The St. Louis Cardinals are off to a strong start this season but leadoff hitter Lars Nootbaar had cooled off of late as he was mired in a 1-19 slump entering Tuesday’s game against the Baltimore Orioles. However, the Cardinals’ left fielder busted out in a big way, helping St. Louis to a 7-4 victory over Baltimore.

“Sometimes when you’re in such a bad rut, you don’t even know what you’re doing. That was one of those moments where I kind of got lucky,” Nootbaar said of his two-run home run, per MLB.com’s John Denton on X.

Lars Nootbaar contributes to another Cardinals win

May 27, 2025; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Lars Nootbaar (21) hits a home run during the second inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
Daniel Kucin Jr.-Imagn Images

Facing Orioles starter Tomoyuki Sugano in the second inning, Nootbaar deposited a 0-1 cutter into the right field seats. It was part of a much needed monster effort from Nootbaar, who went 3-4 with a walk, two RBI and two runs scored in the game.

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After a key change at the plate early, Nootbaar was off to a strong start in 2025. But he had been struggling at the plate over the last week. The Cardinals, however, never lost faith in the fifth-year veteran. And he finally seemed to break out of his recent funk Tuesday.

He’s now slashing .249/.354/.411 with eight home runs, 27 RBI, 34 runs scored and a 114 OPS+ in 53 games for the Cardinals this year. And his efforts against the Orioles helped St. Louis stake a 3-0 lead in the second inning.

The Cardinals have thrived when scoring early in games. However, they needed to battle back late in Tuesday’s matchup as the Orioles took the lead in the fifth. But a solo home run by third baseman Nolan Arenado put St. Louis back on top in the eighth inning and the team held on for the 7-4 win.

With the victory, the Cardinals are 17-5 over their last 23 games. They improved to 31-24 on the season and sit in second place in the division, three games behind the first-place Chicago Cubs.