|
 But his left oblique strain left the game's remainder up to a
bullpen that couldn't even hold a 2-0 lead for two outs.
Bunching five of its six hits into the bottom of the seventh, St.
Louis scored all of its runs for a 3-2 win that brought them within
a game of Milwaukee in the National League Central.
The rally made a winner of starter John Lackey, making his Cardinals
debut after being acquired Thursday morning from Boston in exchange
for pitcher Joe Kelly and left fielder Allen Craig.
Lackey (12-7 combined) pitched seven innings, allowing seven hits
and two runs with no walks and four strikeouts. It was the 150th win
of his career, ranking sixth among active pitchers.
"I felt pretty good from the start," Lackey said. "I started
locating better as the game went on. It's kind of cool to reach that
number with a new team. It's a good day for sure."
It wasn't shaping up so well until Garza was injured while throwing
ball one to third baseman Matt Carpenter in the sixth. Garza retired
Carpenter on the next pitch, and was walking up the dugout steps to
hit in the seventh when manager Ron Roenicke pulled him.
Garza allowed just one hit, a leadoff double to first baseman Matt
Adams in the fifth, and fanned four with no walks in a 71-pitch
outing.
"He wasn't going to bat," Roenicke said of Garza. "He didn't
understand what I was telling him down below. I talked to him before
that and he said he couldn't go. When you're talking about obliques,
you can't go out there."
"I caught him last year in Texas and when he's spotting his fastball
like he did today," St. Louis catcher A.J. Pierzynski said. "He's as
good as anyone around. But it wasn't like we were saying, 'OK, he's
out of there, now we can go.' We're just trying to bunch some hits
together."
Which the Cardinals did. After retiring his first hitter, reliever
Zach Duke gave up a 442-foot homer to left fielder Matt Holliday,
his 12th. Adams reached Duke for a single and Jeremy Jeffress came
in from the bullpen.
Jeffress (0-1) promptly gave up sharp ground ball singles to
shortstop Jhonny Peralta and Pierzynski, with Adams scoring on
Pierzynski's hit to tie the game. Rookie right fielder Oscar Taveras
unknotted the game with a two-strike RBI single to right-center as
the sellout crowd of 44,662 roared with approval.
"Garza wasn't giving us much room," St. Louis manager Mike Matheny
said. "But their bullpen has done a good job this year. We just did
a good job of bunching together our hits."
[to top of second column] |
Milwaukee put men on first and second with one out in the ninth against
closer Trevor Rosenthal. But Rosenthal fanned pinch hitter Scooter
Gennett with a changeup and whiffed Carlos Gomez on a half-swing for his
NL-leading 34th save.
The result enabled the Cardinals (59-51) to pull even with the Brewers
(61-51) in the loss column.
Milwaukee scored its runs in the first two innings. Third baseman Aramis
Ramirez stroked a two-out single to left-center in the first to plate
right fielder Ryan Braun, and first baseman Mark Reynolds hit his 19th
homer in the second.
With Garza cruising along in a stadium where his career earned run
average was 9.56 before Sunday, the Brewers appeared in control. But
Garza's untimely injury gave St. Louis the opening it needed.
"It felt like a muscle grab and it was one of those," he said. "There's
too much time left in the season and I thought I'd make the smart play.
I could have made it worse and been out the rest of the year."
NOTES: St. Louis CF Jon Jay (sore left wrist) did not start for a fifth
straight game and might not play until Tuesday, when the team opens a
series with Boston. Jay was injured trying to check a swing on Tuesday
night in San Diego. ... Milwaukee 2B Scooter Gennett (quad tightness)
sat out Sunday and was replaced by Rickie Weeks. Gennett did not play
Friday night after injuring his left index finger while bunting in
batting practice. ... The Brewers sent RHP Jim Henderson back to their
spring training base in Maryvale, Ariz., Friday to continue
strengthening his pitching shoulder. Henderson went on the disabled list
May 2 with right shoulder inflammation.
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