Alec Burleson Crushes Three HRs, Cardinals Rally After Blowing Lead in Win Over Yankees

Roundtable Sports' John Denton breaks down Alec Burleson's three-homer, six-RBI night as the Cardinals blow a six-run lead, rally from a 7-6 deficit and score seven in the eighth inning of a 13-7 defeat of the Yankees.

With three epic swings of the bat at Yankee Stadium on Monday

night, Alec Burleson showed why his name was bandied about in trade rumors so

often and why the Cardinals ultimately chose to hang onto their 2025 Silver

Slugger award winner after the MLB Trade Deadline.

As it turns out, Burleson’s early work wasn’t enough to

overcome a shaky Cardinals bullpen and the power-packed Yankees . However, teammates

Nathan Church and Jimmy Crooks and a towering 418-foot shot by Burleson saved

the night for St. Louis in one of its wildest wins in decades.

Burleson hit three two-run homers to key a strong start to

the night and a capped spirited seven-run rally after the Yankees came alive

with seven straight runs in the middle innings of a 13-7 Cardinals win in a

game that featured 10 home runs.

What's better than a Burly Bomb? THREE BURLY BOMBS! pic.twitter.com/yupHhkQie8

— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) August 4, 2026 Burleson, one of the elder statesmen on the team at 27

years old, spoke of his relief to still be a member of the Cardinals following

Monday’s frenetic Trade Deadline.

“Obviously we lost some key guys that we really enjoyed

having in our locker room,” Burleson said to Cardinals TV. “But, for me

personally, I want to be here and I want to help this team through whatever

this looks like over the next couple of years. I want to be here to contribute to

a lot more wins in the future. So, yeah, I was relieved because I love St.

Louis, but we lost a few good guys and I’m going to cheer them on from afar.

But, overall, there was a little relief.”

How wacky was this win? The Cardinals led 6-0 after four

innings, surrendered five homers and seven runs in the guts of the game and

then responded with a seven-run eighth to stun the Yankee Stadium crowd.

A Cardinals club that hit just five home runs in the first

17 games after the break for the MLB All-Star Game mashed five homers in The

Bronx. Burleson hit homers 16, 17 and 18 and pushed his RBI total to 77 with

his career-best six-RBI night.

Church drilled a three-run homer to wipe out a 7-6 deficit.

Two batters later, Crooks drilled his fourth MLB homer of the season – this one

a 376-foot shot on a first-pitch fastball from Angel Chivilli. Then Burleson capped

his career night by golfing a slider 418 feet for a third two-run blast.

Burleson became the 25th player in franchise history with at least three homers

in a game and the first Cardinal with three homers since Ivan Herrera on April

2, 2025.

CHURCH FLIPS THE SCRIPT💥 pic.twitter.com/odhC9fMUkx

— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) August 4, 2026 Up 6-0 after four innings, starter Michael McGreevy

surrendered a two-run shot to Austin Wells and lefty reliever Justin Bruihl

gave up a solo blast to Trent Grisham in the fifth inning. In the seventh

inning, the Cardinals turned the game over to veteran reliever Ryne Stanek, who

gave up back-to-back 400-foot blasts to Ryan McMahon and Jose Caballero. Stanek,

who surrendered three homers in a loss in Minnesota earlier in the season, was

lifted after a Grisham double and Luis Garcia Jr. – acquired in a trade with

the Nationals – drilled a two-run shot off George Soriano.

That simply set the stage for one of the Cardinals’ biggest

innings of the season.

“You get down because you feel like you’ve won the game in the

third or fourth inning and they come back,” Burleson said. “We could have

easily laid down, but (Church) had some really good at bats and Jimmy (Crooks) with

a big homer. Everybody up and down (the lineup) did a good job and I’m really

happy for this team.”

The rebuilding Cardinals traded veteran right-handed

pitcher Dustin May and left-handed reliever JoJo Romero to the Brewers and

outfielder Lars Nootbaar to the Dbacks for four Minor League prospects on

Monday, but they resisted plenty of offers for the sweet-swinging Burleson, who

hit his 16th and 17th homers and pushed his RBI total to

75 with Monday’s performance. Burleson’s first-inning smash off Schlittler left

the bat at 103.6 mph and the second homer against lefty Tim Hill exited the

park at 108.3 mph.

Nootbaar, who had been a member of the Cardinals since 2018,

was informed of the trade during batting practice on Monday afternoon. Before

leaving Yankee Stadium and heading to Arizona where he will reunite with close

friend and former teammate Nolan Arenado, Nootbaar issued a tearful message to

Cardinals fans via a video posted on social media.

“It’s an emotional time for me and I just want to thank you

guys for everything,” Nootbaar said as his voice wavered with emotion. “From

being an eight-round draft pick in 2018 to being on the (Cardinals) in 2021

that had a 17-game winning streak, to being able to play with legends of the

game and win the division in (2022), all the way to this day, you guys have

always had my back and gave me great support.

“From a kid that wasn’t a high prospect at all, you guys

gave me great support and embraced me like I was,” Nootbaar continued as his

eyes filled with tears. “St. Louis was a special place and the only place I’ve

ever known – I bought a house there and everything – and it’s tough. But I just

want to thank you guys for everything you’ve done. You guys mean more to me

than I’ve ever meant to you guys, so thank you.”

A message from Lars Nootbaar to Cardinals fans ❤️ pic.twitter.com/5ue4IaXd3T

— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) August 3, 2026 Cards knocked Schlittler out after three innings

The Cardinals rattled Schlittler early with a lead-off walk

from JJ Wetherholt and a rocket off the bat of Burleson when Schlittler tried

to throw a 97.1 mph high fastball by him. Burleson showed how good of a

bad-ball hitter he is once again ...

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