It may be a little early to deem a game a “must-win” but after two gut wrenching extra-inning losses following an opening series sweep, the St. Louis Cardinals really needed to pull out a win on Wednesday. Sonny Gray got the start for the second time this year and after a first inning homer allowed to future Hall of Famer Mike Trout, settled in for the next four-plus innings.

Catcher Ivan Herrera, who has come under fire for his defensive struggles, continued to show why he’s someone who can play almost every day as he tied the game with his first homer of the year. Gray and Angels starter Yusei Kikuchi traded zeroes until the bottom of the sixth when Herrera struck again. Nolan Arenado knocked a one-out single before Herrera’s second blast of the game put the Cardinals on top 3-1.

After the Trout homer, Gray allowed two runners to reach base through the sixth inning and struck out nine Angels batters heading into the 7th inning. Pitching with a lead for the first time, Gray needed a shutdown inning to set up the Cardinals bullpen for a nice win heading into the off day. Unfortunately, the first three hitters reached and then catcher Logan O’Hoppe tagged Gray for a grand slam, putting the Cardinals down 5-3 going into the last two innings.

So far, this Cardinals team has shown grit that has not been seen in St. Louis in a couple years and they rallied again, setting up another comeback against the Angels bullpen. In the bottom of the inning, Masyn Winn knocked his first hit of the year and Lars Nootbaar kept his hot start going with a single of his own. Enter Willson Contreras, who was also looking for his first hit of the year and the big first baseman delivered in a big way. Contreras smoked a double that scored both runners and he moved to third on the play with nobody out in the inning. The Cardinal rally would end there, setting up for more late game heroics at Busch Stadium.

With a taxed bullpen, manager Oliver Marmol went with Kyle Leahy in the 8th and the righty answered the call with a scoreless top of the inning. Then, chaos ensued. Jordan Walker smoked a single through the left side and Victor Scott II followed up with a perfect bunt single. Winn then added a bunt hit of his own, loading the bases for Nootbaar, who popped out on a 2-0 pitch. The 7th inning hero Contreras came up again and worked a walk to put the Cardinals up 6-5 with only one out and the bases still loaded. Insurance runs would be necessary with the short bullpen and the offense delivered again. Alec Burleson followed with an RBI walk of his own and Arenado then knocked a two-run single to make the score 9-5 in the Cardinals’ favor. The MVP of the day to that point, Ivan Herrera, stepped up with two on and hit his third homer of the day, a 425 foot blast that left the bat at 110.7mph. With his home run, Herrera became the first catcher in Cardinals’ history to hit three homers in one game.

JoJo Romero entered the game in the top of the 9th and, with a five run lead, made quick work of the Angels, sealing the 12-5 victory for the Cardinals. The big win moves the Cardinals to 4-2 on the season as they head into Thursday’s off day. The team will be in action again on Friday for their first road series of the year as they travel to Boston to take on the Red Sox. Erick Fedde, Andre Pallante, and Miles Mikolas are the scheduled starters for the series in Bean Town.