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 The St. Louis Cardinals left-hander knew that the hitter stepping
into the batter's box for the Los Angeles Angels was his friend and
former teammate Shane Robinson. However, with the game on the line
and Garcia nearing 100 pitches on the night, getting an out would
require all of his focus.
It was the Angels' only real chance in the game. Down by three runs
but with runners on second and third and two out in the seventh, a
base hit by Robinson likely would have put the Angels within one
run.
Garcia, though, put the friendship on hold for the moment, striking
out Robinson to end the inning and help lead the Cardinals to a 5-2
win at Angel Stadium.
"I'm not going to lie to you, Shane Robinson is one of my best
friends," Garcia said. "We came up together through the minor
leagues. He's a great friend of mine and I know his family, I love
him, he's like my brother. It is a little weird facing him."
Garcia first reached the majors in 2008 with the Cardinals and
Robinson the next season, and they were teammates in St. Louis
through the 2014 season. And while Robinson was unable to get a key
hit off Garcia, he had plenty of company in the Angels' dugout.
 The strikeout of Robinson was Garcia's eighth of the night,
completing the lefty's seven innings. Garcia gave up two unearned
runs on four hits and one walk.
"I was able to make pitches, keep the ball down and keep them off
balance," Garcia said. "I've been saying, I feel good, everything
feels good. I've been working extremely hard between starts to
compete and give us a chance to win every time."
Garcia's only blemish came on a two-run homer by Angels designated
hitter C.J. Cron in the fourth inning, but the runs were unearned
because the blast immediately followed third baseman Matt
Carpenter's two-out error.
"That was a mistake," Garcia said. "He put a good swing on the ball,
but I didn't throw the pitch I should have thrown there, and it was
right in the middle of the plate."
The Cardinals tallied nine hits, including two each by Stephen
Piscotty, Yadier Molina and Randal Grichuk. Four of St. Louis' hits
came in succession in a four-run second inning against Angels
starter Matt Shoemaker (1-5), setting the tone for the game.
The Cardinals hit well in the clutch, going 4-for-9 with runners in
scoring position.
"Shoe was chasing some counts as the game went on, he got some
fastballs a little bit too much over the heart of the plate, and
those guys jumped on him," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "It
happened quickly in the second inning."
Shoemaker, called up from Triple-A Salt Lake to make the start, gave
up four runs on seven hits and one walk in four-plus innings.
"He made some good pitches (after the second inning), settled down a
little bit," Scioscia said. "Definitely showed that his stuff is
there. But he wasn't able to put pitches together like he usually
can."
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Offense continues to be a problem for the Angels. Outside of Cron's
homer, the only baserunners the Angels got into scoring position
against Garcia came in the seventh inning when they had Albert
Pujols (single) on third and Geovany Soto (double) on second with
one out. Garcia struck out both Johnny Giavotella and Robinson to
end the threat.
Cardinals reliever Kevin Siegrist threw a perfect eighth inning.
Trevor Rosenthal gave up two walks in the ninth but closed it out
for his sixth save.
The win allowed the Cardinals the rare opportunity to pick up ground
on the Cubs in the National League Central. St. Louis (18-16) moved
within seven games of first place after Chicago lost both ends of a
doubleheader to the San Diego Padres.
The Angels lost their fifth in a row and their ninth in 11 games.
Los Angeles (13-20) fell 7 1/2 games behind the first-place Seattle
Mariners in the American League West.
The Cardinals opened up a 4-0 lead in the second inning after their
first five batters of the inning reached base -- a walk by Brandon
Moss and consecutive singles by Molina, Matt Adams, Grichuk and
Kolten Wong.
Aledmys Diaz and Carpenter followed with back-to-back sacrifice
flies, and suddenly Shoemaker and the Angels were in another early
hole.
NOTES: The Angels acquired RHP Jhoulys Chacin from the Braves in
exchange for minor league LHP Adam McCreery. Chacin, 28, was 1-2
with a 5.40 ERA in five starts for Atlanta this season. He likely
won't be activated until Saturday, when he would start against the
Mariners in Seattle. ... Angels INF/OF Ji-Man Choi was designated
for assignment in order to make room on the roster for RHP Matt
Shoemaker, who was called up from Triple-A Salt Lake to start the
game. Choi, a Rule 5 selection by the Angels, hit .056 (1-for-18) in
14 games. ... Cardinals RHP Carlos Martinez threw a bullpen session
without any problems and is on schedule to start Saturday's game
against the Dodgers. Martinez had to leave his May 6 start early
because of flu-like symptoms, so the Cardinals gave him a couple
extra days of rest between starts.
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
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