Powered by dad strength, Arenado homers in 4-hit night

ST. LOUIS -- Already sleep deprived, physically running on fumes and further taxed following a taut game won in walk-off fashion Saturday night, Cardinals superstar Nolan Arenado explained in detail how his emotions had run the gamut over the past four days.

“It’s been a funny few days,” Arenado said with a sigh and some understandably slumping shoulders. “Wednesday, I got thrown out of the game, and Wednesday night, I got the call that [wife Laura’s] water broke and then I booked an American Airlines flight at 8:30 [for Thursday morning].

“Then, I flew in [to St. Louis] and got to the hospital at 10:30, and the baby came at 3,” Arenado continued. “So, it was awesome timing. I’m happy [daughter Levi] came during the day, and if [she] had come [Thursday] night, I probably wouldn’t have played today because I would have needed to give [Laura] more time to relax. We’re so fortunate that her parents have been here all week and they were around while we were gone. So, we’ve had a lot of help.”

The biggest surprise, Arenado admitted, was that he didn’t burst into tears when Levi came into the world. A highly emotional person and player whose inner fire is fueled by his passion, Nolan had predicted he would likely be a sobbing mess when he met his first child. The Arenados decided to wait until the birth to find out the sex of the baby, and to their delight it was a girl -- the same as what Nolan’s teammates, Ryan Helsley, Steven Matz and JoJo Romero, had in recent days.

Maybe it was because his emotions were already mostly spent, but Arenado said he was numbed by the awe of seeing the strength displayed by Laura and a newborn coming into the world.

“I was OK and I actually held it in,” Arenado said. “[Laura] was surprised that I really didn’t cry. I think I was more in awe of the situation. I had never been more impressed with my wife and just women in general. That’s a gnarly thing to see, and it was so cool.”

Playing with what he and his teammates referred to as “dad strength,” Arenado had four hits. However, his biggest at-bat of the night came in the ninth when he took a Kenley Jansen cutter off the elbow to load the bases. Teammate Corey Dickerson tied it with a tapper for a single, and the Cardinals got a 6-5 walk-off win off when Tyler O’Neill was walked with the bases loaded.

“It’s been a crazy few days, and I’ll never forget it,” Arenado said.

Under the parameters of the CBA, Arenado could have taken 72 hours to stay with his family following the birth. He stayed away Friday and admittedly hated every second of watching the Cardinals lose 11-4. As a player who despises taking games off and fights to play even when manager Oliver Marmol tries to rest him, Arenado was happy to be back in the lineup once he got the all-clear from his family.

“I talked it over with my family and with my wife, and we’re in a division race here, and I’m very thankful that the baby came on a day when I could come home,” said Arenado, who noted that his teammates teased him about hitting a double instead of a home run in the first inning because of the harried last few days he’s had. “There are more important things, obviously, but the baby’s home, and I’ve got a lot of help helping us out. They said I could go play, so this is where I came.”

Arenado said he’ll probably take his bat from Saturday’s win -- the one he used for his 27th home run, his 34th double and his 62nd extra-base hit -- and preserve it as a keepsake for Levi.

“I’ll grab that bat once I break it or something," Arenado said. "I still need to use it because it’s a good bat.”

A dad for the first time, Arenado said he felt the need to hurry home more than ever. He joked he might tell baby Levi about the win during an early-morning feeding, but added, “hopefully she’s not crying.” He’d rather tell her about a series victory over the Braves, he said.

“Let’s win [Sunday], and then that would be a nice little statement series win,” he said. “We didn’t want to lose back-to-back games, and I had a hard time watching [Friday] because when you’re not there, it hurts, and I never feel good about missing games. But it feels good to get a good win, and now we’ve got a chance to come out with a series win.”