Cardinals OF Jordan Walker finally goes deep with first home run since winning Derby

St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Jordan Walker hit a home run in the bottom of the eighth inning Saturday night against the Colorado Rockies.

While Walker hit 22 home runs in the first half of the season, he had been without a home run since the All-Star break.

To make the slump even worse, it came on the heels of his winning the 2026 Home Run Derby in impressive fashion. The outfielder found himself in the finals of the derby against Kyle Schwarber, who was competing in front of his hometown Philadelphia Phillies fans at Citizens Bank Park.

Schwarber was up first in the final round and hit 11 home runs on 16 swings, putting the pressure on Walker. The 24-year-old needed to hit six home runs in a row to win the tournament. He hit three to put himself into the bonus, and then hit three more home runs to clinch the impromptu win.

Then the slump hit. Heading into Saturday’s game, Walker had gone 19 games without a home run. He was still hitting well, hitting .368 so far in the month of August, but with none of his seven hits so far leaving the park.

That changed Saturday night. St. Louis was down 7-4 in the bottom of the eighth inning. Walker came up with the bases empty and one out in the inning. He sent a 79-mph changeup an estimated 432 ft. into the seats in left-center field.

While the home run is sure to give Walker a boost, or at least one less thing to mentally be worried about at the plate, it was not enough to inspire a St. Louis comeback.

The Cardinals lost 8-6 and fell to 58-59 on the year, just below .500. St. Louis is in third place in the NL Central, but 15 games back of the Milwaukee Brewers.