Hello, and welcome to my new feature here at STL Sports Central: Breakfast with Bernie, which I’ll write early in the morning on most weekdays. And if I’m a little late it’ll be “Brunch with Bernie.” I’ll serve up observations, opinions, notes, facts, stats, praise, cheap shots, randomness, and some weirdness as I have my first cuppa or two or three of the day. At times we’ll go “buffet” style for morning grazing, and later in the day I’ll author a new column. On most days, I’ll lead off with a Cards recap. There will be plenty of baseball info served here, with emphasis on the Cardinals.
Let’s get started…
Your St. Louis Cardinals fended off the San Diego Padres on Tuesday for a 3-2 victory that extended their Busch Stadium winning streak to six games.
By clinching the series, the Cardinals raised their season record to 40-31, and their .563 winning percentage is No. 6 in the majors and No. 4 in the National League.
Another success vs. San Diego in Wednesday’s day game would move St. Louis to 10 wins above the .500 threshold for the first time this season.
Here’s why the Cardinals prevailed for their fourth win in six games against the Padres this season …
1. Andre Pallante delivered his best start of the season. Dustin May powered his way to his top start of 2026 Monday in the series opener and Pallante followed May’s lead. Pallante yielded just four hits and two earned runs in seven innings. Pallante’s 74 Game Score was his finest grade among his 14 starts this season.
In 16 innings worth of at-bats against May and Pallante over two evenings, the flattened Padres had five hits, batted .037 and only six of their 52 batters reached base. Three of SDP’s six hits were ground balls. Five of the six hits were singles. And the visitors struck out in 29 percent of their plate appearances against the May-Pallante machine.
Pallante induced 13 ground balls on Tuesday and 11 were converted into outs. With another strong ground game, Pallante now ranks 3rd among MLB starting pitchers with a 53.3 percent ground-ball rate on the season.
The right-hander also showed some zip with six strikeouts. Pallante’s slider was exceptional in this conflict. He used the pitch to get the Padres to chase out of the strike zone at a rate of 45.5%, and that was a big part of their 28.6% whiff swing rate against the pitch. Adding to the torment: Pallante got 10 called strikes with the slider. It was nasty.
In his last six starts Pallante is 4-1 with a 2.88 ERA over 34 and ⅓ innings.
2. The 5-6-7-8 lineup spots came through … again. It wasn’t easy to score runs in Tuesday’s tilt, and that’s why it was so important for the Cards to get some impact from guys other than JJ Wetherholt, Ivan Herrera, Alec Burleson and Jordan Walker.
No problem. In the 5-6-7-8-9 spots Lars Nootbaar, Masyn Winn, Jimmy Crooks, Blaze Jordan and Nathan Church collectively got it done with four hits, four walks, three RBIs and two runs scored.
This group had a .400 onbase percentage in the game, and went 2 for 4 with runners in scoring position. Nootbaar brought home a run with a sac fly, Jordan had an RBI double, and Church did his share with an RBI single.
The 5-6-7-8-9 spots were horrendous offensively during the first two months of the season, scrounging for a .214 batting average, .607 OPS, and a .178 average with runners in position to score.
But a revised roster – with the return of Noot from the IL and the call-ups of Jordan and Church – have made a huge difference. In June STL’s 5–6-7-8-9 slots have supplied a .268 batting average, .771 OPS and a .270 average with runners in scoring position.
3. Bullpen stability. Dustin May didn’t require assistance from the St. Louis relief crew in Monday’s dubya. Pallante handed off to Ryne Stanek for the eighth inning, and Stanek passed it along to closer Riley O’Brien for the ninth. Stanek struck out two of three Padres in the eighth. O’Brien gave the Padres a two-out walk but got Xander Bogaerts on a grounder to seal the win for his 18th save of the season.
About Ryne Stanek: I was embarrassed for and by the shrieking fans who went on “X” in a state of full arousal to blast Stanek for his bad Friday night at Minnesota. It was overkill. Yeah, getting clobbered for three home runs in a relief performance was not what you wanted to see from Stanek or any St. Louis reliever. But to quote Tony La Russa: men, not machines. Perfection is impossible.
