He had three more hits and three RBI on Sunday to key the victory. In the three-game series, Winn had five hits, a homer, a double and seven RBI. To put that into perspective, Winn had just one RBI before Friday’s series opener in Houston.

With Ivan Herrera (extra-innings runner), Jordan Walker (reached on an error) and Ramon Urias (hit by pitch) on base, Winn smashed a hot shot down the third base line to score all three.

“I’m just trusting the preparation, trusting what we’re doing in the cages with the hitting staff, and I just wanted to go out there and do a job,” said Winn, who is hitting .222 with five extra-base hits on the season. “I was trying to hit the ball in the air (for a sacrifice fly), but sometimes it pays to be lucky. So, that was a good one for us.”

14 straight set down, then four Cardinals runs

Houston starter Mike Burrows came into Sunday with a six-plus ERA, but he completely baffled the Cardinals over the first 4 2/3 innings of the game. In setting down the first 14 batters he faced, Burrows seven and had very few hard-hit balls.

However, Winn got a rally started with the first hit of the day for the Cardinals – a hard grounder through the left side of the infield. Following a Nathan Church walk and an infield single by Pedro Pages, Victor Scott II walked to force in St. Louis’ first run to tie the score.

JJ Wetherholt then laced a high fastball into right field, allowing Church and Pages to score. Ivan Herrera capped the rally by ripping another single to score Scott and put the Cards ahead 4-1.

Libby loses out on first win of 2026

Cardinals’ Opening Day starter, Matthew Liberatore, pitched well over his first four starts, but remained winless going into Sunday’s game. He remained winless when the usually solid one-two punch of Romero and O’Brien wobbled in the eighth inning and surrendered three runs.

Using his big, overhand curveball, Liberatore kept the Astros off balance, and he allowed only one run off a Carlos Correa sacrifice fly in the third innings. Over six innings of work, Liberatore continued a frustrating season for the Astros by limiting them to just three hits and a run while striking out four and walking two.

The Astros hit just four balls hard off Liberatore all game. Of his 82 pitches, he got seven swings and misses. Also, of the 31 four-seam fastballs, Houston hitters got just one hit off those pitches.

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