During milestone game, Willson Contreras provides Cardinals with walk-off winner vs. Royals

Daniel Guerrero, St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Jun 5, 2025

Published in Baseball

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ST. LOUIS — In a milestone game for his career, Willson Contreras provided a highlight moment on Thursday for the Cardinals.

After the Cardinals’ 4-3 lead slipped away in the ninth inning and the Royals took the lead in the 10th, Contreras produced a walk-off single in the 1,000th game of his career to propel his team to a 6-5 win over Kansas City in Game 1 of a doubleheader at Busch Stadium.

Down by a run entering the bottom of the 10th inning, a groundout by Masyn Winn evened the score as it allowed Yohel Pozo, the inning’s automatic runner to begin the 10th inning, to score from third base after Lars Nootbaar singled. An intentional walk to Brendan Donovan brought Contreras to the plate to face Royals closer Carlos Estevez, against whom Contreras singled to left field.

The Cardinals (34-27) closed a three-run deficit when their bats came alive against the Royals' relievers. Before the Royals dipped into their bullpen, the Cardinals produced two hits and two walks against starting pitcher Noah Cameron before he was lifted from his start after 82 pitches. Pedro Pages and Lars Nootbaar were the only Cardinals to collect hits against the left-handed Cameron, whose start marked the fifth of his career and the second against the Cardinals.

Upon the rookie’s exit, the Cardinals offense welcomed reliever John Schreiber with consecutive hits (a double from Contreras and a single by Ivan Herrera) to open the bottom of the seventh inning. A force-out on a ground ball by third baseman Nolan Arenado allowed Contreras to score from third base and put Arenado on first base after a replay challenge by the Cardinals showed Arenado beat second baseman Michael Massey’s throw to first base during the Royals' attempt to turn a double play.

A single by Alec Burleson and an error by Massey that put Ryan Vilade on base loaded them for the Cardinals, and a pinch-hit sacrifice fly by Pozo scored Arenado. Pozo’s pinch-hit spot came for Nolan Gorman, who had been brought off the bench to face a righty but then was taken out of the game before the at-bat once the Royals swapped Schreiber for lefty Daniel Lynch IV.

Herrera’s two-run homer in the eighth inning gave the Cardinals a lead, which was erased on a blown save by closer Ryan Helsley.

Finishing at-bats

The hits against Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas that set the stage for the run-scoring opportunities in the fourth and fifth innings each came when the veteran was one strike away from ending those at-bats.

In the fourth inning, Mikolas had Salvador Perez in an 0-2 count before Perez drilled a curveball to center field for a leadoff double. Three pitches later, Mikolas allowed Royals top prospect Jac Caglianone to double on an 0-2 curveball the rookie pulled into the right-field corner for his first career hit and RBI.

When he reached his fifth inning of work, Mikolas got a called strike and a swinging strike on a four-seam fastball to put Royals star Bobby Witt Jr. in a 1-2 count. Witt ended the at-bat with a hit just out of second baseman Brendan Donovan’s reach because of a shift put on Witt.

After Witt stole second base, a flyout by Maikel Garcia and a 1-2 count against Vinnie Pasquantino put Mikolas one pitch away from exiting the fifth inning without allowing a run. But a single from Pasquantino on a 1-2 fastball led to the third run allowed by Mikolas.

O’Brien returns as 27th player

The Cardinals recalled right-hander Riley O’Brien from Class AAA Memphis as their 27th player for Thursday’s doubleheader. O’Brien, 30, was eligible for both games but made his appearance in the seventh inning of Game 1, marking his first big league outing since May 1.

As the first Cardinals reliever summoned from the bullpen in their fifth doubleheader of the season, O’Brien threw 1 2/3 scoreless innings. O’Brien notched a swinging strikeout on Witt when he got the Royals' superstar shortstop to swing and miss on a 2-2 slider.

Extra bases

Cardinals outfielder Jordan Walker received an anti-inflammatory injection in his left wrist on Wednesday, Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said ahead of Game 1 of Thursday’s doubleheader. The Cardinals hope the injection allows Walker to speed up the progression of his hitting after left wrist inflammation landed him on the 10-day injured list last weekend.

The Cardinals expect to have a clearer sense of how Walker’s wrist responds to the injection in the next two days. Walker is eligible to be activated from the IL as early as Sunday, but his timeline to be ready by then is unclear.

With one off-day remaining in June, the Cardinals have considered alterations to their five-man rotation, including expanding to a six-man staff. Prospect Michael McGreevy is an option that Cardinals can slide into the rotation for spot starts. He would be on schedule to start Sunday if the Cardinals recall him to the major for starts. McGreevy’s availability would keep Steven Matz available from the bullpen.