CONTRERAS, CARDS MASH DODGERS
Willson Contreras hit two three-run homers, Nolan Gorman also homered twice and the St. Louis Cardinals went deep seven times in a home game for the first time in 83 years to power past the Los Angeles Dodgers 16-8 in a slugfest Thursday night.
Nolan Arenado added a two-run homer, and Juan Yepez and Paul DeJong each hit solo homers run for St. Louis.
The Cardinals, who have homered in a season-high seven games in a row, hit seven in a home game for the first time since May 7, 1940, when they did it against the Brooklyn Dodgers. Yepez, Gorman and DeJong hit consecutive homers in the sixth inning.
Freddie Freeman hit a grand slam and Max Muncy added a solo homer for the Dodgers. It was the fourth grand slam for Freeman and his 300th career homer. Los Angeles leads the majors this season with five grand slams and rank second with 74 homers.
The teams’ nine combined home runs set a record for Busch Stadium.
Adam Wainwright (1-0) allowed five runs — two earned — and five hits in 51⁄3 innings for the win in his third start this season.
Dodgers starter Julio Urias (5-4) made his first career start against the Cardinals and it didn’t go well. He gave up six runs in three innings.
The Cardinals batted around with four home runs in a six-run third inning off Urias. Contreras hit a oneout, three-run shot 434 feet to center field. With two outs, pinch-hitter Yepez, Gorman and DeJong hit back-to-back-to-back homers.
St. Louis added three runs in the fourth off Phil Bickford. Oscar Mercado, who had three hits, scored on a double steal. Arenado hit a two-run homer with two outs to extend the Cardinals’ lead to 9-2.
It was Arenado’s sixth home run in his last seven games.
Facing reliever Genesis Cabrera, Freeman hit a grand slam home run to highlight the Dodgers’ fiverun sixth. Muncy led off the seventh with a homer to chase Cabrera and cut the lead to 9-8.
Contreras’ second threerun homer and Gorman’s two-run blast highlighted a seven-run eighth inning.
MLB hopeful gets visa
After declining to issue a travel visa to Dennis Kasumba, the Ugandan orphan profiled in The Los Angeles Times, the American Embassy in Kampala backtracked Thursday and approved Kasumba’s request to travel to the U.S. this month to play in the MLB Draft League.
“I’m very happy,” Kasumba said after leaving the embassy. “I’m very excited.”
Kasumba, 18, had been denied a U.S. visa three times because he had been unable to prove he had close family ties that would compel him to return to Uganda. That proved tough since the teenager never knew his father, and his mother abandoned him when he was 2 months old.
But two stories in The Times detailing Kasumba’s poverty and his dedication to baseball caught the attention of people at the highest levels of the Uganda government, who intervened strongly on the player’s behalf, according to Joshua Williams, an Atlanta attorney with Taylor English Duma who is working with Kasumba.
A series of weekend conversations involving government officials and U.S. State Department personnel resulted in Kasumba’s situation being reconsidered.