Twenty-two at-bats of frustration and badly wanting to deliver came spilling out of Cardinals catcher Willson Contreras after his slump-busting RBI single in the eighth inning on Friday night. He roared, clapped his hands, wound up and unleashed an enthusiastic hand slap on first base coach Stubby Clapp and then looked toward the dugout and gave the pepper grinder gesture to his teammates.
Contreras, the club’s big offseason acquisition and the heir to franchise icon Yadier Molina as the club’s everyday catcher, had been mired in the longest hitless streak of his major-league career until his flare into right-center field drove in pinch runner Jordan Walker and gave the Cardinals, who were clinging to a one-run advantage at the time, an insurance run.