|
 Third baseman Greg Garcia's bases-loaded walk with one out in the
bottom of the ninth capped a three-run outburst that gave the
Cardinals a 9-8 win Thursday night over the Colorado Rockies.
On the verge of a third straight home loss marked by a blown 4-1
lead and shaky defense throughout, St. Louis (65-37) instead
pilfered a win as the Colorado bullpen imploded in an ugly finish.
"We found a way to win and it could start another hot streak,"
Cardinals first baseman Matt Carpenter said.
Carpenter, who cracked a three-run homer in the second and a solo
shot in the fifth, started the deciding rally with his fourth hit, a
ground-rule double off reliever Boone Logan.
Closer John Axford entered the game but only fueled the fire,
walking center fielder Randal Grichuk and yielding a single to
second baseman Kolten Wong to fill the bases. Shortstop Jhonny
Peralta laced a two-run single to center, tying the game.
Following an intentional walk to right fielder Jason Heyward,
catcher Yadier Molina flew out to shallow center, anchoring Wong to
third. But Garcia, who was called up earlier Thursday, watched a 3-1
fastball sail high to end the 3-hour, 50-minute marathon.
"You have to understand who you are as a player," Garcia said. "I
was looking for one spot on the 3-1 pitch and I didn't get it."
Axford (3-5) has allowed eight runs in his last 3 2/3 innings,
covering five games, and has seen his earned run average soar to
4.45. Rockies manager Walt Weiss declined to discuss a possible
closer change after the game.
"It's the worst five-game stretch of my career," Axford said.
"That's what's going on right now."
St. Louis upped its National League Central lead to 5 1/2 games over
second place Pittsburgh, a 15-5 loser in Cincinnati. Colorado
(43-57) fell to 1-3 on their seven-game road trip despite a 16-hit
attack that included a solo homer from catcher Nick Hundley and a
two-run blast by starting pitcher Chris Rusin.
Taking advantage of poor throws by reliever Kevin Siegrist, the
Rockies snapped a 6-6 tie in the eighth with two runs. Siegrist's
throwing error on a sacrifice bunt by center fielder Charlie
Blackmon set up a sacrifice fly by shortstop Jose Reyes, and another
wild throw past third after Siegrist caught Blackmon stealing scored
the second run.
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But the Cardinals' last-gasp rally made their bad defense -- three
errors, plus two misjudged fly balls and at least three cutoff men
missed -- meaningless.
"Some sloppy defense at times," manager Mike Matheny said. "It's
very rare for this club. It almost hurt us, but fortunately, we had
some good at-bats when we really needed them."
Both starters were pounded over five-inning stints. Rusin allowed 10
hits and six runs with no walks and five strikeouts, while St.
Louis' Carlos Martinez yielded 10 hits and five runs, walking none
and fanning six.
Martinez drew Colorado's ire when he plunked second baseman DJ
LeMahieu with a fastball to the hip in the fifth inning, then
exchanged words with LeMahieu. After first baseman Ben Paulsen
bounced into an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play, Martinez exulted
while multiple Rockies yelled at him.
"It wasn't an accident," LeMahieu said. "I hit the ball back at him
the at-bat before and I guess he thought I tried to hit it back at
him or something."
Carlos Villanueva (4-3) picked up the win with a scoreless ninth.
NOTES: New acquisition Brandon Moss was in uniform for St. Louis on
Thursday night but didn't start. The outfielder came over in a trade
with Cleveland for minor league LHP Rob Kaminsky, a first-round pick
by the Cardinals in 2013. ... Colorado 2B DJ LeMahieu saw his
career-high 18-game hitting streak snapped Wednesday at the Chicago
Cubs. ... The Cardinals placed LF Matt Holliday (right quad strain)
on the 15-day disabled list and recalled INF Greg Garcia from
Triple-A Memphis. They also designated 1B Dan Johnson for
assignment.
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