Iván Herrera hit his first three home runs of the season to help the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Angels 12-5 on Wednesday.
Herrera hit his third off Sean Burke to cap a seven-run eighth inning for the Cardinals. Herrera hit a two-run homer in the sixth and a solo shot in the fourth off Angels starter Yusei Kikuchi for his first multihomer game.
Willson Contreras drew a bases-loaded walk off Burke to break a 5-5 tie after Ian Anderson (0-1) gave up three straight hits to open the eighth inning. An inning earlier, Contreras stroked an RBI double to left for his first hit of the season to score Masyn Winn, and Lars Nootbaar scored on shortstop Nicky Lopez’s errant throw to tie the game at 5-all.
Angels catcher Logan O’Hoppe hit his second home run of the season and second career grand slam off Sonny Gray in the top of the seventh.
Gray gave up five runs on five hits and hit a batter while striking out nine in six-plus innings.
JoJo Romero (1-1) recorded the final four outs for the Cardinals.
Kikuchi gave up three runs on four hits and five walks and struck out six.
Mike Trout hit his first home run in the first inning to give the Angels a 1-0 lead.
Key moment
After Jordan Walker led off the eighth inning with a single, Victor Scott II and Winn reached base on bunt singles to load the bases for Contreras.
Key stat
Herrera is the first catcher in Cardinals history to hit three homers in a game.
Up next
RHP José Soriano (1-0, 0.00 ERA) will start the Angels’ home opener against Cleveland and RHP Gavin Williams (0-0, 3.60 ERA) on Friday night.