"Go ahead Gorman" awakens Cardinals' offense with a walk-off blast against Arizona

The St. Louis Cardinals offense has struggled to get going during their 2024 campaign, and right as the concerns about their offense reached a fever-pitch, two of their most significant bats finally game to life.

In the seventh inning, first baseman Paul Goldschmidt went deep off of reliever Scott McGough, his first home run in weeks and potentially a signal of brighter days ahead for the struggling star. His OPS is now up to .566 on the season after his solo home run and an infield hit in the ninth inning, with this performance coming in just the second game since he's been demoted in the batting order.

Much of the blame for the offensive struggles has been pinned on the shoulders of Goldschmidt, but it's fair to say that Nolan Gorman's struggles at the plate have had a major impact as well. Gorman was on the bench tonight, even as a right-handed pitcher was on the mound, but was brought in as a late-inning defensive substitute. When his spot in the order came up in the ninth, the Diamondbacks countered with the left-handed Kyle Nelson, and it took Gorman just one pitch to send the fans home with a walk-off win.

There's no sugarcoating the fact that the Cardinals' offense has been a major dud so far in 2024, but there's just way too much talent in this lineup for them to remain a bottom-five unit in baseball. Last year, their pitching staff had a very similar feeling at this point in the season, but there was no real reason to believe it would get any better. It's a different story with this offense. They've shown they can be a top-10 unit in baseball before, and they will play like it again soon. Tonight may have been the beginning of that.

Not every bat on the team has been cold this year, but it almost feels like in the last few games, everyone has taken on the pressure and frustration that bats like Goldschmidt and Gorman were feeling. Both guys going deep in critical moments tonight while the offense was at its lowest may be the exact spark this team has been searching for.

One game won't be enough to convince Cardinals fans that the offense is "back", but it does take a game like this to turn things around. The Cardinals will have the opportunity to keep the momentum going against the Diamondbacks again tomorrow.