ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½

TAMPA, Fla. — The career firsts continued coming this week in rapid succession for Cardinals center fielder Nathan Church except for the one that comes complete with a souvenir baseball and calligraphy suitable for a mantel.

What began with his first big-league run Tuesday and continued with his first big-league RBI on Wednesday accelerated Thursday night with his first big-league stolen base and, at a pivotal point in the game, his first big-league defensive assist. Church also scored two runs, including his first on a wild pitch, and sprinkled the box score with contributions even though the hit column remains zero.

“You want to get a hit every time you step up to the plate,� Church said. “The biggest thing is not worrying about anything other than getting a good pitch to hit. Look for the best pitches I can do damage on and then run to first — hard.�

Church made the fifth big-league start of his career Friday night in center field and entered the game 0 for 14 and still seeking his first big-league hit.

He would earn it in the fifth inning Friday night with a line-drive single to left field. The ball was retrieved, but the milestones were don't. Church continued accumulating firsts. In the seventh, he hit his first major-league home run to spark a rally that came up shy in a 10-6 loss. Church's home run on a slider traveled 414 feet.

At the start of the game, Church was already is the first player in MLB history to collect two or more runs, an HBP, a sac bunt, and a stolen base all before knocking his first base hit. And in a way that’s fitting because the 25-year-old prospect is showing the other ways he can influence a game. In Miami, he made a sliding catch to rob extra bases. In the 7-4 win Thursday at Tampa Bay, he had the throw to third base that not only got a runner out there but arrived with such timing that the runner headed home did not touch the plate before Nolan Gorman caught Church’s throw and applied the tag.

“I think the way he plays, and we’ve given him an opportunity as of late,� manager Oli Marol said. “The hits will come. But he does a lot of things well.�

In the sixth inning Thursday, Rays shortstop Tristan Gray roped a single to center field. A teammate, Everson Pereira, bolted from second and rounded third. Nick Fortes broke from first base, rounded second, and headed for third. In center, Church knew he had a play if he kept the ball to his right. He got the ball on a hop — and sizzled a strike to third for the out. Pereira slowed up as he neared home plate and that cost the Rays a run.

Church, who Baseball America says has the best outfield arm in the Cardinals’ minor-league system, held the score at 6-3 instead of 6-4 and possibly more.

“It’s not just firepower and let it eat,� Marmol said Church’s throw. “Yesterday was a big play. He put that on the money.�

And the swift throw also showed how the game may be slowing for Church.

In his big-league debut, Church let fly a throw from center that sailed over the cutoff man and allowed the Yankees to take an extra base. Four days later, the throw was true.

“A lot of it is pre-pitch planning and knowing what to do,� Church said. “I knew there were two outs. If the ball was hit to me and to my right side, maybe I could try for third. I’m out there trying to make some plays, get on base, help the team win. I wish I could show a little more offensively. That time will come.�

Church hit .329 with a .386 on-base percentage and a .911 OPS at three levels combined in the minors this season. He had 114 hits, 37 of which went for extra bases and he stole 16 bases on 21 attempts. A studious hitter in the minors, the Cardinals have watched Church expand his zone and start chasing in the majors. That has improved with each passing game. He put the ball in play in all four at-bats Thursday. As a result, Church forced the Rays into a fielder’s choice that brought home a run and outran an error that he would later turn into a run with a head start after stealing second base.

Through five games in the majors, Church doesn’t have a hit but he has more runs scored (four) than strikeouts (three).

“The more he settles in, you’ll start to see the skillset show,� Marmol said. “I actually think once he takes a deep breath and lets his shoulders drop a little bit, he’ll be fine. That’s easier said than done.�

Burleson scratched with wrist pain

Alec Burleson continued to feel soreness in his right wrist when taking swings Friday afternoon and was a late scratch from the evening’s starting lineup.

Burleson felt increased discomfort in his wrist after a swing in Thursday night’s game, which included a two-run single from him in the second inning. He finished the game and planned to test the wrist with batting practice Friday. The continuing soreness gave the Cardinals reason to avoid using him Friday night and pair that with Saturday’s off day for recovery time.

They expect him back in the lineup Sunday for the series finale.

Burleson’s absence shifted Lars Nootbaar from center to left field and wrote Church into the starting lineup at center with a chance for that first big-league hit.

Saturday night’s all right

For the first time in recent memory — and perhaps in expansion era baseball — the Cardinals do not have a game scheduled for a Saturday. The Cardinals checked with Elias Sports Bureau, the official statistician of Major League Baseball, and was told there would be no way with “any degree of accuracy� to know if the Cardinals had a previous Saturday scheduled off during the regular season dating back to 1892.

The Rays and Cardinals were originally supposed to play Saturday, but the NFL torpedoed that plan even though it had the Rays schedule long before it announced the 2025 preseason schedule. The Buccaneers host the Buffalo Bills, and due to parking overlaps there is no room to hold both games simultaneously.

So, MLB adjusted.

And the Cardinals have the mid-series off day.

“As long as I can remember, it’s not a thing,� Marmol said of seeing a Saturday off on the schedule. “Nineteen years of pro ball, no Saturdays off. Prior to 19 years of pro ball, no Saturdays off.�

The Cardinals’ game notes, written by the media relations team, suggest the Rays’ history of weekend off days may be more readily available: “Since schedule magnets have been around since the late 1990s.