Athletics’ JJ Bleday follows through on a two-run home run during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals Monday Sept. 1, 2025, in St. Louis. (AP/Jeff Roberson)

By Mauricio Segura

The Sacramento Athletics rolled into Busch Stadium on Sunday afternoon with a chip on their shoulder and left with a resounding 11-3 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals, fueled by a pair of timely home runs and a relentless offensive push. What started as a tight pitcher’s duel unraveled quickly once the Green and Gold bats came alive in the fourth inning, changing the game’s complexion in a hurry.

Luis Morales set the tone early for Sacramento, working through traffic in the first inning after Lars Nootbaar’s leadoff single. Despite a wild pitch that moved the runner into scoring position, Morales regrouped to fan Nolan Gorman and leave the Cardinals empty-handed. That early escape gave the Athletics a chance to settle in, though the bats needed time to wake up. For three innings, Sonny Gray looked sharp for St. Louis, keeping the A’s quiet while Morales matched him with his own clean frames.

Everything shifted in the top of the fourth. Darell Hernaiz reached on a single, and JJ Bleday punished a pitch over the right-field wall for his 11th homer of the year, putting Sacramento on the board. Moments later, Zack Gelof followed with a blast of his own to right-center, suddenly turning a scoreless tie into a 3-0 A’s advantage. The Cardinals answered quickly with a solo shot from Iván Herrera in the bottom half, but Morales once again steadied himself by retiring the next three hitters to hold the damage to a single run.

The Athletics kept applying pressure. In the sixth, Hernaiz doubled and came home on a Colby Thomas single before Bleday went deep again, crushing his second homer of the afternoon and extending the lead to 5-1. While Morales tired in the bottom half, allowing a run-scoring single by Masyn Winn, Justin Sterner entered to snuff out a brewing rally and protect a 5-2 cushion.

Sacramento’s knockout punch came in the seventh. Lawrence Butler worked a walk, Jacob Wilson lined a single, and Brent Rooker split the gap with a ground-rule double to score one. Tyler Soderstrom then added an RBI knock of his own, and suddenly it was 7-2 with the Cardinals gasping for air. Two innings later, the A’s turned Busch Stadium into their own batting practice facility. Bleday reached on an error, Gelof doubled, and after a fielder’s choice scored a run, Butler and Wilson combined for back-to-back hits to make it 9-2. Soderstrom capped the rally with a two-run double, pushing the advantage to 11-2 and sending much of the St. Louis crowd heading for the exits.

The Cardinals tried to scrape together a rally in the ninth. Thomas Saggese doubled and came home on a pinch-hit single by José Fermín, trimming the deficit slightly, but it was far too little, far too late. Scott McGough, closing things down for Sacramento, silenced the final three hitters in order to seal a dominant win.

Bleday finished with two home runs and three RBIs, pacing the offense with authority. Gelof added a homer, a double, and two runs scored, while Butler and Wilson each reached base multiple times and crossed the plate with consistency. Soderstrom’s three hits and three RBIs rounded out a balanced attack that saw nearly every spot in the lineup contribute. Morales picked up the win despite some control hiccups, striking out five and allowing just two runs across five and two-thirds innings before turning it over to the bullpen.

Costa Rican-born Mauricio Segura has been covering sports in the Bay Area since 2001 for a variety of magazines and newspapers, as well as his own publication, Golden Bay Times.

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