Winn, Burleson's plate approach fuels Cards' biggest 1st inning in 19 years

ST. LOUIS -- Clearly still frustrated by getting shut down by long-time nemesis Kyle Hendricks a night earlier, the Cardinals wasted no time in jumping all over the Cubs in Game 1 of Saturday’s doubleheader at a steamy Busch Stadium.

The Cards also got plenty of help from their bitter rivals in a runaway first inning.

The Cardinals scored nine times in the first inning -- their biggest first inning in more than 19 years -- by getting big two-out hits from Masyn Winn and Alec Burleson and two defensive errors from Chicago pitcher Hayden Wesneski in an 11-3 victory against the Cubs.

“I mean, it was definitely a good bounce-back from [Friday] night, for sure,” said Burleson, who had a single and a three-run home run in the nine-run first inning. “I wouldn’t say there was an emphasis on [a fast start], but we knew we didn’t do what we wanted [Friday] night, so I’m sure that was in the back of some guys' minds.”

The nine-run first inning was the Cardinals' highest scoring inning of the season and it tied for the fourth-highest scoring frame in MLB in 2024. The Cardinals hadn’t scored that many runs in an inning since pushing across 10 runs against the Brewers on May 15, 2023. Also, it was their most first-inning runs since hammering the Padres for 11 in the first on May 8, 2005.

Winn had two hits and two RBIs in the first inning, while Burleson went the opposite way for his single and 16th homer of the season. Winn’s two-out, two-run single came with two strikes is something he’s shown an ability to do throughout a strong first half of the season.

“He was talking about it before doing it -- talking about his two-strike approach, and he stayed calm and didn’t try to do too much,” marveled manager Oliver Marmol. “We continue to see it. At his age, [hitting with two strikes] is very impressive to do what he’s doing. He’s not panicking, and his style of approach has been really good.”

For the season, Winn ranks second in MLB in batting average (.278) and hits (50) with two strikes. Eight of his doubles, three triples and three home runs have come with two strikes -- something that Burleson said he feeds off of as the No. 2 hitter behind the Cards’ 22-year-old leadoff hitter.

“He’s got a good idea of what he wants to do up there [with two strikes], and me and him both, it can get us in trouble sometimes, but we’re both comfortable with two strikes,” Burleson said. “I definitely feed off him when it comes to stuff like that. When he puts a good at bat together -- I think the whole teams feeds off it -- but when he's in there battling, we just feed off it. We get to see pitches and what he wants to do. So, credit to [Winn], because he’s really good for us in the [leadoff] spot for us.”

The Cardinals lost, 5-1, on Friday night when Hendricks held them scoreless over seven innings to improve his career record to 14-4 against the Redbirds. Wesneski came into Saturday on the heels of throwing 6 1/3 scoreless innings against the Angels last Sunday, but Saturday’s game got away from him and the Cubs early on.

After allowing three straight singles to open the game, Wesneski fielded a comebacker and threw high to second base to allow a second run in. Following a bobble on the infield by Dansby Swanson, Wesneski botched a slow roller that allowed Brendan Donovan to reach base. Three batters later, Wesneski hit No. 9 hitter Michael Siani with a pitch with the bases loaded and Winn [two-run single] and Burleson [three-run home run] faced Wesneski for the second time in the inning.

“The first at bat, I was late and just got lucky, but on the second one, I had a pretty good idea of what [Wesneski] was wanting to do,” said Burleson on waiting back on a curveball and driving it out to left field. “I saw it out of his hand. It was a good pitch by him, but I put a good swing on it.”

Lance Lynn (5-4) picked up his first win over the Cubs since Sept. 27, 2013 -- a span of 3,940 days, which is the longest ever by a Cardinals pitcher over Chicago, per Elias Sports. He got assistance from Nolan Arenado, who turned a rare 5-3 double play by fielding a slow roller, scrambling to second and throwing onto first.

“I don’t think I’ve seen one like that,” joked Lynn. “For him to be able to run across the bag and make a throw like that across his body, that was amazing. But that’s why he [won] 10 straight Gold Gloves.”