|
 But Kansas City Royals manager Ned Yost had little trouble summing
up Garcia's outing in a 4-0 St. Louis win at sold-out Busch Stadium.
"Man, superb execution," Yost said. "Superb execution."
Garcia (2-3) fired eight shutout innings, allowing just four hits --
all infield singles -- and fanned six without issuing a walk. In
lowering his earned run average in 2.06, Garcia threw 73 of his 96
pitches for strikes and stretched his streak of walk-free innings to
30, dating back to a 5-0 loss on May 21 at the New York Mets.
However, Garcia's general demeanor after the game suggested someone
who took a third-inning shower instead of dominating the game. He
answered three different questions with the same word -- "healthy"
-- in an occasionally brusque session which brought to mind Seattle
Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch's exchanges with the media.
"I'm healthy and I'm competing," Garcia said, "and I'm extremely
happy."
Had circumstances been different, Garcia could have easily had a
chance at his first complete game since 2011. But St. Louis manager
Mike Matheny warmed up closer Trevor Rosenthal through a two-run
eighth inning and then sat him once the lead got to four runs,
pinch-hitting Peter Bourjos for Garcia and bringing in Kevin
Siegrist to complete the shutout.
"He was as good as we've seen him," Matheny said of Garcia. "You
look at four hits, all infield hits, and you look at some of the
swings they had against him ... guys just don't look comfortable
against him right now."
Garcia pitched just twice with men in scoring position. In the
fourth, after third baseman Mike Moustakas beat out an infield hit,
reached second on a throwing error by second baseman Kolten Wong and
advanced to third on a groundout, Garcia induced a popup from first
baseman Eric Hosmer and a groundout from catcher Salvador Perez.
The Royals (34-24) pushed men to first and second in the sixth after
consecutive two-out infield hits, but Garcia suckered Hosmer into
waving at an 0-2 breaking ball several inches off the plate for a
strikeout.
By then, the Cardinals (40-21) had all the runs they'd need,
courtesy of the bottom of the order in the second. Center fielder
Jon Jay tripled home left fielder Randal Grichuk with two outs, then
trotted home when Garcia helped his cause by poking a single past
Moustakas.
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Kansas City starter Yordano Ventura (3-6) departed an inning later
with weakness in his pitching hand. In his three innings, Ventura
yielded four hits and two runs with a walk and two strikeouts.
"My thumb and my last two fingers felt numb," Ventura said through
an interpreter, infielder Christian Colon. "I just didn't feel
right, couldn't really feel the grip of the ball. It just felt
really weird."
St. Louis clinched its 23rd win in 30 home games in the eighth.
Grichuk's one-out fly ball to right-center became an RBI triple when
it hit off right fielder Alex Rios' foot and caromed to the wall,
followed by Jay's sacrifice fly.
Moments later, Garcia retired to the clubhouse to ice his right
heel, struck by a Hosmer comebacker in the second.
"It happened in the (second)," Garcia said of the injury. "I pitched
eight innings. So it didn't bother me at all."
NOTES: St. Louis Friday put RHP Lance Lynn (right forearm strain) on
the 15-day DL. Lynn is 4-4 with a 3.07 ERA in 12 starts, covering 73
1/3 innings. ... Kansas City Thursday activated C Erik Kratz from a
rehab assignment at Triple-A Omaha and then designated him for
assignment, opting to keep Drew Butera as the backup to starter
Salvador Perez. ... The Cardinals will replace Lynn in the rotation
Saturday with LHP Tyler Lyons, who was recalled from Triple-A
Memphis. Lyons started three games for St. Louis last month and
fanned 17 in 13 innings, getting no-decisioned in each game.
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