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Shortstop Masyn Winn was forced to exit Game 2 of a Sunday doubleheader vs. the Mets at Busch Stadium because of a left ankle sprain, per a Cardinals official.

The 23-year-old shortstop appeared to sustain the injury while running the bases in the third inning and was replaced in the field by Jose Barrero to begin the fifth inning.

After the Cardinals’ 5-4 win in Game 2, Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said Winn’s left ankle sprain was “mild.�

After he avoided a collision with Mets third baseman Mark Vientos while Vientos fielded a ground ball from Nolan Arenado near the third base bag, Winn attempted to score when Vientos’s throw to first base could not be scooped cleanly by Pete Alonso. Winn, who stood on the bag momentarily while Vientos’s throw sailed across the infield, fell forward and hobbled back to third base after making a break to home plate.

Winn could be seen leaning on third base coach Ron “Pop� Warner as if he wanted to avoid putting weight on his left ankle. Winn was visited by a team athletic trainer and Marmol once the play ended. Winn tested out his ankle and remained in the game to finish the inning. He scored in the following at-bat on a single from Willson Contreras.

He returned to play shortstop in the fourth inning before exiting at the start of the fifth before his exit.

Marmol said Winn’s left ankle swelled up. Winn tried to play through the discomfort, but it became too troublesome to continue.

“He's going to fight to never come out of the game, but it got to a point where it made sense to,� Marmol said of Winn.

After a stretch of nine consecutive losses to the Mets that dates back to the end of April 2024, the Cardinals came away with a win over New York on Sunday in Game 1 of a doubleheader at Busch Stadium.

To do so, the Cardinals received a key hold from a reliever they’ve needed to return to form.

After loading the bases with one out in the eighth inning with a walk to Juan Soto, left-hander JoJo Romero struck out Pete Alonso and got Brandon Nimmo to fly out to center field to end the inning. The escape job notched his third hold of the season and elicited some emotion from Romero as he walked off the mound. The effort protected the Cardinals’ lead for closer Ryan Helsley, who sealed the 6-5 win over New York by notching his fifth save of the season.

“I think it was pretty big,� Romero said. “Just to be able to come in and do my job, that’s something that I pride myself on. Whatever situation is asked upon me and whenever I hear my name called, it’s get the job done. (Over) the course of the season, I’ve made pitches. I haven’t made pitches. You’ve just got to be able to ride that roller coaster.�

Ranked eighth across the major leagues last season with 30 holds in 65 games, Romero entered Sunday with a 6.10 ERA in his first 13 relief outings. The Cardinals have looked for Romero, 28, to work through his early scuffles that have included dips in his fastball velocity and fewer swings and misses with his four-pitch arsenal. Before Sunday, Romero completed back-to-back scoreless appearances.

When he was called upon in Game 1 against the Mets, Romero put Soto in an 0-2 count but saw the Mets star lay off his next four pitches to reach base. Romero fell behind Alonso 2-1 before getting a called strike on a sinker that clipped the inside of the strike zone. After a slider missed below the strike zone to make the count full, Alonso fouled off the next two pitches Romero threw him.

On the eighth pitch of the at-bat, a slider caught the edge of the low, outside corner of the strike zone to punch out Alonso, the National League player of the month of April, for the inning’s second out.

“It was just staying focused. I made good pitches,� Romero said of his mindset following the walk to Soto. “It wasn’t like I was missing in spots I didn’t want to miss. I was throwing ideally to where I wanted to. (Soto is) just a really good hitter. He’s not going to chase a whole lot. We know that. You’re going to make good pitches. He’s not going to swing at them. He’s going to swing at pitches that kind of get away from you.

“But it was just staying focused on that bat. I kind of knew what I wanted to do with Alonso there. He took a couple of good swings on pitches that I need to execute better and fouled it off and then just made sure I stayed focused with each pitch.�

Romero needed three pitches to retire Nimmo and strand the two runners he inherited from Phil Maton, who allowed two runs in 1/3 of an inning.

“To punch out Alonso, that’s the game,� Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “He’s red hot. He’s hitting everything no matter what you throw him. He’s done a really nice job this season. To get the punch out there and then (flyout to center field), that is the game. It’s a big part of the game, but also from a confidence standpoint, for (Romero) moving forward. That’s a big pitch.�

Romero’s hold protected a lead built by a four-run inning that included RBI hits from Willson Contreras (3 for 4) and Brendan Donovan (2 for 4). Contreras, who homered in the second inning, and Donovan both plated two runs in the fourth inning to chase Mets rookie starter Blade Tidwell from his MLB debut after 3 2/3 innings.

