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 The other outfielder St. Louis obtained in that deal had the biggest
impact on the Cardinals' latest win.
Center fielder Randal Grichuk homered and singled, delivering what
turned out to be the Cardinals' last two runs Tuesday night in a 6-4
win over the Arizona Diamondbacks at Busch Stadium.
Since coming off the disabled list on May 16, Grichuk is 13-for-38
(.342), collecting seven extra-base hits in that span and also
chipping in a spate of terrific defensive plays while playing all
three outfield positions.
"You got a great display of what he can do tonight," St. Louis
manager Mike Matheny said. "He gave you the whole package."
Grichuk led off the bottom of the second with a 414-foot blast to
right-center field, his second homer of the year, to give St. Louis
a 5-3 lead. In the fourth, Grichuk laced an RBI single to left,
scoring right fielder Jason Heyward from second with what turned out
to be the game's final run.
The 23-year old Grichuk, taken one pick ahead of Mike Trout in the
first round of the 2009 draft, said he gained confidence from 35
postseason at-bats last year. The first was a solo homer in the
National League Championship Series off Los Angeles Dodgers ace
Clayton Kershaw.
"You're at the biggest stage," Grichuk said of the postseason. "To
play in those games and have a little success was big for me."
Grichuk's contributions Tuesday helped make a winner of left-hander
Jaime Garcia (1-1), who earned his first victory since June 15,
2014. Making his second start after shoulder issues sidelined him
for the season's first 40 games, Garcia allowed eight hits and four
runs (three earned) over six innings with no walks and five
strikeouts.
Garcia gave up runs in the first three innings but found a rhythm in
the fourth as he started throwing more off-speed pitches for
strikes. He finished his outing by inducing a 6-4-3 double play ball
from shortstop Nick Ahmed to quell a two-on, one-out threat in the
sixth.
"It probably wasn't my best outing," Garcia said, "but I competed,
kept my team in the game and gave them a chance to win it. They did
an unbelievable job of hitting."
After Garcia allowed a two-out, two-run double by third baseman
Yasmany Tomas in the top of the first, the Cardinals (30-16) pounced
on Arizona starter Archie Bradley for four runs, aided by the
right-hander's control problems.
Bradley (2-2) issued consecutive walks ahead of left fielder Matt
Holliday's RBI single. One out later, shortstop Jhonny Peralta
drilled a two-run double to the right field corner, and St. Louis
had the lead for good.
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The Cardinals held on despite being outhit 11-8 and tying a season
high with three errors. The Diamondbacks left the bases loaded in
the seventh as Tomas, who also doubled home a run in the third,
fanned on three pitches from reliever Matt Belisle.
Belisle came within an out of a three-inning save, but first baseman
Paul Goldschmidt drew a walk and center fielder A.J. Pollock
singled, and the runners moved up on an error by Heyward.
With closer Trevor Rosenthal unavailable after throwing 45 pitches
in the past two games, Seth Maness relieved and induced a
game-ending groundout from Tomas for his third save.
Bradley gave up five hits and six runs over 3 2/3 innings, walking
three and whiffing three. He has yielded 14 runs in 10 2/3 innings
during his last three starts.
"He was just relying on the fastball early again and just wasn't
throwing enough strikes," Arizona manager Chip Hale said.
Arizona (21-24) lost its second straight game after winning six of
its previous seven.
NOTES: St. Louis shut down Triple-A LHP Marco Gonzales (left
pectoral muscle) for seven to 10 days after an examination Monday.
Gonzales, who last pitched May 19, likely will miss three weeks. ...
Arizona placed RHP Enrique Burgos (right shoulder tendinitis) on the
15-day disabled list. Burgos, who leads major league relievers with
a 16.46 strikeout ratio per nine innings, complained of soreness
after giving up hits to the only two batters he faced Monday. ... To
replace Burgos, the Diamondbacks recalled LHP Vidal Nuno from
Triple-A. Nuno went 3-3 with a 3.38 ERA in eight starts and 50 2/3
innings for Reno.
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