Some frustration was understandable when the Cards let Friday’s game get away. But in Stanek’s 15 appearances before the blow-up, and his two appearances since the blow-up, Stanek worked 16 innings and turned in a 1.12 ERA and a 30% strikeout rate. Very good, yes? Sure, people are entitled to make fools of themselves on social media. But it would be nice to see some intelligent perspective on display every now and then. Much respect and appreciation to the many, many Cardinals fans who have that.
4. The amazing Masyn Winn: Fielding Bible wants me to believe that the Cardinals’ shortstop has a defensive plus-minus rating of minus 3 for the season. To that, I respectfully say this to Fielding Bible: shut it down, fix the cracks in the system, and come back and do better.
In the first two games of the San Diego series, Winn had 11 assists and three putouts and was the most essential and influential defender in the ballpark. Over the 18 innings we watched one first-rate play after another. No major-league shortstop has Winn’s arm – his throws average 93.4 miles per hour! – and none have his artistry and power in initiating or turning a double play.
Winn’s Fielding Run Value – in the 91st percentile – is down from last season’s 98th percentile. But Winn, who has endured knee discomfort, is closing the gap on that. His Fielding Run Value in June is tied for the No. 1 spot at the position.
5. Blaze Jordan: in his first five games for the Cardinals after being summoned from Memphis, the third baseman has six hits and five RBIs in 19 at-bats.
In his final 31 games before the Cardinals sent him to Memphis, third baseman Nolan Gorman had five RBIs in 94 at-bats.
Is Jordan an offensive upgrade? Absolutely. During his first five days in the majors, Blaze batted .316 with a .632 slugging percentage, and three of his six hits went for extra bases.
What about Jordan’s defense? It’s early, sure. But he’s done nothing wrong. In fact, Blaze has been credited with one defensive run saved and one out above average in his 35 innings at third base. And Jordan made a nice scoop on a throw for an out in his eight innings at first base. I’ll hold off on the Scott Rolen comparisons – just kidding – but Jordan is off to a dependable start at third base.
The Buffet
— Joshua Baez x 4. I didn’t want to type out his name four times to symbolize his incredible four-homer game for Memphis on Tuesday. This one-man home-run derby produced seven RBIs. The home-run barrage gave Baez 23 on the season, the second most in the minors this year.
— Baez started off with a three-run bang in the first inning, ripped a two-run shot in the third, and pierced the sky with solo shots in the fifth and eighth innings. These Baez rockets resulted in seven RBIs.
— Baez is slugging .631 on the season.
— He has 16 home runs in his last 29 games.
— He has 12 homers in his last 18 games.
— The Baez launch party came against Memphis rival Nashville.
— Nashville is the Triple A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. Hmm … is this a positive signal from the baseball gods? Will Baez eventually tilt the Cards-Brewers rivalry back in the St. Louis direction?
— The four Baez blasts traveled a total of 1,510 feet.
— Grab the tissues. You may need them after sampling the reporting done by MLB dot come on the deeply personal nature of what Baez did Tuesday.
— This epic Baez display of power and might and immense talent came on the third anniversary of the passing of his father, Jose Manuel.
— "I was just feeling him the whole time," Baez told the MLB site. "I think that he guided me today to be able to do that. Today was just really emotional. I was just trying to push through, and it's just insane I was able to hit four home runs in one night."
— His mom, Yris, added this in a conversation with MLB’s site: "It's very emotional. I knew he was here with him from the sky down. He was able to give him the strength. I could feel it through the whole night. There were different vibes today. I'm super happy and proud of him."
— According to the MLB story, Baez and his mom prayed in remembrance of his father after the game.
— When asked about a possible promotion to St. Louis, Baez displayed a terrific attitude that also reflected his advanced maturity. He’ll turn 23 years old on June 28. "I'm in Memphis," he told MLB. "I'd rather be nowhere else right now, because the team needs me. We're in a playoff push and that's exactly what I'm trying to do."
