Cardinals’ Goldschmidt Hits 3 Homers, Drives in 8 Runs in Doubleheader Sweep of Pirates

It’s way too early to be seriously thinking of this season’s MVP awards, but be that as it may, St. Louis Cardinals 1st baseman Paul Goldschmidt is having an MVP caliber season through the first two months of the 2022 campaign.

Goldschmidt had a streak of 46 consecutive games of reaching base ended on June 11th, that had a 25 game hitting streak embedded within it. After taking the day off on June 12th, Goldschmidt was 3 for 4 with a double and home run in a 7-5 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on June 13th. He then played in both ends of a double header against the Pirates on June 14th. As the designated hitter in the opener, Goldschmidt was 2 for 4 with a home run and drove in all three runs in the 3-1 Cardinals victory. In Game 2, Goldschmidt was back at 1st base, and was 4 for 4 at the plate, with two homers, three runs scored, and five RBIs in the 9-1 win. For the day, Goldschmidt was 6 for 8 with 3 home runs, 4 runs scored, and 8 RBIs.

Through games of June 14th, Goldschmidt is hitting a National League leading .349 with 16 homers and 56 RBIs. His 81 hits, 149 total bases, OPS of 1.073, .431 on base percentage, and .642 slugging percentage also lead the league. The Cardinals led the National League Central with a record of 37-27, going into action on June 15th, good for a 2 ½ game lead over second place Milwaukee.

Here’s highlights of Game 2 of the doubleheader. Besides Goldschmidt’s performance, Cardinals pitcher Miles Mikolas came within one strike of a no hitter, before Cal Mitchell, batting just .203, hit a ground rule double.