|
 Pinch hitter Peter Bourjos' hard but clean slide into home plate
forced a throwing error from catcher Jordan Pacheco in the bottom of
the ninth, scoring Matt Carpenter with the winning run for a 4-3
triumph over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
With the bases loaded and one out, Jhonny Peralta bounced the first
pitch to third baseman Yasmany Tomas. The throw home forced Bourjos,
but Bourjos knocked Pacheco's legs out from under him, and Pacheco's
throw to first sailed down the right field line as Carpenter trotted
home.
Right fielder Jason Heyward led off the ninth with a 423-foot,
game-tying solo homer off closer Brad Ziegler (0-1) that curved
inside the right field foul pole, Heyward's fifth of the year.
Bourjos singled to left and moved to second on a groundout.
Carpenter was intentionally walked, and left fielder Matt Holliday
walked to fill the bases, setting up the unlikely game-winner.
Reliever Seth Maness (1-0) got the last two outs of the top of the
ninth as St. Louis (31-16) won its fourth consecutive game. Arizona
(21-25) lost for the seventh straight time in Busch Stadium, dating
back to June 5, 2013.
Arizona grabbed a 3-2 lead in the sixth with a pair of runs. Pinch
hitter David Peralta's two-out RBI single chased home second baseman
Cliff Pennington with the tying run, and an by Heyward enabled
shortstop Nick Ahmed to score the go-ahead run.
Neither starter figured in the decision. Arizona's Josh Collmenter
worked through five innings and 102 pitches, giving up six hits and
two runs with two walks and three strikeouts. St. Louis' Lance Lynn
permitted six hits and three runs (two earned) in six innings,
walking four and fanning five.
St. Louis second baseman Kolten Wong opened the scoring in the
bottom of the first inning with the first leadoff homer of his
career, lining the first pitch from Collmenter off the top of and
over the right field wall.
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Cardinals first baseman Mark Reynolds made it 2-0 in the second with
an RBI single to left center that scored catcher Yadier Molina, who
smoked a ground-rule double down the left field line with one out.
Diamondbacks right fielder Mark Trumbo put his team on the board in
the fourth with a majestic 425-foot homer over the center field
wall. It was Trumbo's eighth homer of the year and his second of the
series.
Matt Holliday's fifth-inning single stretched his season-opening
streak of reaching base to 43 games, snapping a seven-year-old mark
held by Albert Pujols.
NOTES: St. Louis placed 1B Matt Adams (strained right quad) on the
15-day disabled list and recalled C Ed Easley from Triple-A Memphis.
GM John Mozeliak said Adams faces the possibility of surgery. ...
RHP Wel-Chieh Huang made his professional debut for Arizona's Class
A affiliate at Kane County on Tuesday night, picking up a win after
working 5 2/3 scoreless innings with only two hits and eight
strikeouts. The Taiwan product signed with the Diamondbacks on July
21, 2014. ... Arizona RHP Matt Stites (elbow) is scheduled to pitch
on a rehab assignment Thursday at Class A Visalia. Stites threw an
inning Monday in extended spring training.
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