I’ll have more on Baez and the Cardinals later today.
— Since May 1 the Redbird rotation ranks sixth in the majors with a 3.51 ERA, and only four teams have more quality starts than STL’s 18 over that time. Over their last 40 games the Cardinals have posted an outstanding quality-start rate of 45 percent.
— In 24 combined starts since the end of April, Pallante, May and Michael McGreevy have collectively pitched to a 3.18 ERA and have teamed for a fantastic quality-start rate of 67 percent.
— Now, if only the Cardinals could only get Matthew Liberatore and Kyle Leahy to turn in a positive performance more often. Since the end of April, Leahy-Libby have only two quality starts (one apiece) in 15 assignments. That’s a quality-start rate of 13.3 percent. The gap between the Cards’ three best starters and two worst starters is substantial.
— JJ Wetherholt had three hits and a walk Tuesday to reach base four times. In his last 13 games, the rookie second baseman is hitting .360 with a .418 onbase percentage and .420 slug for an .838 OPS. Wetherholt leads NL rookies with 2.9 fWAR.
— With that pace, JJ’s fWAR over 162 games would be a remarkable 7.0. Over 150 games, it would be 6.5 fWAR, and 6.3fWAR over 145 games. The WAR metric accounts for offense, defense and baserunning. Wetherholt has a huge lead over Reds rookie Sal Stewart, who ranks second among NL rooks.
— Wetherholt: 2.9 fWAR.
— Stewart: 1.3 fWAR.
— This is looking like a Wetherholt blowout. But yes, there are 91 games left on the St. Louis schedule.
— Just remember this massive gap in fWAR when some talking-head simpleton or stubborn old-timey sportswriter touts Stewart as the Rookie of the Year because Stewart has more home runs and RBIs than Wetherholt. Defense matters. Baserunning matters.
Thanks for reading …
–Bernie
Bernie was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2023. During a St. Louis sports-media career that goes back to 1985, he’s won multiple national awards for column writing and sports-talk hosting – and was the lead sports columnist at the Post-Dispatch from 1989 through 2015.
Before that Bernie spent a year at the Dallas Morning News, covering the Dallas Cowboys during Tom Landry’s final season (1988) plus the sale of the team to Jerry Jones and the hiring of Jimmy Johnson as coach.
Bernie has covered several Baseball Hall of Fame managers during his media career including Tony La Russa, Whitey Herzog, Earl Weaver, Joe Torre and (as an interim) Red Schoendienst. In his career as a beatwriter and columnist, Bernie covered Pro Football Hall of Fame coaches Joe Gibbs, Tom Landry, Jimmy Johnson and Dick Vermeil on a daily basis.
Bernie has covered and written about many great St. Louis sports team athletes including Albert Pujols, Kurt Warner, Brett Hull, Yadier Molina, Adam Wainwright, Jim Edmonds, Marshall Faulk, Scott Rolen, Mark McGwire, Orlando Pace, Isaac Bruce, Torry Holt, Adam Wainwright, Chris Carpenter, Al MacInnis, Brian Sutter, Bernie Federko, Chris Pronger, Dan Dierdorf, Jackie Smith and Aeneas Williams.
Bernie covered every baseball Cardinals’ postseason game from 1996 through 2014 and was there to chronicle teams that won four NL pennants and two World Series. He provided extensive coverage on the “Greatest Show” St. Louis Rams and has written extensively on the St. Louis Blues, Saint Louis U, and Mizzou football and basketball.
Bernie was/is a longtime voter for the Baseball Hall of Fame, Pro Football Hall of Fame, Heisman Trophy and the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame.
You can access his columns, videos and the podcast version of the videos here on STLSportsCentral, catch him regularly on KMOX (AM or FM) as part of the Gashouse Gang, Sports Rush Hour, Sports Open Line or Sports On a Sunday Morning shows.
And you can catch weekly “reunion” segments here at STL Sports Central featuring Bernie and his longtime friend Randy Karraker.