Tuesday’s Game Report: Cardinals 6, A’s 2
By Rob Rains
One thing starting pitchers love is instant offense, and Dakota Hudson was the beneficiary of it for the Cardinals on Tuesday night.
Before Hudson threw his 14th pitch of the game, starting the second inning, he was working with a 4-0 lead thanks to a big first inning against the A’s at Busch Stadium that matched their biggest first inning of the season.
The inning included a two-run homer from Nolan Arenado and a solo shot from Jordan Walker and produced all the runs the Cardinals needed to pick up the victory.
It was a four-hit night for Arenado in support of Hudson, who won his third consecutive start.
Here is how Tuesday night’s game broke down:
At the plate: Lars Nootbaar led off the first with a single and scored on a double from Paul Goldschmidt in front of Arenado’s 25th homer of the year. Walker delivered his 11th home run with two outs … Walker walked and scored on a double by Andrew Knizner in the fourth and Tommy Edman completed the scoring with his 11th homer, leading off the eighth inning … Arenado followed his home run with three singles.
On the mound: Hudson did not allow a run and gave up just two hits through the first six innings. He allowed a two-run homer in the seventh and left with two outs … John King induced an inning-ending double play in the eighth before JoJo Romero worked a 1-2-3 ninth with two strikeouts.
Key stat: The Cardinals scored five or more runs for the sixth consecutive game and have gone 5-1 over that stretch. They are now 40-13 in games scoring at least five runs.
Worth noting: Casey Lawrenced was called up from Memphis before the game to fill the roster spot that opened up on Monday when Steven Matz went on the injured list. Lawrence had been sigzjned as a minor-league free agent in July … Jake Woodford is expected to start and pitch three innings, or 45 pitches, for Memphis on Thursday night but Ryan Helsley’s rehab assignment has been delayed after he experienced more soreness in his arm following his appearance for Springfield on Sunday night … Both Nolan Gorman and Willson Contreras were held out of Tuesday night’s game and their status is still listed as day-to-day … Pitching at Memphis on Tuesday night, Drew Rom allowed just one hit in six scoreless innings and struck out eight. In his first two games since being acquired as part of the package for Jack Flaherty, Rom has allowed two hits in 11 innings with 18 strikeouts.
Looking ahead: Coming off the best start of his career last week, Matthew Liberatore will get the start on Wednesday night as the Cardinals try to complete the series sweep of the A’s. It’s a special start time of 5:45 p.m.
Follow Rob Rains on Twitter @RobRains
