Central STL News

Iván Herrera’s continued improvement at the plate played a key role in the St. Louis Cardinals’ 2-1 win over the Oakland Athletics on Tuesday night at Busch Stadium. Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol cited Herrera as an example of a player who has made significant progress offensively this season, noting his more mature approach and consistent swing.

The 25-year-old hit his 13th home run of the year, marking his second consecutive game with a homer. Although Herrera has yet to secure a permanent defensive position after splitting time at catcher, left field, and designated hitter, his performance has solidified his spot as a reliable middle-of-the-order hitter for St. Louis.

“I don’t know, I’m just trying to hit the ball hard,” said Herrera, who now shares the National League lead for go-ahead home runs in the sixth inning or later with Phillies outfielder Kyle Schwarber. “If I’m hitting [home runs] in the late innings, that’s good, right? Helping the team win, that’s what I want to do at the end of the day.”

The Cardinals were trailing 1-0 when they mounted their comeback against Oakland reliever Hogan Harris. Victor Scott II drew a leadoff walk before Herrera connected for a two-out, two-run homer off Michael Kelly’s sweeper pitch. According to Statcast data, Herrera’s home run traveled 414 feet and left the bat at 107.7 mph.

Herrera noted that half of his career home runs have given his team the lead: “This means a lot because all we care about is winning, and that [homer] put us in a really good position to win the game,” he said. “We got Miles a win because he pitched really good today. I want to help him as much as I can.”

Miles Mikolas delivered six strong innings for St. Louis, allowing one run on five hits and earning his first victory since July 25 after going six starts without a win. The Athletics entered Tuesday with one of MLB’s top home run totals since July but were held in check by Mikolas.

“I just wanted to keep the ball down in the zone because they like to swing and swing pretty early in the count,” Mikolas said. He became only the fourth Cardinals pitcher since 2000 to retire three batters on three pitches in an inning—a feat previously accomplished by Garrett Hampson earlier this season and by Randy Flores and Mike James in prior years. “I just wanted to keep the ball on the ground and let my defense work. They’re going to swing a lot and swing early, and I want them to swing at my pitches.”