Cardinals Get Huge Moments from Two Top Rookies in Extra-Innings Win over Dodgers

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Roundtable Sports' John Denton breaks down the Cardinals' stirring 8-6 win over the Dodgers in 10 innings on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium.

Cardinals' rookie Joshua Báez is going to have a hard time ever duplicating the jaw-dropping display he put on in his MLB debut with homers in his first three MLB at bats on Aug. 15.

However, what the 23-year-old rookie did on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium to stun the back-to-back champions might rival that opening accomplishment in terms of sheer joy.

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Báez delivered a pinch-hit double and scored the game's tying run in the eighth inning and then blistered a ball down the third base line in the 10th inning for another double that plated two more runs as the Cardinals rallied repeatedly and beat the Dodgers 8-6 in extra innings.

"We're relentless and we love playing these types of games because we never give up," Jose Fermin said to Cardinals TV after breaking up Yoshinobu Yamamoto's no-hitter in the sixth inning and recording two stellar diving plays at second base. "This was proof of (not giving up)." 

The Cards, who scored three times in the 10th inning, got two-run homers from Thomas Saggese and switch-hitting rookie catcher Leo Bernal to rally back from 3-0 and 5-2 deficits. The victory, when paired with Tuesday's 13-8 win, allowed the Cardinals to capture their second series against the Dodgers of 2026. They have beaten the dynastic Dodgers in four straight series over the past two seasons.

"That's awesome and it shows that we're not afraid of anyone," closer Riley O'Brien said to Cardinals TV after pitching the 10th inning and notched his 35th save. "It doesn't matter who we play, we're going to go out there and try to bring our best game. We've played these guys well this year."    

The Cardinals got the game knotted at 5 in the eighth inning when Baez drilled a double down the third base line off Tanner Scott. After moving up to third, Baez scored when Alec Burleson drilled a deep fly ball for his 101st RBI of the season.

Bernal, the switch-hitting catcher who made his MLB debut on Tuesday and had a two-run single in his first game, smashed a 377-foot homer off Yamamoto, the World Series MVP, in the seventh inning to get the Cards within a run of the lead. The No. 7-ranked prospect in the St. Louis Minor League system was ready for a 96.1 mph four-seam fastball and drilled it over the wall in right field for his first big-league homer.

Bernal nearly made it a two-homer game in the top of the ninth inning when the wind knocked down his 359-foot fly to deep right field. The drive would have been a homer in 23 of 30 MLB ballparks, per Baseball Savant.

As for Saggese, he hit his third home run in two nights back in his home state of California. He hit solo homers in the second and fifth innings in Tuesday’s 13-8 defeat of the Dodgers for the first multi-homer game of his career. On Wednesday, he ambushed Yamamoto with a 396-foot shot to right-center on a first-pitch fastball. Saggese, who was called up on Sunday when JJ Wetherholt (right wrist tendinitis) was placed on the 10-day Injured List, has six hits in his past three games for the Cards.

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Mautz, the Cardinals’ Minor League Pitcher of the Year in 2025, was promoted from Triple-A Memphis on May 24, but what was supposed to be his first big-league start was washed out by rain.

That first MLB start for Mautz came on Wednesday, and it went poorly almost from the start. After walking Shohei Ohtani on four pitches, he hit Tommy Edman and surrendered a three-run shot two batters later to Freeman. Burleson made a diving stop and a perfect throw from the seat of his pants for the first inning’s third out to keep the game at 3-0.

Gordon Graceffo, who came on in the third inning, changed the tenor of the game by striking out six and walking one over three scoreless innings of work. Graceffo’s outing lowered his ERA to a solid 2.78 on the season and likely earned him more opportunities in high-leverage spots in the coming weeks.

Yamamoto threw five no-hit innings, and he was perfect other than a third inning walk to Jose Fermin. However, Fermin ended the no-hit bid with an opposite-field single to open the sixth inning. He then yielded the homers to Saggese and Bernal, making it just the third time this season he has surrendered multiple homers.     

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