After Erick Fedde provided five innings and allowed three runs, the Cardinals (15-19) received two scoreless innings from Kyle Leahy to protect a 6-3 lead heading into the eighth inning for Maton.

Amid his struggles, Romero has spent time in the weight room and had that work transfer into Sunday’s relief outing. Against the three batters he faced, two of whom were lefties, Romero flashed a fastball that touched 95.3 mph and averaged 92.9 mph with the pitch, per Statcast. Romero’s fastball average represented a 1.6 mph increase from where it sat in his first 13 outings of the year.

Holding the increased velocity could help Romero get increased chase against hitters and help the lefty regain his form as the “JoJo that we’re used to seeing,� Marmol said.

The Cardinals got a glimpse of what he could offer in the second half of the 2023 season when Helsley was on the injured list. The 28-year-old provided an encore performance a year ago as he posted a 3.36 ERA and worked alongside veteran Andrew Kittredge, who notched an National League-leading 37 holds in 2024, to give the Cardinals lefty and righty setup options to bridge games to Helsley.

“You need him to be good. You need him to get back to form and for him to pitch the way we’ve seen him pitch in the past,� Marmol said of Romero. “Because when you look at last year, you had the ability when you went to (Romero), (Kittredge), Helsley. Those guys did a really nice job. That’s his lane, where he’s going to have to come ... get two out of three lefties and just attack.

“Getting him to the point where he feels comfortable again and confident, it’s a big deal.�

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Coming off a March and April stretch during which he did not homer and produced just three extra-base hits in 85 at-bats to begin his third full season in the majors, Cardinals slugger Alec Burleson views his path to the pros as hinging on his strong bat.

The former 2020 MLB draft pick who batted .300 in two minor league seasons and led the International League in hitting with a .331 batting average in 2022 described his development as one where he’s “figured it out� along the way.

The stretch he’s experienced at the plate to begin the 2025 season is no different.

“I’ve hit my whole life,� Burleson said Sunday morning. “Yeah, I had a rough month this first month, but ... once I find my swing, it’s going to be fine. Obviously, I want to get going. I want to get going for the team, but I’m not too concerned about it, just because I’ve figured it out my whole life.�

Through 29 games as the Cardinals’ primary designated hitter, the 26-year-old Burleson has slugged .289 and produced six RBIs. His expected slugging percentage sits in the bottom 5% of qualified major league hitters, per Statcast.

Ahead of his start at designated hitter in Game 1 of Sunday’s doubleheader at Busch Stadium against the Mets, Burleson’s most recent extra-base hit came on April 9. His most recent home run in a regular-season game came on Aug. 17 of last year.

Burleson ended the 2024 regular season with a .269 batting average and a .420 slugging percentage in 152 games. The left-handed hitter clubbed 21 home runs and produced a team-high 78 RBIs as he set multiple career highs on offense — though he experienced a down September during which he hit .202 and slugged .226 across 84 at-bats.

“I’m pretty close to finding the swing again and finding the setup and the mode and stuff like that,� Burleson said. “Once you get in a little funk, it can be tough to get out of. I’m just trying to find it. Like I said, I feel really close. I think once that happens, I think you guys will be talking to me more about the games rather than what I need to do.�

During the power outage, Burleson has remained in the top 12% in the majors for whiff rate and in the top 20% in strikeout rate. He’s produced an average exit velocity (90.4 mph) that ranks above league average and is similar to his quality of contact in 2024, when he had an average exit velocity of 89.7 mph.

To tap into additional power, Burleson described the difference between hitting for contact and power as “not far off� and one that requires capitalizing on pitcher mistakes.

“I think slug is thrown, not necessarily hit,� Burleson said. “I think pitchers give up slug, and we hit the mistakes. Guys with high average are the ones that can hit pitchers pitches for singles, doubles, whatever. ... I think, like I said, pitchers throw home runs and doubles, and you just capitalize on mistakes.�

The 26-year-old slugger said he isn’t “doing anything new� when it comes to his work to provide more power for his club. He feels he is “on the right track� and pointed to his recent at-bats as an example.

