Masyn Winn hits hometown HR in Houston with Cardinals

HOUSTON — Cardinals rookie Masyn Winn had a memorable game in his hometown Tuesday night against the team he grew up watching.

Winn hit one of the Cardinals’ three homers in their 8-5 loss to the Astros at Minute Maid Park as St. Louis lost its fourth in the last five games, but it was a night for the 22-year-old shortstop. I won’t soon forget.

Playing in front of friends and family, Winn had a career-high three hits, including a two-run homer in the sixth inning. He also had a 10-pitch walk in the second half.

“It’s amazing,” Winn said. “I have gathered almost all of my family here today. My grandparents made the trip from Austin. My grandmother had to stay home, but my dad was able to attend the match. Being able to do that in front of him – the first game he sees me play, it could be the last. I’m glad he got to witness it.

Winn graduated from Kingwood High School, located about 30 minutes northeast of Minute Maid Park, and attended many games at the ballpark growing up.

“It was a lot of fun,” Winn said. “I had a few cheap hits, I homered. It was huge. And a nice walk. It was great to try to compete, to try to give my team a chance to win. Doing it here makes things a little more special.

Winn homered in the sixth into the Crawford Boxes in left.

“It seemed like everything I had ever dreamed of,” he said. “I saw (Jose) Altuve hit a lot of balls there when I was young, and a lot of other guys did too. To be on the same field as this team and perform well against them is truly a dream come true for me.

During the game, Winn said he tried not to look into the stands at his family, but couldn’t help it for his home run trot.

“During the home run, I gave them an ‘I love you’ sign as I was about to go around third base,” Winn said. “They are always in the back of my mind. I know they are up there cheering me on.

Winn has three homers in his last 15 games after going without a homer in his first 39 games this season.

Winn wasn’t the only one going deep, as Alec Burleson and Nolan Gorman each homered for the third straight game, the longest streak by a Cardinals player this season.

Burleson hit a solo shot in the first inning for a second straight night for his eighth homer of the season.

Gorman scored to lead off the seventh to cut Houston’s lead to 7-5. It was Gorman’s 14th home run of the season.

“We fought back and took some really good at-bats,” St. Louis manager Oliver Marmol said. “Masyn had a very good match with this circuit. You have Gorman, you have Burleson who continues to swing it very well. … Overall I felt the rest of this match was good, fighting back after giving up an opening six points was impressive to see.

Andre Pallante allowed six runs on six hits with three walks in three innings.

“He hasn’t progressed,” Marmol said. “He was not consistent with his overall command. (The Astros are) a group that knows what they’re doing. They also had a very good approach against him.

Pallante gave up two runs in the first on RBI groundouts by Yordan Alvarez and Jake Meyers.

After settling into the second, the Astros jumped on Pallante in the third, sending nine batters to the plate. Pallante gave up a one-out RBI double to Jeremy Peña and a three-run homer to Yainer Diaz.

“I just didn’t execute my pitches as well as I needed to to get hitters out,” Pallante said. “I walked too many guys, I was behind in terms of the count.”

It was a far cry from his first start of the season on May 29, when he pitched six scoreless innings against the Reds.

“When you fall behind against these guys, you have a veteran group that knows what they’re doing and can execute a game plan,” Marmol said. “They had a batting advantage throughout the game against Pallante, and they took advantage of it.”