Cards Use Strong Start, JJ Wetherholt's 8th Home Run to Defeat Athletics

Roundtable Sports writer JOhn Denton discusses how the Cardinals bounced back in a big way on Tuesday night with a 6-4 win over the Athletics in West Sacramento. When the Cardinals lost in crushing fashion on Sunday in San Diego, manager Oliver Marmol joked that he wished his team could play again immediately to rid itself of the frustrated feelings. The Cardinals didn’t get that wish, and instead clearly enjoyed their day off on Monday after playing 16 games in a 17-day stretch.

Then, the Cards wasted no time on Tuesday in putting Sunday’s disappointing loss behind them. The Cards scored four times in the first inning and standout rookie JJ Wetherholt added his eighth home run of the season in the sixth inning of a 6-4 defeat of the Athletics at West Sacramento’s Sutter Health Park. Jordan Walker, Jose Fermin and Yohel Pozo had RBI hits in the first inning as the Cardinals racked up four hits and sent eight hitters to the plate in the opening frame.

Fermin had the biggest hit by drilling a double into the right-center gap to score two runs. Pozo, who hadn’t had a hit since April 14 while playing little of late, got a two-strike changeup that was well off the plate, but he still drove it back through the middle to plate Fermin and complete the four-run first. “I’ve been siting a lot of days and when I go up there, I’m just trying to compete and just put the ball in play and see what happens,” Pozo told Cardinals.

TV. “I come to the ballpark every day like I’m going to play and I prepare myself every day, hitting in the cage and catching bullpens. I’ve continued to work since last year and I’m going to keep doing it.