Cards pitcher debuts, allows 4 straight HRs

St. Louis Cardinals reliever Roel Ramirez set a record in his debut, but not the kind a pitcher wants.

The host Chicago White Sox tied a majorleague mark with four consecutive home runs, all against Ramirez, and beat the Cardinals 72 on Sunday.

Ramirez is the first pitcher to allow four straight homers in his debut. Yoan Moncada, Yasmani Grandal, Jose Abreu and Eloy Jimenez connected during a sixrun fifth inning.

“Clearly, it gets you on your heels,” Cardinals manager Mike Shildt said. “One of the reasons we liked Roel in spring training … was the fact that he was not afraid to go after guys. He’d get after it.”

Ramirez took the mound in the fifth with Chicago up 10. He struck out Luis Robert to start, but things went south. After two singles, a caught stealing and a walk, Moncada hit a threerun homer to right.

Grandal followed with a drive into the rightfield seats, and Abreu and Jimenez each homered to left.

“It feels good every time that you hit a home run,” Moncada said via an interpreter. “But it feels better when you’re a part of history. … It’s definitely something special for all of us. I am very happy for it.”

Ramirez, a 25yearold righthander, is among players promoted by the Cardinals following a coronavirus outbreak that stalled St. Louis’ season for 21⁄2 weeks.

“He got his first punchout today in the big leagues, which is pretty cool,” Shildt said. “I have every confidence he’s gonna go out and be aggressive when he gets an opportunity again.”