ST. LOUIS (AP) — Harrison Bader had a first-inning sacrifice fly in his return to St. Louis, a rookie Anthony Volpe hit a go-ahead triple as part of his fifth straight multi-hit game and the Yankees beat the Cardinals 6-2 Saturday night for a doubleheader split.
St. Louis won the rain-interrupted opener 11-4 behind Paul Goldschmidt‘s go-ahead, three-run homer off Luis Severino in a five-run third. Jack Flaherty pitched six shutout innings, Goldschmidt had four RBIs and Nolan Gorman also homered for the Cardinals, who reached double-digit runs for the first time since May 21.
Volpe has raised his average from .193 to .220 in his last six games. Isiah Kiner-Falefa had three hits in the second game as the Yankees won for the fifth time in their last seven.
Lars Nootbaar homered for St. Louis, which fell to a 34-48, its worst 82-game start since 1990. Nootbaar hit a first-inning homer off opener Ian Hamilton as the Yankees went with a bullpen game because of Friday’s rainout.
Michael King (2-4) allowed one hit while pitching scoreless relief over a season-high 3 1/3 innings. Wandy Peralta, Tommy Kahnle and Clay Holmes followed with an inning each.
Bader played in St. Louis for the first time since the Yankees acquired him at last year’s trade deadline. A crowd favorite who made his big league debut with the Cardinals in 2017, Bader spent Friday visiting children at Cardinals Glennon Hospital. He received a 30-second standing ovation in his first trip to the plate and went 0-for-3.
Volpe tripled in the second off Matthew Liberatore (1-3) and DJ LeMahieu followed with a sacrifice fly for a 3-1 lead. Jose Trevino drove in Kiner-Falefa with a safety squeeze bunt single in the ninth off Chris Stratton and Gleyber Torres followed with a two-run single.
Giancarlo Stanton played left field in the night game, his first appearance there since last July 21.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Yankees: LHP Carlos Rodón (strained left forearm, back pain) allowed one hit over 3 2/3 scoreless innings for Class A Hudson Valley in his third rehab outing, striking out eight and walking two. He threw 58 pitches. … LHP Nestor Cortes threw 20 pitches from a mound on Friday and will likely throw again on Monday or Tuesday. He has been out since June 5 with a left rotator cuff strain.
Cardinals: INF/OF Brendan Donovan missed both games with a sore throwing arm.
UP NEXT
New York RHP Gerrit Cole (8-1, 2.78) will face Jordan Montgomery (5-7, 3.52) on Sunday. Montgomery pitched five shutout innings in a 1-0 win against the Yankees last Aug. 6, four days after the trade that sent him to St. Louis.