Willson Contreras felt he ‘earned’ pitch on go-head homer vs. Pirates: Cardinals Extra

When the line drive he sent to left field against Pirates right-hander Chase Shugart left his bat in the sixth inning Monday night at Busch Stadium, Willson Contreras didn’t think the ball he hit would go for a home run. Batting with Nolan Arenado on first base and one out in the inning as the Cardinals trailed by a run, Contreras looked to get Arenado into scoring position. Contreras saw a sinker and a cutter go for called strikes to put him in a 1-2 count before fouling off a 95.

8 mph sinker to keep his at-bat alive and taking a sinker below the strike zone to put him in a 2-2 count. The sixth pitch of the at-bat, a sweeper thrown low and inside, jumped off Contreras' bat at 111.4 mph and sailed high enough over the outfield wall in left field to go for a two-run home run that put the Cardinals ahead by a run in their 6-3 win over Pittsburgh.



The home run was Contreras’ fifth of the season. It came on a pitch he felt he “earned.” “To be honest, I was happy it was a homer.

I never thought that ball was going to go out because it was super-low,” Contreras said Monday after his club’s series-opening win. “But I think I earned that pitch that I hit out because he threw me really good fastballs, and I was just trying to get the runner to second base. .

.. When you have small thoughts, good things happen because I wasn't trying to hit a homer there.

I was just trying to move the runner up.” Contreras’ home run continued a stretch during which the 32-year-old has produced among the best across the majors following a sluggish start to the season. Contreras, who collected two hits in four at-bats in Monday’s opener, entered Tuesday having reached base in 18 consecutive games.

That streak began when he doubled once in four at-bats on April 18 in New York against the Mets. It ranked as the fourth-longest active on-base streak in the majors at the start of Tuesday. Amid that streak, Contreras has batted .

381 with a .446 on-base percentage and a .603 slugging percentage in 73 plate appearances.

His batting average in that span ranked third in the majors entering Tuesday, while his on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) of 1.069 was the fifth-highest, and his 24 hits were the second-most. The productive stretch has lifted him to a .

252 batting average and a .727 OPS across 35 games. Before April 18, Contreras was batting .

139 and had an OPS of .417. “It's not the first time that I've that I went through (struggles),” Contreras said.

“I know that (it's) going to turn around. It's not there yet, but it's getting better. I think the most important thing for me is just remaining confident.

I have the trust in myself because I know that everything will be alright.” Learning Graceffo’s workload With prospect Gordon Graceffo set to for a bullpen role where he is expected to be used in shorter bursts rather than in long relief, what will the availability look like for a righty who came through the minors as a starter? “I think we're going to find out together, to be quite honest,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said Tuesday. The answer could come as early as Tuesday, Marmol hinted, after the Cardinals used right-handers Kyle Leahy, Phil Maton and Ryan Helsley in their win against the Pirates.

Graceffo completed the sixth inning on Monday to bridge to the righties and earned his second big league win in the process. Marmol said he and his coaching staff including bench coach Daniel Descalso and pitching coach Dusty Blake talked over allowing Graceffo to return to the mound for the seventh inning to preserve Maton or Leahy for the next day. But with the Pirates' bottom three hitters due up in the seventh inning and their lineup nearing leadoff hitter Oneil Cruz, who has a 1.

032 OPS vs. right-handers, Marmol said setting up the game to give Leahy, who faced Cruz, a clean seventh inning to work with gave his club its “best shot of winning that game.” Extra bases Masyn Winn returned to the Cardinals lineup Tuesday, taking his place at shortstop.

Winn exited Game 2 of a Sunday doubleheader vs. the Mets early because of a left ankle sprain and was absent on Monday as he allowed the injury to heal. To continue his rehab assignment for left knee inflammation caused by a bone bruise, Ivan Herrera started at catcher for Class AAA Memphis on Tuesday.

Herrera was scheduled to catch seven innings, Marmol said. The 24-year-old drove in a run on a hard-hit single in his first at-bat. By thwarting Cruz’s stolen base attempt in the third inning of his club’s 6-3 win, Pedro Pages became the first catcher this season to prevent Cruz from stealing.

Cruz had been 14 for 14 before testing Pages. In the process, Victor Scott II (11 for 11 on steals) became the only player in the majors this season who has double-digit stolen bases without being caught. The Cardinals named fist baseman/catcher Josh Kross and left-hander Ixan Henderson as their minor league player and minor league pitcher of the month for April.

Kross, 22, slashed .288/.376/.

671 with six homers and 29 RBIs in 19 games for Class Low-A Palm Beach. Henderson, 23, went 2-1 with a 2.79 ERA and struck out 24 batters in 19 1/3 innings across four starts for Class AA Springfield (Missouri).

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