St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Paul Goldschmidt marked a walk-off grand slam in the 10th innings to help the St.Louis Cardinals to defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 7-3 on Monday.
This is the player’s seventh Grand Slam and his seventh extra-inning home run, and a seventh career-winning homer. Goldschmidt also prolonged his hitting streak to 15 games.
“You don’t have any other choice. I had five outs in four at-bats. That’s not what you want to do. I was preparing for the at-bat. It was pretty cool,” the Cardinals’ first baseman spoke after the match.
St.Louis manager Oliver Marmol said he enjoyed watching his players and praised Goldschmidt’s strikes and overall performance against the Toronto Blues Jays.
“To start the game the way he did and then to stay locked in enough to take that at-bat and win that game is impressive,” Marmol said as per The Associated Press. “What’s cool about today is he strikes out several times and he’s still in the dugout upbeat, smiling and having fun. That’s a player that’s confident in what he’s able to do. That was fun to watch today.”
While Blues Jays manager Charlie Montoyo was still optimistic despite the defeat, putting trust in his players and saying that his team still gets a chance.
“They’re human beings,” Montoyo said. “They’re going to feel it. Every game is close. I believe in my guys. I know they’re going to get hot. We’re just not swinging the bats right now. We had a chance. We just didn’t come up with the big hits again.”
The Cardinal’s victory also marked the first walk-off grand slam in St.Louis since 2017, when Matt Carpenter made one against Toronto.
Goldschmidt’s contributions
After sitting out on Sunday, the 34-year-old Goldschmidt hit into a double play in his previous four at-bats.
The player has not stopped contributing to his team for the past two weeks with a stellar .460 (23-50) over this stretch despite going 7-8 in the team’s last 15 matches.
Goldschmidt is leading the Cardinals’ leaderboards in various divisions, from hits to slugging and on-base percentages.
The most exciting part is the player’s statistics look error-free, with 319 defensive chances in 301 innings and a high level of consistency, which is rare for a fielder.
He defends and attacks perfectly, making him the best in the team’s daily rotation, especially this month. As Nolan Arenado is struggling and Tyler O’Neill is injured, the Cardinals have Goldy to rely on.
Cardinals’ impressive performance
Besides Goldschmidt, other players also showed an outstanding performance against the visiting team.
Juan Yepez produced a solo shot for St.Louis Cardinals, which has earned four straight.
The Venezuela-born Yepez is one of the Cardinals’ young talents to watch, marking his debut in MLB this year.
The 24-year-old Yepez was stunning by recording another double in his second bat in his debut match against the Kansas City Royals on May 4.
Meanwhile, Miles Mikolas made three runs, four hits, and two walks in 6 2/3 innings.
The veteran pitcher who once played for the San Diego Padres only appeared nine times in 2021 and did not play in 2020 due to his injury problems.
Cardinals’ young players such as Dylan Carlson and Brendan Donovan have positively impacted the team so far.
The Cardinals will play against the Toronto Blues Jays twice before a four-game series.
The St.Louis Cardinals stand in second place in the National League Central, and their overall performance was excellent with an 18-4 rout.
Goldschmidt and colleagues hope their positive performance in the series against The Toronto Blues Jays, which are 22-19—behind the Cardinals, 23-18.