On Friday, Burleson collected one hit — a single — in four at-bats against the Mets. The single had a 100.5 mph exit velocity. He also lined out on a ball hit to center field that jumped off his bat at 103.6 mph, per Statcast. Before his first at-bat Sunday, five of the last seven balls Burleson put into play before the start of the doubleheader registered exit velocities faster than 100 mph.

He recorded a sixth hard-hit ball with an exit velocity above 100 mph by lining a 103.2 mph single to right field in his first at-bat of Game 1.

“I drove the ball well. I think it’s on the way,� the 26-year-old said.

Burleson followed with a home run in his first at-bat in Sunday’s second game.

Extra bases

Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said the decision to have Jose Barrero start at shortstop in Game 1 of Sunday’s doubleheader made the “most sense� in managing shortstop Masyn Winn’s workload, considering Sunday’s doubleheader marked the second doubleheader the Cardinals had scheduled this week after Winn’s recent activation from the injured list for a lower back spasm.

• Nolan Gorman appeared to cut his left index finger in the second inning of Game 1 when Willson Contreras stepped on his glove hand during the Gorman’s sliding catch to field a pop up in shallow right field. Gorman, who could be seen bleeding, was checked out by a team trainer and remained in the game after having his cut tended to.
• The Cardinals recalled right-handed reliever Roddery Munoz from Class AAA Memphis as their 27th man for Sunday’s doubleheader. Munoz had been sent to Class AAA on Saturday when the Cardinals called up Michael McGreevy.
• Mets left fielder Jesse Winker left Game 1 on Sunday after the third inning with right side discomfort.

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The doctor paid a visit.

Dwight Gooden came to St. Louis, and there he was Friday at the downtown Maggie O’Brien’s, sitting in a room filled with people whose parents or grandparents he used to emotionally terrorize.

Dr. K. is now 60. Time, like a Darryl Strawberry homer off Ken Dayley, flies. It was 40 years ago, during the famous season of 1985, that “Doc,� Darryl and the Mets won 98 games … and didn’t win their division. The Cardinals did — back when they were in the East and only two National League teams made the playoffs. With a 101-61, the Cards won the division … and the pennant … and … I won’t bring up what happened after that.

But, man, ’85.

It was this six-month stage for two time-honored individual performances.

The Most Valuable Player in the National League was Willie McGee, the resplendent center fielder for St. Louis. He hit, as Gooden recalled exactly, .353. Willie led the league in offensive wins above replacement (8.2), hits (216) and triples (18), along with 82 RBIs and 56 stolen bases.

“The Cardinals don’t win in ’85 without Willie,� said Gooden, in town for Cards-Mets and to , 4300 Hoffmeister Ave., from 10 AM to noon. “The thing about Willie was he was very consistent. He played hard. And he never showed anybody up. I mean, it didn’t matter if he got a big hit, game-winning home run or made a nice catch or what it was — he just played the game hard and went about his about his business.�

And the Cy Young winner in the National League was Gooden, who couldn’t drink legally, yet dominated Busch.

“If he threw on today’s (radar) guns, he’d have been 100 miles an hour,� said ’85 Mets first baseman Keith Hernandez, a former Cardinal great and current Mets broadcaster. “And he had a great curveball. ... And great poise. I mean, (the Cardinals’ John) Tudor wins the Cy Young, if it wasn’t for Doc.�

Indeed, St. Louis’ Tudor went 21-8 and a 1.93 ERA, along with an MLB-best 10 shutouts. And it’s even crazier when you consider that in Tudor’s first 10 starts he went 1-7 with a 3.74 ERA. So, any other year, Tudor wins the Cy — but Gooden had a year unlike, essentially, any other year.

“I remember the first time I saw Doc Gooden was in a spring training game at 10 o’clock in the morning,� said current Cards broadcaster and former Cards pitcher Ricky Horton, who was also a 1984 rookie along with Gooden, then 19. “It was at Huggins-Stengel Field in St Petersburg, Florida. It was just this old field where the Yankees used to train in the 20s. Babe Ruth trained there, and Lou Gehrig, for goodness sakes. It’s a museum now, but when we were playing, we played ‘B’ games there in spring.

