|
 Slapping Philadelphia Phillies closer Jeanmar Gomez with his first
blown save in 10 chances, St. Louis tallied twice in its last at-bat
Wednesday night to pull out a 5-4 win at Busch Stadium.
Matt Holliday's two-out single into left field plated Aledmys Diaz
with the winning run as the Cardinals (14-14) bagged their first
walkoff win of the season and improved to 3-9 against teams with
winning records.
"It was an important game for us to win," Holliday said. "We needed
it and we need to win tomorrow to win the series. All games are
important, but this was one we needed to win."
Pinch-hitter Kolten Wong started the rally with a walk after falling
behind 1-2. After Matt Carpenter flied out, pinch-hitter Matt Adams
lined a double off the top of the right-center wall, a ball hit so
hard that the speedy Wong was held at third.
After the game's fourth replay review determined that Adams' ball
stayed in the park, Gomez intentionally walked Diaz to set up a
potential double play ball from Stephen Piscotty. Gomez got the
count advantage at 1-2, but couldn't put Piscotty away and paid for
it by allowing a game-tying infield single into the hole between
third and short.
 However, pinch-runner Carlos Martinez overran third and was tagged
out in a rundown for the second out, Diaz taking third. Piscotty was
ceded second base on defensive indifference as Holliday took the
first pitch for a ball.
Philadelphia (16-12) could have pitched around Holliday and reloaded
the bases for Randal Grichuk, but opted to face the veteran. On a
1-1 pitch, Holliday slashed a grounder past shortstop Freddy Galvis
and Diaz trotted home.
"That guy's a sinkerball pitcher and I thought he might try to pitch
me in," Holliday said. "So I wanted to see a pitch and was just
trying to hit a ball hard."
Gomez (2-1) faced the postgame music in a silent Phillies clubhouse,
blaming himself for walking Wong.
"I'm disappointed in the first hitter," he said. "I had the walk, he
tied the game. I have to make a good pitch in that situation. To
have a blown save, you feel bad because the team played hard the
whole game."
Kevin Siegrist (4-0) fanned the side in the ninth to pick up the win
for St. Louis, which improved to 2-4 on its season-long 10-game
homestand.
It was only the second loss in nine games for Philadelphia, which
obtained a 4-0 lead after 4 ½ innings on a three-run homer by Ryan
Howard in the fourth and a two-out solo blast by Odubel Herrera an
inning later.
But the Cardinals chased Phillies starter Adam Morgan in their half
of the fifth with three runs, the outburst aided by two long replay
reviews that went in St. Louis' favor.
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Ruben Tejada led off the inning with a liner down the third base
line that was originally called foul by umpire Ryan Blakney.
Cardinals manager Mike Matheny asked for a review, and after a 5:01
delay, the call was reversed and Tejada was awarded a double.
After filling the bases with no outs, Diaz's hard grounder to the
left side skittered off Galvis' glove and into short left field.
Tejada and Eric Fryer scored, Fryer sneaking his hand in around the
tag of catcher Carlos Ruiz.
Philadelphia manager Pete Mackanin asked for a review, but the delay
of 2:21 didn't work in his team's favor as the ruling of plate
umpire Quinn Wolcott was affirmed.
Morgan departed after Piscotty singled pinch-hitter Brandon Moss
home to cut the Phillies' lead to 4-3, having worked four-plus
innings. He allowed six hits and three runs, walking two and fanning
two, and refused to use the replay delays as an excuse.
"I got ahead of those guys," he said. "Afterwards, I just couldn't
put them away."
St. Louis starter Mike Leake remained winless in six starts with his
new team, going five innings and yielding four runs off four hits
and a walk. He fanned three.
Matheny saluted his team's grit in the face of a four-run deficit.
"It was one of those days where they refused to go down," he said.
NOTES: St. Louis OF Tommy Pham (left oblique strain) started a rehab
assignment Wednesday night at Triple-A Memphis, going 1-for-2 with
two RBI and a steal. Pham has been on the DL since being injured on
Opening Day in Pittsburgh. ... Philadelphia 1B Ryan Howard Tuesday
night became the first player in team history to homer in multiple
1-0 games in a season. ... The Cardinals named Double-A OF Harrison
Bader and P Andrew Morales as their Minor League Player and Pitcher
of the Month for April.
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