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 As far as getting hit, no one in the majors does it better than
the St. Louis Cardinals center fielder.
Jay was plunked for a major league-high 15th time with the bases
loaded and none out in the bottom of the ninth inning Tuesday night,
forcing pinch-runner Peter Bourjos home with the tie-breaking run as
the Cardinals rallied past the sliding Cincinnati Reds 5-4 at Busch
Stadium.
Jay, whose second-inning single extended his hitting streak to a
season-high 11 games, took a 93-mile per hour fastball from J.J.
Hoover (1-10) on the leg for the first game-winning RBI of his
five-year major league career.
"It's not like I'm going up there looking to get hit by a pitch,"
Jay said. "But any way you can win a game, you'll take it."
Left fielder Matt Holliday led off the inning with a walk against
reliever J.J. Hoover (1-10), and first baseman Matt Adams lined a
first-pitch single to right, sending Holliday to third. Shortstop
Jhonny Peralta walked on a 3-2 pitch to fill the bases.
After Bourjos was inserted for Holliday, Jay wore Hoover's first
pitch, the second time this year St. Louis has had a walk-off hit
batter. Infielder Greg Garcia was nailed by a Justin Grimm fastball
May 13 in the 12th inning to force home the game-winning run against
the Chicago Cubs.
It was the sixth win in seven games for the Cardinals (68-57), who
climbed to 11 games north of .500 for the first time this year. They
stayed 2 1/2 games back of first-place Milwaukee in the National
League Central and upped their lead for the NL's first wild-card
spot to 2 1/2 games over San Francisco.
"Terrific job by our guys of fighting back," St. Louis manager Mike
Matheny said. "Guys are coming through with big at-bats at big
times."
Trailing 4-1 after Reds left fielder Ryan Ludwick cashed in two
errors and a walk with a two-run double in the sixth off St. Louis
starter John Lackey, the Cardinals went to work. They chased starter
Alfredo Simon after Peralta's 17th homer with one out in their half
of the sixth and a single by Jay, then went to work on the shaky
Cincinnati bullpen.
Pinch-hitter Shane Robinson rifled a two-out RBI single off Sam
LeCure to chop the lead to 4-3. In the eighth, pinch-hitter A.J.
Pierzynski delivered a two-out single to move Jay to third. Another
pinch-hitter, Daniel Descalso, doubled down the left-field line off
Jumbo Diaz for the equalizer.
It was the second straight night that Descalso bagged a game-tying
pinch-double.
"I've been in bigger spots before," he said. "You're just trying to
go up there and have a good at-bat."
While the Reds' bullpen fell to 0-10 with an earned run average of
nearly 5.00 since the All-Star break, St. Louis relievers pitched
three scoreless innings. Pat Neshek (6-0) worked around a one-out
single by shortstop Zack Cozart in the ninth for the win.
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Cincinnati (61-65) lost for the ninth time in 11 games and dropped to
18-31 in one-run games. It was its third walk-off loss in four games.
"I've never been around something like that," third baseman Todd Frazier
said of the recent stretch of tough losses. "I never want to see it
again."
Frazier did his part to prevent it, giving the Reds a 2-1 lead in the
fourth with a 424-foot, two-run homer to the grassy hill behind the
center field wall. It was his 21st homer of the year.
Simon, who hasn't won since July 9, left after 5 1/3 innings and 109
pitches, allowing eight hits and three runs with a walk and two
strikeouts.
"Short starts have bit us on the tail this road trip," Reds manager
Bryan Price said. "It blows up the bullpen."
Lackey departed after six innings, allowing four hits and four runs, two
of them earned. He issued a walk and whiffed seven.
St. Louis scored the game's first run in the bottom of the third when
Holliday lined a two-out RBI single to center. It drove in Lackey, whose
one-out single was his first hit since being traded from Boston on July
31 and only the fifth hit in his 13-year major league career.
NOTES: St. Louis placed 2B Mark Ellis (left oblique) on the 15-day
disabled list Tuesday and called up INF Greg Garcia from Triple-A
Memphis. Garcia was hitting .275 with eight homers and 40 RBIs but was
batting a robust .367 in August before earning his second promotion to
the big club. ... Cincinnati LHP Aroldis Chapman was unavailable Monday
night and walked around the clubhouse after the game with ice strapped
to his shoulder. Chapman walked all four batters he faced in Game 1 of
Sunday's doubleheader loss at Colorado. ... Cardinals RHP Jason Motte
(lower back) made 15 throws Tuesday from 90 feet, the first time he has
thrown since going on the disabled list Aug. 2. Motte hasn't decided if
he will go on an upcoming road trip that starts Friday in Philadelphia
or stay behind to rehab at home.
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
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