Quinn Mathews Got a Special Surprise After First MLB Win

The St. Louis Cardinals won a big game on Friday night over the Pittsburgh Pirates, getting back to .500 in the process. Left-hander Quinn Mathews drew the start and picked up his first big-league win, going 5 2/3 innings and allowing just one run. The bullpen held it from there.

Jimmy Crooks hit a towering two-run homer earlier in the game, which proved to be the difference. After the game, the two longtime battery mates shared a special moment, with Crooks delivering the game ball to Mathews.

"Being battery mates since Springfield has been a pleasure, going from there to Memphis to here now," Crooks told his pitcher. "It's definitely been fun. I know this is hard to come by, but you did it. You competed your ass off today, so I just wanted to give you the game ball. I'm happy for you brother."

On Opening Day, Noot presented JJ with his first career homer baseball. Now, Jimmy Crooks presents Quinn Mathews with the game ball from his first career win. Awesome moment. #STLCards pic.twitter.com/7ByvZ6A5Uj
— Ethan Hannaford (@echann7) August 29, 2026

Quinn Mathews receives memorable gift

Mathews needed a performance like this. Last week in Philadelphia, he allowed seven runs over five innings, and the Cardinals were ultimately swept in that series. This was also his first start at Busch Stadium, and he punctuated it in a memorable way, securing his first big-league win.

The young left-hander also lost his first two decisions and had a 6.43 ERA heading into this start. But Mathews settled in quickly and gave the Cardinals exactly what they needed in order to secure their second straight win and get back to the .500 mark after a five-game losing streak.

Mathews is also filling in for the injured Hunter Dobbins in the Cardinals rotation, so they need him to have more performances like this, especially considering that Dobbins may not pitch again this season. They will at least get Andre Pallante back very soon, but Mathews is likely going to stay in the starting rotation for the rest of the season.

If he has more starts such as this previous one, then the Cardinals should be in good shape for the future, and that means Mathews could easily be penciled into the starting rotation for 2027, which would be a huge boost for St. Louis, considering they haven't gotten much production out of Matthew Liberatore.

Mathews' next turn through the rotation should come next week when the Cardinals face the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. It will be interesting to see if he can build off of this start going forward.

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