ST. LOUIS — Willson Contreras hit two three-run homers, Nolan Gorman also homered twice and the St. Louis Cardinals tied a franchise record by going deep seven times to power past the Los Angeles Dodgers 16-8 in a slugfest Thursday night.
Nolan Arenado added a two-run homer, and Juan Yepez and Paul DeJong each hit solo homers run for St. Louis.
The Cardinals, who have homered in a season-high seven games in a row, hit seven in a game for the first time since July 12, 1996, against the Chicago Cubs. They also did it May 7, 1940, against the Brooklyn Dodgers. Yepez, Gorman and DeJong hit consecutive homers in the sixth inning.
Freddie Freeman hit a grand slam and Max Muncy added a solo homer for the Dodgers. It was the fourth grand slam for Freeman and his 300th career homer. Los Angeles leads the majors this season with five grand slams and rank second with 74 homers.
The teams’ nine combined home runs set a record for Busch Stadium.
Adam Wainwright (1-0) allowed five runs — two earned — and five hits in 5 1/3 innings for the win in his third start this season.
Dodgers starter Julio Urias (5-4) made his first career start against the Cardinals, and it didn’t go well. He gave up six runs in three innings.
The Cardinals batted around with four home runs in a six-run third inning off Urias. Contreras hit a one-out, three-run shot 434 feet to center field. With two outs, pinch-hitter Yepez, Gorman and DeJong hit back-to-back-to-back homers.
St. Louis added three runs in the fourth off Phil Bickford. Oscar Mercado, who had three hits, scored on a double steal. Arenado hit a two-run homer with two outs to extend the Cardinals’ lead to 9-2. It was Arenado’s sixth home run in his past seven games.
Contreras’ second three-run homer and Gorman’s two-run blast highlighted a seven-run eighth inning.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.