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Jordan Walker leads MLB with eight home runs, hitting a homer in his third consecutive game. Despite Walker's performance, the Cardinals lost 9-3 to the Guardians due to pitching struggles, particularly from starter Matthew Liberatore.
Cardinalsā manager Oliver Marmol discusses the growth made this season by Jordan Walker, who leads MLB with eight homers. ST. LOUIS ā While Jordan Walker continued to swing the hottest, most prodigious bat in all of baseball, Cardinals pitchers also continued a disturbing trend by struggling to go deep into games. Walker increased his Major League lead in homers by smashing a long ball in his third straight game and a seventh homer in the past nine games on Monday night at Busch Stadium. However, it mattered little when lefty starter Matthew Liberatore wore down after a strong start and got beat up in a disastrous three-run fourth inning of the Guardians' 9-3 defeat of the Cardinals before a sparse crowd of 17,901.
SIX HOMERS IN HIS LAST SEVEN GAMES š„ pic.twitter.com/2SUynXc6Kv
ā St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) April 14, 2026 In the rich history of the Cardinals, only sure-first, first-ballot Hall of Famer Albert Pujols has more home runs in the first 16 games of a season when he opened with 11 in 2006. Walkerās eight home runs in 16 games tie him with other Cardinals legends such as Stan Musial (1954), Mark McGwire (1998) and Scott Rolen (2004). āI mean, that means a lot because those are the greats,ā said Walker, whose 46 total bases are far and away the most in baseball through the first three weeks of the season. āYou learn about those guys early on as soon as you come into the Cardinalsā organization, so to be put in with them, itās pretty special.ā Liberatore, the clubās Opening Day starter and a standout early this season, threw first-pitch strikes to the first eight hitters he faced and allowed just three Guardians to reach over the first three innings. However, the game got away from him in the fourth when the first four hitters reached ā two of them on uncharacteristic walks by Liberatore ā and Cleveland scored three times in that game-turning inning. Liberatore needed 34 pitches to get through the fourth inning, and he was gone after five innings, six hits, four earned runs, three walks and a fifth solo homer allowed. Combined with abbreviated outings from Kyle Leahy (four innings on Saturday) and Andre Pallanbte (five innings on Monday), Liberatoreās short stint further taxed a bullpen that has been overworked in recent days. āObviously, Iām never trying to give (walks) up, but two or three in an inning is tough to cover up,ā said Liberatore, who surrendered the 10th first-inning home run of his career ā the most of any inning. āIām definitely not trying to be careful, but Iām also not trying to serve them up a cookie. The goal is trying to execute one pitch at a time. I felt really, really good tonight again, but obviously the results didnāt show it again.ā
Walker is getting plenty of results for the Cardinals and he has now homered in three straight games twice this season. He is the first Cardinals player 23 or younger to his seven homers in a nine-game stretch ā and the first player in MLB to do that since Rays third baseman Junior Caminero did it from Aug. 6-26 last season. On Monday, he ambushed Gavin Williamsā first pitch of the sixth inning and drilled a spinning sweeper 398 feet. āWe were down and thatās a good pitcher we were facing, so whatever he gives you to hit, youāve got to jump on it early,ā said Walker, who also extended his hitting streak to nine games. āThat was the approach I was trying to take.ā
Most home runs in teamās first 16 games of season, Cardinals history:
2006 Albert Pujols: 11 2026 Jordan Walker: 8 2004 Scott Rolen: 8 1998 Mark McGwire: 8 1954 Stan Musial: 8
ā Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) April 14, 2026 The 6-foot-6, 245-pound Walker showed off his wide array of skills in the eighth inning when he used his elite speed to beat out a routine ground ball to Cleveland All-Star Jose Ramirez for an infield hit. That hustle gave Walker his team-best sixth multi-hit game of the young season. āI think about the most thing in hitting is hiting a homer, but I like just putting my head down (on grounders) and trying to get down the line as fast as I can,ā Walker said. āI hope (they underestimate his speed). I pride myself on staying athletic and trying to be speedy. That worked out for me today.ā
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Jordan Walker has eight home runs this season, leading MLB.
Walker tied with Cardinals legends Stan Musial, Mark McGwire, and Scott Rolen for the most home runs in the team's first 16 games, each with eight.
The Cardinals lost 9-3 primarily due to pitching struggles, particularly a disastrous fourth inning by starter Matthew Liberatore, who allowed three runs and several walks.
Jordan Walker extended his hitting streak to nine games and is the first Cardinals player under 23 to hit seven homers in a nine-game stretch.

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