NEW YORK – First baseman Alec Burleson heard his name bandied about in trade rumors. As recently as Monday afternoon, one media outlet said the Padres had interest in his services.
But the MLB Trade Deadline came and went after 5 p.m. CT, and Burleson remained a member of the Cardinals. It’s a good thing, too. Later that night, he slugged three homers and helped St. Louis to a 13-7 victory over the Yankees at Yankee Stadium.
Burleson found out that he wasn’t dealt when manager Oliver Marmol called him into the office, acted as if he were going to be traded, shook his hand – but informed him that he was staying with the club. The news gave Burleson a sense of relief. Marmol then told Burleson to be himself on the diamond.
“I love St. Louis. I love the guys. … My family loves St. Louis. I want to be around for what this will look like for the next couple of years,” Burleson said. “Whatever was going to happen, at that point, was out of my control. There is nothing I can do. I tried my best not to worry about it. Obviously, it’s in your head all day. You are thinking about it a lot. Try to get back the day and get ready for the game.”
Burleson was ready to play. His third homer of the night turned out to be big. The Cardinals came back from a 7-6 deficit — after having held a 6-0 lead through four innings — and scored seven runs against the Yankees’ bullpen in the eighth inning. With Angel Chivilli on the mound, Burleson capped the scoring with a two-run homer.
“I think the guys before me scared the last guy [Chivilli] off his changeup. I got a slider to hit,” Burleson said. “I felt good. I felt I was getting the barrel to it.”
Burleson is the first visiting player with a three-homer game at Yankee Stadium since the A’s Jordan Diaz on May 9, 2023. Burleson is the first National League player with a three-homer game in the Bronx since Interleague Play began in 1997.
The Cardinals started the game by going to work on right-hander Cam Schlittler, who had his shortest outing of the season, throwing three innings. In the first, Schlittler had a 30-pitch inning, and Burleson made him pay for it with a two-run homer into the right-field seats. By the time Schlittler left the game, the Cardinals had made him throw 83 pitches and had a 4-0 lead.
“[Schlittler] has a really good heater – three really good heaters, really,” Burleson said. “I just wanted to be on time for it. I hit it low.”
Burleson made it a six-run game in the fourth when he hit another two-run homer into the right-field seats, this time off left-hander Tim Hill.
“Obviously, Hill has a really good sinker. You have to swing under it,” Burleson said.
The lead gave Michael McGreevy a nice cushion, but he ended up with a no-decision because he threw too many pitches (91) and allowed a two-run homer to Austin Wells in the fifth and exited after 4 1/3.
Left-hander Justin Bruihl entered the game with one out and immediately allowed a solo homer to Trent Grisham.
Suddenly, it became a slugfest by the seventh inning, and Burleson had a hand in the outcome. Cardinals relievers Ryne Stanek and George Soriano allowed a combined three homers to give New York a 7-6 lead. The crowd was going berserk at the comeback.
But St. Louis was able to quiet the crowd significantly in the top of the eighth. Blaze Jordan started the inning off with a triple off Ryan Yarbrough. Two batters later, Chivilli allowed a three-run homer to Nathan Church to give the Cardinals the lead.
Marmol loved the way the Cardinals punched back after the Trade Deadline. The Cardinals lost three popular players in Lars Nootbaar, Dustin May and JoJo Romero in Deadline deals.
“I can’t credit that group enough for the response today,” Marmol said. “There was a lot going on today. It’s kind of easy to be down on the fact that you lose a couple of guys. It’s felt in that clubhouse. It just shows you the mentality of the group. They are not going to give up, give out or give in. They didn’t concede to anything. … That response in this environment against [Schlittler] on the Trade Deadline day was pretty impressive.”