“The first time I watched him throw, it was eye popping — how good his curveball and how good his fastball was. And we’d heard about him. But first time I saw him. … It was ridiculous how good he was. I mean, it’s like — this guy could be the greatest pitcher ever.“

And that’s the saddest thing about Gooden’s career. It’s, really, the ultimate “what-if.� Of course, there are other famous “what-if� stories about, say, a young talent who never ascended ... or a superstar vet unfairly slowed by injuries. But by 20, Gooden was the best pitcher in baseball. The best.

As a rookie in ’84, the 19-year-old finished second in the Cy Young voting with a 17-9 record, 2.60 ERA and a MLB-best 276 strikeouts (in just 218 innings!).

And in ’85, holy (toasted) ravioli — he went 24-4 with a 1.53 ERA.

He again led the majors in Ks (268).

And he compiled a ridiculous 12.2 WAR as a pitcher (13.3 overall).

So, the site Baseball Reference has pages for the top single-seasons of different stat categories. For the overall WAR page, the top 30 have single seasons from 1876-1923. The other was Gooden in 1985.

Visually, there are headshots of the 24 pitchers on the site. . And then there’s Gooden in a color photo in the famous Mets blue hat with the orange NY.

Gooden’s 1985 was the best season any pitcher has had since the first part of the 1900s.

And he was 20.

“I think one of the things was getting experience that I got in ’84 — and also having Gary Carter, an experienced, All-Star catcher, join our team,� Gooden said. “We conected right away at spring training of 85. And (pitching coach) Mel Stottlemyre played a big part of that year, because he didn’t want me to settle. He would challenge me between starts to continue finding something to work on, going strong. So every start was a challenge. And plus that year, I knew it was bigger than just winning games. It was media attention and games were sold out, so it’s more hype. ... I didn’t want to just win, I wanted to dominate.�

What’s funny was that on April 1, 1985, ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ Illustrated ran the “April Foolsâ€� hoax article about Sidd Finch, who was supposed to dominate baseball with otherworldly stuff. Finch was fictitious. But Gooden proceeded to be real.

Of course, Gooden and the great Strawberry both tragically battled with substance abuse addiction. It’s been well-documented. Gooden remained a top NL pitcher throughout the 1980s — and won the 1986 World Series — but had stints in rehab and suspensions from the league, including a year-long one in 1995.

Overall, Gooden pitched until 2000. He finished 194-112 with a 3.51 ERA. His pitchers WAR (48.1) is 115th-best — his WAR is near that of Ron Guidry, Felix Hernandez, Frank Viola and Roy Oswalt. A pretty great career. But, still. Imagine if he was sober and focused all along?

On Sept. 11,1985, Gooden and Tudor matched up at old Shea Stadium. Doc went nine and didn’t allow a run. In the top of the 10th, Jesse Orosco relieved Gooden … and allowed a solo homer to Cesar Cedeno. Tudor pitched the 10th and struck out Strawberry to win it. And so, both teams then had an identical record.

The heat was on.

But the Runnin’ Redbirds ultimately surged ahead. And in those final 25 games, McGee had 14 RBIs and 14 stolen bases.

Against the Mets that year, in 16 games, Willie hit .362.

“Willie was the perfect example of what a teammate should be,� Horton said of the member of the Cardinals Hall of Fame, who is uniquely popular in St. Louis, notably because he played during multiple generations. “He was humble beyond belief — Cardinal fandom all knows him as being humble guy — and he was that way in the clubhouse. But he was just locked in offensively. I mean, he was amazingly locked in. He could still look bad on a pitch, but then the next pitch, throw it there, and he would just smoke it. He had occasional power, and, of course, the speed, we all talk about Vince (Coleman), but Willie’s right there with him. And Willie was clearly the stabilizing guy on the defensive side when you play center field. He was so important to the team. …

“And you know, I think you can find a lot of older fans around St Louis that will say what, I would say — the most exciting play in baseball in my lifetime was a Willie McGee triple. We all think about home runs and ‘how far did that one go?’ I mean, I get it. I mean, that’s just Home Run Derby to me, but it’s baseball when you watch a guy hit ball in the gap and you got people running, and you got Willie taking his turn and going from home to third, faster than Vince could go. He hit a bunch of them — 18 triples that year.�

McGee is now 66. He retired a Cardinals coach after last season. And his No. 51 is still worn by fans around town — including a young woman walking past Maggie O’Brien’s on Friday.

