Inside The Cardinals

Watch Cardinals Young Core Slug Three Home Runs In First Inning Vs. Blue Jays

St. Louis is in good hands with their young talent erupting

Scott Neville

Watch Cardinals Young Core Slug Three Home Runs In First Inning Vs. Blue Jays
Watch Cardinals Young Core Slug Three Home Runs In First Inning Vs. Blue Jays /
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The St. Louis Cardinals broke out the bats for Opening Day and kept the damage coming all series long against the Toronto Blue Jays to open the season. 

In Game 3 of the three-game set, the Cardinals spoiled the highly-anticipated debut of Chris Bassitt -- wasting no time in doing so.

Cardinals second baseman Brendan Donovan got the party started immediately with a lead-off home run in the bottom of the first inning. He would be followed up by outfielder Alec Burleson's big fly to make it 2-0 before Bassitt could process the first bomb. 

Moments later Cardinals designated hitter Nolan Gorman blasted a 446-foot, two-run homer to dead center. 

The offensive outburst started a high-scoring trend early on, as the Blue Jays added three runs of their own to cut the score to one. After an RBI single by Cardinals superstar third baseman Nolan Arenado, Gorman came up to the plate for the second time and put the game away with another two-run shot off of Bassitt in the third inning. 

The Cardinals won the game 9-4 to claim their first series win of the season, largely aided by their budding young core. 

Donovan, 26, made his mark last season, capturing a National League Gold Glove Award at second base while finishing third in NL Rookie of the Year. 

Burleson, 24, enters the season as the Cardinals' No. 5 prospect according to MLB Pipeline and projects to have a bright future at the big-league level. 

Gorman, the star of the show Sunday, continues to showcase the pop in his bat after launching 14 home runs in just 89 games a season ago. The 22-year-old slugger could be an X-Factor alongside a slew of talented players on the roster moving forward. 

Meanwhile, the Cardinals' No. 1 prospect, Jordan Walker, has fared well in his limited action at the major-league level despite being just 20 years old. It won't be long before hard-throwing shortstop Masyn Winn -- the Cardinals' No. 2 prospect -- joins the party as well.

More MLB: Ex-Yankees Star May Make Sense For Cardinals To Bolster Back Of Bullpen

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Scott Neville
SCOTT NEVILLE

Scott Neville covers the St. Louis Cardinals for FanNation's "Inside The Cardinals" on Sports Illustrated. Before starting "Inside The Cardinals", Neville attended Merrimack College, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and Media with a minor in Marketing. Neville spent all four years with Merrimack's radio station WMCK, where he grew as a radio/podcast host and producer. His propensity for being in front of a microphone eventually expanded to film, where he produced multiple short films alongside his then-roommate and current co-worker Stephen Mottram. On a journey that began as a way to receive easy credits via film classes, he received a call from "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" star Charlie Day. Day advised him to make a feature-length film, which he completed his senior year. While writing the film, Neville completed an internship for United Way as part of their NFL Partnership Program. Neville ran the blog for a team of interns and hosted an internet show called "United Way's NFL Partnership Series" where he interviewed NFL alumni. After college Neville wrote for SB Nation's "Over The Monster," a Red Sox sister site of the flagship brand. His work would eventually lead him to a job as a content producer with NESN, where he would cover all sports. After developing as a writer with the top regional network in the world, he was given the opportunity to join FanNation and the Sports Illustrated Media Group as the publisher of "Inside The Red Sox."  After a few months as the top Major League Baseball site in the program, Neville sought expansion and pitched "Inside The Cardinals," one of the newest additions to FanNation and the Sports Illustrated Media Group. The successful launch and quick rise of "Inside The Cardinals" led to Neville joining the Baseball Essential ownership group, a national baseball site under SIMG. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottNeville46 Email: nevilles@merrimack.edu