​ST LOUIS, MISSOURI – AUGUST 7: Iván Herrera #48 is congratulated by Jimmy Crooks #8 of the St. Louis Cardinals after hitting a solo home run against the Colorado Rockies in the third inning at Busch Stadium on August 7, 2026 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Joe Puetz/Getty Images) | Getty Images Kyle Leahy has slowly established himself this season as one of the more reliable St. Louis Cardinals starters in this development year. He turned into something of a strikeout machine Friday night, but also gave up a ton of leadoff hits. How would that affect the end result? The answer is Leahy’s strikeouts and a bomb off of Herrera’s bat would be enough to put one in the win column for St. Louis. The Rockies were the first to score in the top of the 2nd inning when TJ Rumfield led off with a single to center. Castro also singled which advanced Rumfield to third giving Colorado runners at first and third with nobody out. The Rockies would only get one run out of this RISP opportunity two batters later when Johnston grounded out to short giving Colorado a 1-0 lead. The Rockies lead would not stand for long. The St. Louis Cardinals played some great small ball baseball in the bottom of the 2nd inning when Jimmy Crooks reached on an infield hit followed by a double by Masyn Winn giving St. Louis runners at 2nd and 3rd with no one out. Unlike the Rockies, the Cardinals would score both runners in scoring position with consecutive sacrifice flies from Nathan Church and Bryan Torres. Good basic baseball gave the Cardinals a 2-1 lead after two innings. St. Louis would add to their lead in the bottom of the 3rd inning when Iván Herrera turned on a 79 mph curveball and launched it into the left field seats 379 feet away increasing the Cardinals advantage to 3-1.Colorado would peck away at the St. Louis lead in the top of the 4th inning when Runfield would leadoff with another single followed by a double from Willi Castro. Two batters later, Johnston would again drive in a run with a groundout reducing the Cardinals lead to 3-2. Kyle Leahy’s start lasted 5 innings as he allowed 8 hits, but just 2 earned runs with 8 strikeouts and no walks. A solid with some spectacular strikeout moments kind of start. Justin Bruihl handled the top of the 6th inning shutting the Rockies down 1-2-3. The Cardinals missed a prime scoring opportunity in the bottom of the 6th when they loaded the bases with no hits. Masyn Winn drew a one-out walk and then stole second. Nathan Church walked and two batters later pinch-hitter Blaze Jordan was hit in the back knee by a pitch which loaded the bases for JJ Wetherholt. All JJ could muster was a weak pop-out to third base to end the Cardinals 6th with no runs to show for a long inning. Bummer.Newcomer Caleb Ferguson pitched around a one-out single by Beck in the top of the 7th inning to help maintain the slim Cardinals one-run lead. The Cardinals offered up some of the most pathetic swings in the bottom of the 7th inning. Alec Burleson