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 "I'm thinking about making contact," Peralta said.
Peralta not only made contact, he sent J.C. Ramirez's slider 364
feet to the front row in the left-field seats, lifting St. Louis to
a 3-2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks at Busch Stadium.
It was the seventh homer of the season for Peralta and the fourth
walk-off homer of his career, enabling the Cardinals (29-16) to
start a nine-game homestand with their fifth extra-inning win of the
year.
St. Louis rapped out 15 hits off five Arizona pitchers, but the
Cardinals were just 2-of-11 with runners in scoring position.
They could have ended the game in the ninth, but Ramirez fanned
third baseman Matt Carpenter, left fielder Matt Holliday and first
baseman Matt Adams after Enrique Burgos yielded leadoff singles by
center fielder Randal Grichuk and second baseman Kolten Wong.
However, Ramirez (1-1) left his last pitch over the plate's heart,
and Peralta sent the crowd of 42,853 home happy.
"I thought I hit it pretty well," Peralta said. "I knew the pitcher
from facing him in the American League. With two strikes, he's going
to throw a slider. He hung it."
Closer Trevor Rosenthal (1-0) worked two innings for the win,
escaping a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the top of the 10th. After a
mound visit from manager Mike Matheny, Rosenthal slipped a 100 mph
fastball by second baseman Chris Owings for a called third strike,
then induced a groundout from catcher Tuffy Gosewisch.
Matheny said his message to Rosenthal wasn't to reach back for
anything extra, even though Rosenthal's six pitches after the visit
were clocked between 98 and 100 mph.
"He's having a great season," Matheny said of Rosenthal, who lowered
his ERA to 0.81. "You're seeing him attack the hitters; and,
overall, I don't know that you can ask for too much more than what
he's done."
In losing for just the second time in eight games, the Diamondbacks
(21-23) missed out on their share of chances with men in scoring
position, going just 1-for-10. While the 10th inning was a glaring
failure, the eighth inning was also damaging, even though they
rallied to tie the game.
After right fielder Mark Trumbo rifled a two-run homer to center off
reliever Kevin Siegrist, Arizona got consecutive walks from first
baseman Paul Goldschmidt and right fielder David Peralta.
Reliever Seth Maness cleaned up Siegrist's mess. Third baseman
Yasmany Tomas flew out to right, Owings bunted the runners into
scoring position and Gosewisch fanned on three pitches.
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"It's one of those things you've got to learn how to do as a group,"
Diamondbacks manager Chip Hale said of converting scoring
opportunities. "Hitters have to be able to put the ball in play with
one out and a man at third. It's something we just need to get
better at."
St. Louis initiated scoring in the bottom of the first on a
fielder's choice grounder by Adams. It scored Wong, who had led off
with a double and reached third on a single by Carpenter.
Right fielder Jason Heyward upped the Cardinals' lead to 2-0 in the
fourth with a two-out RBI single off the glove of shortstop Nick
Ahmed, plating Adams.
St. Louis starter Carlos Martinez tied a career high with eight
strikeouts over seven scoreless innings, the second straight outing
in which he has not allowed a run. Martinez gave up just five hits
and walked two in a 97-pitch effort.
"It's a shame we couldn't hold it for him," Matheny said. "He made
some tough pitches when he had to. He had some of the consistency
today that we've wanted to see."
Arizona starter Chase Anderson scattered 10 hits over six innings,
allowing two runs. Anderson walked one and fanned four.
NOTES: St. Louis CF Jon Jay (left wrist) will start a rehab
assignment Tuesday at Class A Peoria. Jay, who has been on the
15-day disabled list since May 11, could be back with the team as
soon as this weekend. ... Arizona RHP David Hernandez (elbow) was
scheduled to continue his rehab assignment for Double-A Mobile on
Monday, but the game was washed out. Hernandez has struck out five
in three innings so far during his rehab stint. ... The Cardinals
brought LHP Marco Gonzales (left pectoral muscle) to town for an
examination after scratching him from a scheduled start for Triple-A
Memphis on Monday. Gonzales missed a pair of starts in April with
the same injury.
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reserved.]
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