MILWAUKEE -- As the season wore on, and June turned into July and July became August, Luken Baker -- he of the 32 Minor League home runs at the time -- started to think that his highlight of 2024 would be notching a title he never really wanted in the first place.

The 27-year-old Baker became the all-time home run leader for the Memphis Redbirds on June 26, when he cranked his 74th career long ball at the Triple-A level. Silently, however, Baker longed for another shot at the big leagues so that he could show the Cardinals just how complete of a hitter he had become and far more than an all-or-nothing slugger than his 6-foot-4, 285-pound frame might suggest.

That big league callup finally came on Aug. 20, and one night later, Baker hit one of the Cards¡¯ most dramatic home runs to knot up a game they would later win in extra innings. Facing the same Brewers he hurt late last month on Wednesday night, Baker patiently worked the count to 3-1 and drilled an RBI single up the middle that propelled the Cardinals to a 3-2 win in 10 innings at American Family Field.

For Baker, it was his sixth straight game with an RBI, making him finally feel like he belongs at the big league level as a consistent contributor.

¡°I mean, it just feels right,¡± Baker said of driving in his ninth run of the season for the Cards. ¡°You have to score runs to win games and if my job is to hit with runners in scoring position or go up there and hit a solo homer, the job is to score runs. So, the more I can drive in runs for this team, the better.¡±

Baker¡¯s heroics came after veteran reliever Andrew Kittredge stranded two runners in scoring position in the eighth inning by striking out pinch-hitter William Contreras and lefty Garrett Mitchell, and then pitching a perfect ninth inning. That performance came on a night when All-Star closer Ryan Helsley wasn¡¯t available after pitching two innings in Tuesday¡¯s 12-inning win over the Brewers.

¡°Kitt was really good and that¡¯s a tough at-bat against Contreras, who has been good against us all year,¡± manager Oliver Marmol said. ¡°To punch him out, and then we don¡¯t let [Willy] Adames beat us and go after Mitchell, and get his man, that was big.¡±

The clutch pitching of Kittredge (32 holds) and Ryan Fernandez (second career save), and the hitting of Baker allowed the Cardinals to wrap up a 19-game stretch against teams with winning records at 11-8. The Redbirds, who are 5 1/2 games out of the third NL Wild Card position, are 4-0-1 in their last five series against the Brewers [twice], Yankees, Padres and Twins.

¡°They¡¯re bought in, they¡¯re committed and we¡¯re going to take our best shot,¡± said Marmol, whose squad faces just one opponent (the Guardians) with a winning record the rest of the regular season.

¡°We¡¯re just going to stay present, and the guys did a nice job of staying present today, and you look up after the game is over and you¡¯ve got a nice ¡®W.¡¯ Now, we come back and get ready for the homestand [against the Mariners and Reds].¡±

While he was smashing 86 career homers for Memphis, Baker said he tried to focus on continued improvement instead of wondering if he¡¯d ever get a return call to the big leagues. He smashed 33 Triple-A homers in 2023 before getting a cameo for his MLB debut. This season, he hit another 32 homers to mash his way back to the big leagues.

¡°Every year of my career, I¡¯ve gotten a little bit better at something and this was the first year that I was able to put back-to-back power numbers up,¡± Baker said. ¡°I know that¡¯s my role and my focus was to drive baseballs. Being able to do that for two straight years, it felt normal.¡±

After homering against the Brewers on Aug. 21, and smashing a two-run long ball at Yankee Stadium on Sunday in a Cardinals win, Baker¡¯s greatest memory of the season won¡¯t be becoming Memphis¡¯ all-time home run leader after all.

Not that he feels bad about earning that title one bit. After all, it was just part of his journey of getting back to the big leagues.

¡°I mean, that was actually really neat,¡± Baker said. ¡°Obviously, being there long enough to do that wasn¡¯t something that I dreamed of doing. But as long as I was there, it meant I was doing my job, which was a neat thing.¡±