After lead vanishes in third inning, Cardinals can't catch up to Rockies in 8-6 loss

Daniel Guerrero, St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Aug 8, 2026

Published in Baseball

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ST. LOUIS — After seeing their one-run lead turn into a three-run deficit in the third inning on Saturday against the Rockies, the Cardinals found themselves playing catch-up to a Colorado lineup led by Jake McCarthy's two-homer game.

The Cardinals produced one run apiece in the fifth, sixth, eighth and ninth innings but also saw the Rockies score runs in the fifth, sixth and ninth. The constant chase left the Cardinals with an 8-6 loss to Colorado at Busch Stadium that dropped them back to one game below .500.

The Cardinals (58-59) received their runs in the fifth and sixth innings with RBIs from Masyn Winn and Ivan Herrera. Their run in the eighth came on Jordan Walker's solo homer, which marked the first homer in nearly a month for the 2026 Home Run Derby champion. And their run in the ninth came on a two-out, RBI single from Nathan Church that brought the game-tying run to the plate.

The chance to swing their way back into a tied game in the ninth inning ended with pinch-hitter Cesar Prieto striking out against Jordan Romano.

The runs were not enough to overcome the deficit they found themselves in after starter Matthew Liberatore experienced a rugged third inning.

Coming off one of his strongest outings of the season, Liberatore began his Saturday start by allowing a blast and ended it with as many runs allowed (five) as innings completed (five). The left-hander surrendered a leadoff homer on the first pitch he threw to McCarthy and surrendered another three runs in the third inning that came on a string of hits that included a two-run double from Cole Carrigg.

After Liberatore left following the fifth inning, rookie reliever Luis Gastelum allowed two runs on a two-out homer to McCarthy. Right-hander Peter Strzelecki gave up a run in the ninth on a sacrifice fly.

First pitch power

The active start to the weekend by McCarthy continued early on Saturday. Similarly, the damage he did on Cardinals pitching came early in counts.

McCarthy, who collected three hits in four at-bats on Friday, produced his second multi-homer game of the season with a solo homer in the first inning off Liberatore and a two-run homer in the sixth inning against Gastelum.

The first of the two homers McCarthy hit came on the very first pitch of the game. He sent a 95-mph fastball over the middle of the plate 420 feet to right field for a leadoff solo homer. The leadoff homer was McCarthy’s fourth this season.

After collecting an infield single in the third inning to jump-start a three-run inning that helped Colorado take a lead, McCarthy continued his aggressive approach against Cardinals pitchers once the rookie Gastelum took the mound.

With two outs and a runner on first base following a two-out walk to No. 9 hitter Ezequiel Tovar, McCarthy swung at a first-pitch fastball from Gastelum and sent it 417 feet to center field for a two-run homer that lifted the Rockies to a 7-3 lead.

Tagged for three in the third

During the most troublesome inning of his Saturday start, Liberatore had trouble limiting damage with his secondary pitches.

He got McCarthy in an 0-2 count with the use of his sinker and fastball, but allowed him to reach base on an infield single that came against a curveball that caught the upper third of the strike zone. In the next at-bat, Liberatore landed a sinker for a strike against Kyle Karros and then plunked the Rockies' third baseman with a slider.

Following a double steal, Liberatore left a 1-1 change-up near the middle of the plate to Carrigg and saw it hit off the left field wall for a two-run double that spun left fielder Everson Pereira, who made his Cardinals debut, around as he attempted to make a play on it.

The final of the three runs and four hits the lefty allowed came on another offspeed pitch. After Carrigg's double and steal of third base that drew the Cardinals' infield in, Liberatore got Hunter Goodman to chase a change-up below the strike zone and lift a high fly ball to shallow left-center field that forced three Cardinals to converge on the ball.

The shallow fly ball dropped for a single that allowed Carrigg to trot home for the third run of the inning.

Mistake, two-strike hitting keep inning open

An inning kept alive by a passed ball on a third strike to Alec Burleson allowed Jose Fermin to hit with two outs, two runners on and the Cardinals down by a run. His success in producing when he’s behind 0-2 in counts allowed him to keep his at-bat alive long enough to capitalize on the passed ball by Hunter Goodman.

Fermin, who has a .357 batting average (5 for 14) in 0-2 counts, found himself in an 0-2 count two pitches into his at-bat against starter Kyle Freeland. He worked it even by taking a fastball and a knuckle curve for balls. Foul balls on the next two pitches after that earned him a seventh pitch, and the discipline to lay off a change-up that was off the outer half of the plate earned him an eighth pitch.

Having seen Freeland’s knuckle curve four times, Fermin pulled the fifth knuckle curve he saw down the left field line for a double that scored Ivan Herrera from third base and Burleson from first.