One day after hitting for the cycle, Nolan Arenado and the Cardinals did their best to do something even more impressive.
On July 2, 2022, Arenado followed his cycle with two home runs, a first-inning blast that was the first of four consecutive Cardinal home runs and a ninth-inning shot that proved to be the game winner.
One day earlier, Arenado went 4-for-4 with three RBIs and more than half of the Cardinals’ seven hits for the day.
“It’s a cool feat and something you don’t take lightly so I’m trying to enjoy it,” Arenado said. “It was a pretty cool day, having it come in just four at-bats. It’s hard to come by against big-league pitching.”[1]
The 31-year-old, who represented St. Louis in the all-star game later that month, wasted no time in collecting his first hit. After Paul Goldschmidt singled with two outs in the first inning, Arenado drove the ball off the top of the left-field wall for an RBI triple.
“Not to be arrogant, but I feel like I got the hard part out of the way early with the triple because I’m not fast,” Arenado said.[2]
Two innings later, the Cardinals still led 1-0 when Arenado returned to the plate. With Goldschmidt on second base following a two-out double, Arenado homered to left field, giving the Cardinals a 3-0 lead.
In the fifth, the Phillies evened the score. After Arenado uncharacteristically misplayed a ground ball, Matt Vierling singled and Mickey Moniak hit an RBI double. The Phillies pushed two more runs across on a Kyle Schwarber ground ball and a Rhys Hoskins sacrifice fly to tie the score, 3-3.
Arenado opened the sixth inning with a double to left field off Phillies reliever Nick Nelson, but he was left stranded at second base.
“I wasn’t thinking about (the cycle) too much until I hit the double,” Arenado said.[3]
Home runs from Darick Hall in the sixth and Hoskins in the seventh gave Philadelphia a 5-3 lead before Arenado returned to the plate needing just a single away the cycle. Facing Seranthony Dominguez, Arenado hit a sharp liner off Vierling’s glove at third base to claim that single, then advanced to second when the throw got past Hoskins at first base.
“I knew I had hit it hard, and I didn’t know how they were going to score it and I went to second,” Arenado said. “However they scored it, I was going to be OK with it.”[4]
It marked the 17th cycle in Cardinals history and the first since Mark Grudzielanek accomplished the feat in 2005. Arenado previously hit for the cycle in 2017 as a member of the Rockies.
“It’s a little weird – I’ll enjoy it when I get up to my room and I call my mom – but we want to win games. I’d rather win,” Arenado said. “It was cool to see Phillies fans clapping for me down the third-base line. They’re pretty passionate about their team, so to have them applaud is cool. I wasn’t expecting that, so that was nice.”[5]
With Arenado on second base, Dominguez retired the next two batters to end the inning and the Cardinals never threatened again in the 5-3 loss.
“I’d rather have two homers than a cycle,” Arenado said.[6]
The following day, he did exactly that, including a game-winning, ninth-inning blast that made the final score 7-6.
Arenado’s first blast sparked a string of Cardinals homers. Kyle Gibson, a 2009 first-round pick from the University of Missouri, retired the first two batters of the game before Goldschmidt singled to center field. Arenado homered 354 feet to left field for his 16th of the season, then was followed by solo shots from Nolan Gorman (392 feet), Juan Yepez (353 feet), and Dylan Carlson (407 feet). By the time Gibson retired Lars Nootbaar on a fly ball to left field, the Cardinals led 5-0.
“It was really cool,” Arenado said, “and when they tied the game, it wasn’t that cool. But, looking back, since we won, it was pretty cool.”[7]
Making just his fifth career start, Cardinals lefthander Matthew Liberatore allowed two runs on four hits in the second as Vierling drove in a run with a sacrifice fly and Phillies rookie Bryson Stott drove in another run with an RBI single.
In the third, Vierling added another RBI single, and after lefthander Zack Thompson replaced Liberatore with two outs, former Cardinal Yairo Munoz hit a two-run double to tie the game.
“Obviously, it’s frustrating, but you’ve got to give credit where credit is due,” Arenado said. “The Phillies can hit too.”[8]
The two teams traded runs, as Nootbaar drew a bases-loaded walk for the Cardinals in the fifth and Nick Castellanos added an RBI single in the sixth to make the score 6-6.
Despite the back-to-back-to-back-to-back blasts, Gibson pitched into the fifth inning for the Phillies, allowing six earned runs on seven hits and two walks.
“I was awfully proud of him, to tell you the truth,” interim manager Rob Thomson said. “I mean, he gives up four straight home runs. I think a lot of guys would have maybe shut it down right there, but he kept battling.”[9]
Both bullpens kept the game tied until the top of the ninth. Facing Dominguez for the second time in as many days, Arenado hit a leadoff home run to left field to give St. Louis a 7-6 lead.
Ryan Helsley, who struck out the side in the eighth, K’d two more Phillies in a scoreless ninth inning to claim his fourth win of the season.
“He was more than adamant about finishing the game,” said Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol in summarizing his conversation with Hensley during a ninth-inning mound visit. “He earned that.”[10]
Arenado finished the 2022 season with a .293/.358/.533 batting line to go along with 30 homers and 103 RBIs. He finished third in the National League MVP race, trailing only Goldschmidt and second-place finisher Manny Machado. Along the way, he was named to his seventh all-star game, won his fifth Silver Slugger Award, and won his 10th Gold Glove Award in as many seasons.
Enjoy this post? Take a look back at the trade that made Nolan Arenado a Cardinal or Arenado’s first game at Busch Stadium.
[1] Rick Hummel, “McGee knows how it feels to hit for cycle, lose game,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 3, 2022.
[2] John Denton, “Arenado’s cycle bittersweet after hard-luck loss,” MLB.com, https://www.mlb.com/news/nolan-arenado-hits-for-his-second-cycle.
[3] Rick Hummel, “McGee knows how it feels to hit for cycle, lose game,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 3, 2022.
[4] John Denton, “Arenado’s cycle bittersweet after hard-luck loss,” MLB.com, https://www.mlb.com/news/nolan-arenado-hits-for-his-second-cycle.
[5] John Denton, “Arenado’s cycle bittersweet after hard-luck loss,” MLB.com, https://www.mlb.com/news/nolan-arenado-hits-for-his-second-cycle.
[6] Rick Hummel, “Arenado caps two big days with a game-winning blast,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 3, 2022.
[7] Rick Hummel, “Arenado caps two big days with a game-winning blast,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 3, 2022.
[8] Rick Hummel, “Arenado caps two big days with a game-winning blast,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 3, 2022.
[9] Alex Coffey, “Phils can’t overcome early HR barrage,” Philadelphia Inquirer, July 3, 2022.
[10] Rick Hummel, “Arenado caps two big days with a game-winning blast,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 3, 2022.