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Standing in front of his locker inside Busch Stadium on Saturday morning after scrambling to collect his gear from AutoZone Park in Memphis late Friday night, Cardinals prospect Michael McGreevy described the feeling of being back in a major-league clubhouse as being in a spot “where you want to be.�

The setting was one he experienced last year and one that was just out of his reach at the end of spring training after his bid to break camp on his first opening day roster came up short.

Coming off a strong introduction to the majors in 2024, McGreevy posted a 1.08 ERA in 16 2/3 innings during the Grapefruit League this past spring. He kept opposing hitters to a .167 batting average, struck out 12 batters, and didn’t issue a single walk.

The right-hander missed the cut as the Cardinals rolled into the regular season with plans to begin the year with a five-man rotation before expanding the staff to six starters when Steven Matz joined it on April 16. The plans positioned McGreevy to be the club’s immediate option for starting pitching depth in Class AAA Memphis.

“This is a kid — he’s young, but he is as pro as they get,� Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said of McGreevy, who was recalled to the majors Saturday before the Cardinals had their matchup against the Mets postponed due to rain. “It’s very easy to have a conversation with him. He understands the baseball side. He understands the bigger picture side of this as well. I don’t even want to say the business side, but just the bigger picture of the 40-man (roster). Those conversations have been very easy with him.

“Don’t get me wrong, he wants to be in the big leagues, but he understands that there’s a plan in place.�

At around 11 p.m. Friday, following Memphis’s afternoon game, McGreevy had just walked out of a screening of Marvel Studios’ ‘Thunderbolts*’ when he got a call from Memphis manager Ben Johnson to let him know he wasn’t going to make his scheduled start Saturday.

McGreevy learned he would be heading to the majors instead in a move to give the Cardinals a length reliever while Matz, who has been used as a reliever and starter, was unavailable after he started Wednesday in Cincinnati. The late call led McGreevy to head to AutoZone Park to pack his bags ahead of a 6 a.m. drive Saturday morning.

On a starter’s track through his minor-league career and still in that role through 2025, McGreevy’s availability to pitch in relief over the weekend is not set to alter his long-term plans.

“No, not at all. This is strictly for protection,� Marmol said Saturday.

While he awaited a call to the majors, McGreevy went 3-1 with a 4.08 ERA in 28 2/3 innings for Memphis. Across six starts, he struck out 25 batters and walked seven. He’s limited opposing hitters to a 29.8% hard hit rate — 1.5% decrease from his time in Class AAA a year ago — and generated a whiff rate of 40.3% with his sweeping slider, per Statcast.

McGreevy’s arsenal has kept hitters to a 51.8% ground ball rate, per FanGraphs, following a spring performance that earned him praise from Marmol and forced the Cardinals to make a “hard decision� when they finalized their roster.

“It’s definitely nice when the manager says that, and it’s never awesome when you get sent back down to Triple-A after tasting a little bit of heaven,� McGreevy said. “But the best thing I can do is just try to stay consistent. Just work on the process every day. I had great mentors down there in (Johnson) and (pitching coach) Darwin Marrero, who have done it before — (that) felt like they should have made it out of camp but didn’t.

“ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ were able to keep me focused and stay on the process.â€�

Fedde, Pallante to start doubleheader

With their game rained out on Saturday, the Cardinals plan to have Erick Fedde start Game 1 of Sunday’s doubleheader vs. the Mets at Busch Stadium. Andre Pallante is slated to start Game 2. That would keep the Cardinals on their scheduled pitching plan as Fedde was listed as Saturday’s probable starter and Pallante was scheduled to start the series finale vs. New York on Sunday.

Tickets from Saturday’s postponed game will be valid for Game 2 on Sunday, which is slated for a 5:15 p.m. start. Game 1 is scheduled for a 12:15 p.m. start.

Extra bases

Catcher Ivan Herrera continued his rehab assignment with a start at designated hitter Saturday in Class AAA.

Herrera caught five innings Friday afternoon as a part of his ramp-up and was said to have responded well to the return to catching, per Marmol.

Roddery Munoz was optioned to Class AAA to clear a spot on the Cardinals’ active roster for McGreevy. Munoz completed two innings and tossed 39 pitches in relief on Friday.

Victor Scott II’s successful steal of third base in Friday’s opener against the Mets improved the speedster to 11 for 11 on steal attempts to begin the season. In the process, Scott joined Lou Brock (11 in 1969) and Vince Coleman (14 in 1989) as the third Cardinal to steal 10 or more bases through the club’s first 33 games without getting caught.

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