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 On Sunday, Moss helped his new team cash in an opportunity to end
its weekend series and an 11-game homestand on a winning note.
Delivering a pinch-hit, RBI single with one out in the bottom of the
ninth, Moss gave St. Louis a 3-2 win over the Colorado Rockies at
sold-out Busch Stadium.
After working the count to 2-1 against reliever Scott Oberg (2-2),
Moss grounded a fastball through the left side for his second hit in
11 Cardinal at-bats, scoring right fielder Jason Heyward.
"I saw (Oberg) on video and noticed he had good sinking action and
thought it would be tough to get him in the air," Moss said. "Then I
faced a couple of pitches and thought he'd be tough to pull. So I
just wanted to get the barrel to it, and if it found the hole, it
found the hole."
The early returns on Moss have been nothing but positive, according
to St. Louis manager Mike Matheny. Moss has hit in tough luck, with
five of his nine outs scalded at fielders and two of those nine
possibly clearing the wall in a more hitter-friendly environment.
"I don't know if I've been around anyone who's been as happy to put
on a Cardinal uniform," Matheny said of Moss. "We put him in a tough
spot today, and he delivered. He took what the pitcher gave him."
Heyward started the winning rally with a double and moved to third
when center fielder Randal Grichuk beat out an infield single. Moss'
hit enabled St. Louis (67-38) to beat Colorado three out of four and
finish the homestand at 7-4.
Trevor Rosenthal (2-2) collected the win, fanning left fielder Drew
Stubbs to end the ninth after a two-out double by right fielder
Carlos Gonzalez.
The Rockies (44-59) ended their seven-game road trip at 2-5, missing
on some chances to salvage a split of the four-game set at Busch
Stadium. They left runners at second base in the first, third and
fifth innings, unable to take advantage of unusual wildness from
Cardinals starter Jaime Garcia.
Entering the game with nine walks in 54 innings, Garcia issued four
walks in the first 3 1/3 innings, but none of them scored.
"That's the consequences of playing in tight games," Colorado
manager Walt Weiss said. "We battled hard on this road trip, but we
came up short."
After falling behind 2-0 in the fifth when Grichuk cranked his 12th
homer, a two-run, 421-foot shot over the center field wall after
Heyward beat out a 30-foot dribbler down the first base line for a
hit, the Rockies equalized in the sixth.
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First baseman Ben Paulsen's one-out double down the right field line
off reliever Steve Cishek scored DJ LeMahieu. Cishek's two-out wild
pitch brought home third baseman Nolan Arenado to make it a 2-2
game.
However, Colorado managed just one baserunner over the last three
innings, leaving the door open for St. Louis' newest bat to decide
the outcome.
"You can tell just after a few days that they breed success here,"
Moss said. "Players are happy here, and they want to play."
Neither starter was involved in the decision after working five
innings.
Colorado left-hander Yohan Flande gave up four hits and two runs
with no walks and three strikeouts. Garcia left after allowing a
leadoff single to second baseman DJ LeMahieu in the sixth, yielding
two hits and a run while fanning four.
NOTES: Colorado manager Walt Weiss removed RHP John Axford from the
closer's role after his blown save Thursday night. Weiss hasn't
named a replacement, although RHP Tommy Kahnle finished up Saturday
night's 6-2 win with 1 1/3 perfect innings. ... St. Louis didn't
start C Yadier Molina, but he pinch-hit for Tony Cruz in the seventh
and struck out in his only at-bat. ... After facing four pitchers
with ERAs under 3.00 in St. Louis, the Rockies go home to host
Seattle on Monday night in an interleague series but have to go up
against RHP Felix Hernandez.
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
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