Cardinals 6, Diamondbacks 4
Jaime Garcia’s latest comeback to the majors resulted in his first win Tuesday night.
The oft-injured St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher shrugged off a shaky start to work through six innings and grab the victory in a 6-4 verdict over the Arizona Diamondbacks at Busch Stadium.
A 5-0 loser in his first start of the season Thursday at the New York Mets, Garcia (1-1) allowed eight hits and four runs, three earned, over six innings. He walked none and fanned five.If he can stay healthy — a big if, since he’s missed parts of four straight seasons — Garcia could provide St. Louis with the boost its starting rotation’s sought since losing ace Adam Wainwright to a season-ending Achilles tendon tear April 25 in Milwaukee.
Matt Belisle offered 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief and Seth Maness, closing with Trevor Rosenthal unavailable after pitching two innings Monday, retired third baseman Yasmany Tomas on a grounder with the tying runs in scoring position for his third save.
Arizona starter Archie Bradley (2-2) gave up five hits and six runs over 3 2/3 innings, walking three and whiffing three. The Diamondbacks (21-24) lost their second straight game after winning six of their previous seven.
The Cardinals (30-16) maintained their 4 1/2-game lead over the Chicago Cubs in the National League Central.
Arizona grabbed a 2-0 first-inning lead when Tomas slashed a two-run double down the left field line, scoring right fielder Mark Trumbo and center fielder A.J. Pollock.
But St. Louis responded with four runs in its half of the inning. Left fielder Matt Holliday grounded an RBI single to center, scoring second baseman Kolten Wong, then followed third baseman Matt Carpenter home on a two-run double to right by shortstop Jhonny Peralta. Catcher Yadier Molina’s groundout plated Peralta.
Shortstop Nick Ahmed cracked a solo homer in the second for the Diamondbacks, but Cardinals center fielder Randal Grichuk led off with his own solo shot in the second, restoring the two-run lead.Tomas stroked a hit-and-run double down the right field line in the third to score Pollock, making it 5-4. Grichuk countered with an RBI single in the fourth, chasing right fielder Jason Heyward home from second.
NOTES: St. Louis shut down Triple-A LHP Marco Gonzales (left pectoral muscle) for seven to 10 days after an examination on Monday. Gonzales, who last pitched on Tuesday, will likely miss three weeks. … Arizona placed RHP Enrique Burgos (right shoulder tendinitis) on the 15-day DL. Burgos, who leads MLB 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 Reno. Nuno went 3-3 with a 3.38 ERA in eight starts and 50 2/3 innings for the Aces.
