WATCH: Lourdes Gurriel Jr breaks tie against Cardinals in sixth inning with laser-guided 3-run HR
Arizona Diamondbacks beat the St. Louis Cardinals 4-2 on Saturday. Among the key moments was Lourdes Gurriel Jr’s 3-run homer that gave the D-backs a 4-1 lead.
Gurriel’s banger came in the sixth inning, a line drive that traveled 377 feet to the left field, marking his fourth homer of the 2024 season. Here's the video:
He went 2 for 4 at bat with one run scored, three RBIs and one strikeout maintaining an average of .317 and an OPS of .936. In December 2023, the 30-year-old signed a three-year, $42 million contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
On Sunday, the St. Louis Cardinals couldn’t break the lead until the eighth inning when Lars Nootbar hit a single that cut the Diamondbacks' lead to 4-2.
The Diamondbacks kept their lead from the first inning, which started at 1-0 with Joc Pederson’s sacrifice fly. The franchise has scored in the first inning in 10 of 15 games.
“Great night for our starting pitcher” D-backs manager impressed with Ryne Nelson’s stellar outing against Cardinals
Ryne Nelson, who had struggled earlier this season, had his best performance on Saturday against the Cardinals. He allowed only one run on seven hits and gave a walk while striking out four batters.
In a post-game interview, Ryne Nelson said (via AP News):
“The cutter was working really well, played off the fastball. Good execution today, good defense behind me.”
Nelson is now 1-2 with an ERA of 5.27 and a 1.61 WHIP for the 2024 season. D-backs manager Torey Lovullo lavvished praise on the right-hander (via AP News):
“This was a great night for our starting pitcher. Ryne Nelson went out there and executed a really good game plan, pitched into the seventh inning.”
“It couldn’t have been any better. Wiggled out of some jams. Just really kept pressing the zone with his fastball and working off that.”
Nelson pitched through the seventh innings but faced trouble in the sixth when the Cardinals runners were on second and third base. However, he prevented any runs and ended the inning with a strikeout, leaving the bases loaded.