Cardinals Use Small-Ball Tactics to Beat Tigers in Series Finale

A timely bunt, some aggressive base-running, a strong, bounce-back outing by Kyle Leahy and Iván Herrera’s two-run single allowed the Cardinals to beat the Tigers 5-4 on Sunday night even though they didn’t have an extra-base hit in the finale of the three-game series. The Cardinals wiped out a 2-0 deficit with four runs in the fifth inning. Victor Scott’s sacrifice bunt – one that resulted in a throwing error by Detroit reliever Emmanuel De Jesus – got the game tied and flipped the tenor of the night in favor of the Cardinals.

That's a Sunday Night Baseball Winner! pic. twitter.

com/ilkeIWa3bI — St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) April 6, 2026 Here are three takeaways from the Cardinals first road win of the season – one that allowed them to avoid being swept by the Tigers: Small ball leads to big results Not only did Pedro Pages drive in the first run of the night for the Cardinals in the fifth inning, but scrappy outfielder Nathan Church aggressively went from first to third on the single when Riley Greene casually fielded the ball. Church then scored to tie the game when De Jesus spiked the ball after Scott laid down a perfect bunt.

Two batters later, Herrera hit a hanging cutter on the outer half to right field to plate Pages and Scott to give the Cards their first lead of the night. Then, after the Tigers got within 4-3 in the sixth, the Cards used more small ball tactics to rebuild their lead in the seventh. Standout rookie JJ Wetherholt deftly went the other way for a single to lead off the inning and then he moved to third on a Herrera walk and a deep fly ball by Alec Burleson.