Tuesday’s Game Report: Cardinals 9, Rockies 6
By Rob Rains
One of the problems for the Cardinals’ offense so far this season has been the inability to come up with a big hit at the right moment.
They finally were able to do it on Tuesday night in Denver – not once, but twice.
Trailing the Rockies 6-2 going into the seventh inning, Nolan Arenado followed a bases-loaded walk to Paul Goldschmidt with a bases-clearing double that tied the game. Then Nolan Gorman broke the tie with a leadoff home run in the ninth.
Those two big hits allowed the Cardinals to win for only the second time in their last eight games.
Here is how Tuesday night’s game broke down:
At the plate: The Cardinals’ first two runs came on solo homers from Tommy Edman and Juan Yepez … In the seventh, Jordan Walker led off the inning with a single to left, extending his hitting streak to 11 games. With two outs Brendan Donovan walked and Edman, who had three hits, reached on an error to load the bases in front of Goldschmidt and Arenado … After Gorman’s homer in the ninth, Donovan drew another walk and Edman executed a sacrifice bunt before Goldschmidt and Tyler O’Neill provided the insurance runs with RBI singles.
On the mound: Miles Mikolas allowed just one run on five hits through the first four innings but in the fifth a leadoff walk was followed by five consecutive hits, including back-to-back homers, the first a three-run shot, as the Rockies scored five times … Mikolas saw his ERA after his first three starts rise from 9.64 to 10.05 … Relievers Genesis Cabrera, Giovanny Gallegos and Ryan Helsley were able to keep the Rockies from scoring any additional runs, although Helsley had to pitch around back-to-back singles to open the ninth to earn the save.
Key stat: Before Goldschmidt’s at-bat in the seventh, and then Arenado, the Cardinals had been 0-of-8 this season with the bases loaded and four strikeouts.
Worth noting: Dylan Carlson did not play because of a neck spasm he suffered while making a diving catch on Monday night. His status was said to be day-to-day … Donovan started in left field for the first time this season and turned in the defensive play of the game with a leaping catch on the warning track in the eighth inning of the tie game … After throwing another bullpen session on Tuesday in St. Louis, the next step for Adam Wainwright and his return to the rotation will be to face live hitters in a simulated game this weekend.
Looking ahead: Jack Flaherty will get the start in Wednesday’s day game that will conclude the series and the road trip.
Follow Rob Rains on Twitter @RobRains
