Thursday’s Game Report: Cardinals 13, Rockies 0
By Rob Rains
Albert Pujols doesn’t look like a player who is a couple of months away from retiring.
Pujols continued his second-half surge on Thursday by driving in five runs, including the first pinch-hit grand slam of his career, as the Cardinals posted their biggest shutout win ever over the Rockies to complete a sweep of the three-game series at Busch Stadium.
The Cardinals remained three games ahead of the Brewers in the NL Central by defeating the Rockies for the 12th consecutive game at Busch, since 2018, and overall won for the 13th time in their last 14 home games.
The win also moved the Cardinals to a season high 15 games over.500 and to 12-3 in August.
Here is how the game broke down:
At the plate: The pinch-hit grand slam from Pujols came in the third inning, when the Cardinals already were leading 6-0. It was the 690th home run of his career and the 11th of the year for Pujols. It was the 16th grand slam of his career … Pujols was batting for Brendan Donovan after he had gone 2-of-2 with an RBI in the first two innings … Pujols added another RBI with a single in the seventh inning, producing the Cardinals’ final run … Lars Nootbaar also homered and Paul Goldschmidt had three hits, including two doubles, and drove in two runs that increased his season RBI total to 94.
On the mound: Adam Wainwright was the beneficiary of the big offensive outburst, winning the 193rd game of his career. Wainwright pitched seven innings, allowing just three hits. He did not walk a batter and struck out seven as he raised his career record to 12-1 against the Rockies with a 1.38 ERA … Genesis Cabrera and Chris Stratton each worked an inning to complete the Cardinals’ 12th shutout of the season.
Key stat: Since the All-Star break. Pujols has gone 17-of-41, a .415 average, with five homers and 15 RBIs.
Worth noting: The 12 consecutive home wins over the Rockies is the longest winning streak by the Cardinals against one opponent at home since a 13-game winning streak over the Cubs between 1999 and 2001 … The Cardinals did not commit an error during the six-game homestand … The 13-0 was the largest shutout win by the Cardinals at home since Busch Stadium 3 opened in 2006.
Looking ahead: The Cardinals open a three-game series against the Diamondbacks on Friday night in Arizona, with Miles Mikolas the scheduled starter.
Follow Rob Rains on Twitter @RobRains
