifth inning with a right hamstring cramp. He was replaced at shortstop by Kevin Newman, who started Monday and hit ninth. … RHP Paul Sewald (strained left oblique) will begin a rehab stint Tuesday at Triple-A Reno.
Cardinals: INF Matt Carpenter (right oblique strain) received a pain-killing injection and will have no baseball activity for three days. Then he can take part in batting practice. Carpenter went on the 10-day injured list April 2. He has missed 18 consecutive games.
UP NEXT
LHP Steven Matz (1-1, 3.60 ERA) makes his second start against the Diamondbacks in 11 days. Arizona had not announced a starting pitcher for Tuesday night.
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