CHICAGO — From Kolten Wong‘s opening eight-pitch walk in the first game to Andrew Miller‘s save at the every end, the St. Louis Cardinals‘ long-awaited return from a coronavirus outbreak was a smashing success.
Lots of air high-fives for the Cards.
Paul Goldschmidt and Tyler O’Neill homered, and St. Louis beat the Chicago White Sox 6-3 on Saturday for a rousing doubleheader sweep for the reigning NL Central champions.
“It was what we do. We do it together,” manager Mike Shildt said.
Playing for the first time since July 29, St. Louis used solid performances by Dexter Fowler and Adam Wainwright to post a 5-1 victory in Game 1. Then it battered Chicago’s bullpen in the second seven-inning game — part of shortened doubleheaders in the pandemic-delayed season.
The Cardinals improved to 4-3 with the sweep. Every other team in the majors had played at least 13 games coming into the day.
Cardinals right-hander Dakota Hudson (0-1, 8.31 ERA) and White Sox left-hander Dallas Keuchel (2-2, 3.04 ERA) start the series finale Sunday, 12:15 with the pregame, first pitch 1:15 om KIRX.