After Prieto snaps skid, Cardinals pile on runs to secure series win vs. Phillies

Daniel Guerrero, St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Aug 12, 2026

Published in Baseball

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ST. LOUIS — With the score tied 1-1 entering the fifth inning and the Cardinals looking to string together at-bats against Phillies right-hander Zack Wheeler, it was a leadoff single from a hitter who has scuffled that gave them their first hit in an inning filled with them.

Starting at third base in Wednesday's series finale at Busch Stadium, Cesar Prieto snapped an 0-for-27 skid with a leadoff single against Wheeler. Prieto's single represented the first of five hits Philadelphia's starter gave up in his final inning of work. The run he scored three at-bats later was the first of four that helped secure the Cardinals (61-60) a 7-1 win and a series win over the Phillies.

Behind Prieto, the Cardinals received two-out hits from JJ Wetherholt, Ivan Herrera, Alec Burleson and Jordan Walker to bruise Wheeler for four runs in his final inning of work. Herrera's, Burleson's and Walker's hits in that inning each produced runs.

The four runs provided a 5-1 lead. And in the seventh, Burleson singled and Nathan Church lifted a sacrifice fly to right field to give the Cardinals an additional two runs.

The seven runs of support backed the efforts of the mound, which were led by starter Kyle Leahy's five innings.

Leahy allowed one run in his outing. He worked around six hits, struck out six batters and did not walk anyone on 81 pitches. He was lifted at the start of the sixth inning for left-hander Justin Bruihl, who provided 1 1/3 innings and benefited from a diving play by Walker in right field to secure the first out of the seventh inning.

Gordon Graceffo tossed 1 2/3 innings of relief and also was helped by a snazzy play on defense by Wetherholt to end the seventh inning. Rookie right-hander Luis Gastelum closed out the win with a scoreless ninth inning in a non-save situation.

Hard contact follows after Prieto snaps skid

Prieto's 0-for-27 stretch spanned two stints in the majors but ended with a single he lifted to shallow right field to leadoff the fifth. The hit drew some reactions of relief from Prieto and was the first of five hits the Cardinals collected against Wheeler.

Following outs Wheeler secured against Jose Fermin and Masyn Winn, the Cardinals strung together four consecutive two-out hits against the right-hander.

The hits came in a variety of counts but had one commonality. All registered hard contact.

Wetherholt hit a 2-1 cutter with a 102.3-mph exit velocity for a single that advanced Prieto to third base. In the next at-bat, Herrera lined a 3-2 sweeper to center field with a 105.1-mph exit velocity to score Prieto and move Wetherholt up 180 feet.

The string of hits continued with Burleson's 102.4-mph double on a 1-1 fastball he chased above the zone to plate two RBIs. And in the next at-bat, Walker hit an 0-0 sweeper to left field with a 95.1-mph exit velocity to score Burleson for the finishing touches on the five-run inning.

Taking advantage of a mistake

After the Cardinals started Wednesday’s finale by going down swinging versus Wheeler in the first inning, their first ball in play led to their first run of the game.

In a 1-1 count, Walker grounded a ball to first baseman Alec Bohm with a 105.9-mph exit velocity, per Statcast. Bohm could not squeeze the grounder and had it kick away from him, allowing Walker to reach base on an error. The error made Walker the first Cardinal base runner of the afternoon, and a successful steal of second base put him in scoring position for Church.

Batting from the No. 5 spot in the Cardinals’ lineup, Church climbed above the strike zone for a 1-2 fastball from Wheeler and hit it to left field for a double that scored Walker without a throw to the plate.

The RBI from Church was the only run the Cardinals collected in the inning. He reached third base with two outs in the inning but was left stranded after Fermin grounded out to end the inning.

Out of challenges

The early use of their Automated Ball-Strikes (ABS) System Challenges left the Phillies without challenges before the third inning wrapped up.

The early usage began with Bryce Harper. He took a 3-2 fastball Leahy dotted a 95.1-mph low and inside to the left-hander and had it called for a strike by home plate umpire Dan Iassogna. The replay review from Harper’s challenge confirmed the pitch clipped the strike zone.

The Phillies had two successful challenges initiated by catcher JT Realmuto in the bottom of the first and bottom of the second inning that helped Wheeler collect strikeouts of Winn and Wetherholt. They also allowed the Phillies to retain their lone challenge.

That final challenge was lost in the third.

Pitching to Kyle Schwarber with runners on first and second base and one out, Leahy threw a 2-2 change-up to Philadelphia’s leadoff hitter that Iassogna called a strike. Schwarber reacted by immediately tapping his helmet to initiate a challenge. A replay review that showed the change-up did in fact catch the strike zone elicited what appeared to be a reaction of disbelief that that change-up was in fact a strike.