The St. Louis Cardinals engaged in an epic battle with the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday night. St. Louis won a thrilling 7-6 game on a walk-off home run from Alec Burleson. Burleson posted his first career walk-off homer, with that moonshot.
The Cardinals slugger talked after the game about what the moment meant to him.
“It took me a while to realize that I got [the homer] because I didn’t think I got it … and then I saw [the ball] hit the berm,” Burleson said, per MLB.com. “I was thinking about what I was going to do when I rounded third and hit home — was I going to throw my helmet? But I hit third and looked at home and the guys weren’t really there yet. I was like, ‘OK, this is kind of weird. Is this what it’s supposed to look like?’ But they got there, and I got super wet, and they were trying to rip my jersey off. So, yeah, it was a cool moment.”
The blast came in the bottom of the ninth, after the Pirates had tied the game at 6. It was a 409-foot home run, per the outlet. Following the victory, the Cardinals are now 65-67 on the year.
Alec Burleson has the trust of the Cardinals
Burleson now has 16 home runs on the season, for a Cardinals club that has struggled. He has gone through some challenges this year at the plate.
“We’ve been patient with him even when he was making a lot of contact and nothing was going for him,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “You could look under the hood and see that there were things pointing in the right direction. Now, we’re starting to see exactly the type of hitter he can be.
“He’s done a really nice job of taking the feedback and doing something about it. When you look at him controlling the strike zone, the swing decisions and impacting the ball more and still being able to do things when he gets two strikes — he has a lot of different ways of beating you.”
Burleson said his offense is a work in progress, but he's feeling good right now.
“I’ve definitely grown as a hitter,” he added. “Everything is always going to be a work in progress, but I think I’ve gotten really good at doing what I want in the box instead of reacting to what they’re trying to do to me.”
The Cardinals and Pirates face off again on Tuesday night. Following the loss, Pittsburgh is now 57-75 on the year. The two clubs are the last two teams in the National League Central standings.
