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 Moss' two-out, three-run home run capped a five-run fifth inning
in the Cardinals' 8-2 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase
Field on Tuesday. It was his third homer in four at-bats with two
outs and runners in scoring position this year.
"That's a good stat," Moss said. "That's a stark contrast from last
year. I really struggled, put a lot of pressure on myself last year
just to hit with runners on base. When you do that, it doesn't work
out very well.
"This year I am trying to relax in those at-bats. I'm seeing the
ball in those at-bats, and I have a better approach this year."
Moss had four hits, including his fifth homer, Stephen Piscotty hit
a two-run homer, and Carlos Martinez pitched eight scoreless innings
as the Cardinals (11-9) won for the third time in four games.
Moss also doubled and scored in a three-run seventh inning and
singled in the second and ninth innings. Piscotty hit his fourth
homer.
 "I told you we had guys who could hit home runs," Moss said. "I
stand by that. Busch (Stadium) isn't the best place to do it, but we
have a team that is plenty capable of doing it. When you can get
multiple runs with one swing, that does a lot."
Jake Lamb and Yasmany Tomas homered in the ninth inning for the
Diamondbacks, who scored 22 runs in their previous two games.
Arizona (11-11) failed in its third attempt this season to get two
games over .500 for the first time since Sept. 25, 2013.
Tomas' fourth-inning double extended his hitting streak to a career
high 12 games.
Martinez (4-0) gave up two singles and the Tomas double. He struck
out four and walked one.
"He was pretty efficient," St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said.
"Even just his style was different. He was much more under control,
wasn't max effort today."
Martinez threw more off-speed pitches early in the count and in the
early innings in an attempt to keep Arizona off-balance.
"I wanted to save the fastball for the late innings," Martinez said
through an interpreter. "I wanted to throw strikes in the first two,
three innings, and then pound the zone with the fastball.
Former Cardinals right-hander Shelby Miller (0-2) gave up two
singles in the first four innings before St. Louis scored five runs
off him in the fifth.
Miller has given up 19 earned runs in 19 2/3 innings this season, an
8.69 ERA, and he has given up six homers in 16 innings at Chase
Field.
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Piscotty had two hits and three RBIs, and Cardinals leadoff man
Jeremy Hazelbaker added two hits and two runs.
Jean Segura, who went 1-for-4 for Arizona, leads the NL with 33
hits.
Aledmys Diaz singled to open the fifth inning before Martinez
sacrificed him to second base and Hazelbaker walked. Piscotty hit a
fly ball to short right-center field that Arizona center fielder
Chris Owings dived for but could not handle. The ball, ruled a
double, bounced away, and Diaz scored.
"I probably could have actually got to it standing up," said Owings,
a middle infielder who is playing center field this season after an
injury to All-Star A.J. Pollock. "I felt like when I tried to slide
for it, my head might have popped up a little bit, and that's what
made my glove move a tad."
Randal Grichuk hit a sacrifice fly to make it 2-0 before Moss hit a
1-1 changeup deep into the right field stands for a 5-0 lead.
David Peralta's single in the fourth inning was the first hit off
Martinez.
NOTES: St. Louis LF Matt Holliday (right leg cramp) was held out of
the starting lineup Tuesday after being removed in the third inning
Monday, when he felt the injury while running out a ground ball to
third base. Holliday received no tests and did pregame work on the
field Tuesday. ... Cardinals 3B Matt Carpenter started in the No. 3
spot in the order for the first in his 610-game career, and he went
1-for-1 with three walks. He has a career .828 on-base-plus-slugging
percentage. ... Arizona RHP Shelby Miller broke a 24-start winless
streak when he beat St. Louis in his final start of the 2015 season.
Miller, a former Cardinal, had lost all 16 decisions since beating
Miami on May 17. He received 2.54 runs of support last season, the
lowest in the majors in 40 years. ... The Chase Field roof was open.
The temperature was 76 degrees at first pitch.
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