Thursday’s Game Report: Cardinals 7, Rays 4
By Rob Rains
For a player still looking for his first hit, Nathan Church has been pretty busy during his first week with the Cardinals.
Church reached base twice and scored two runs and also picked up his first outfield assist that was a key play in the win over the Rays on Thursday night in Tampa.
With the Cardinals leading 6-3 in the sixth inning, Church threw out a runner at third base to end the inning before a runner who was trying to score crossed the plate, keeping the run from scoring.
Church also stole his first base and added his second RBI on a fielder’s choice. In his first four games in the majors, Church is hitless in 14 at-bats but has scored four runs to go with his two RBIs.
He also has made several outstanding defensive catches in center field, displaying the skills that has earned him recognition as the best defensive outfielder in the Cardinals farm system.
Here is how Thursday night’s game broke down:
At the plate: The Cardinals scored five runs in the second inning, taking advantage of a throwing error, a walk, a hit batter and a wild pitch. The inning included an RBI double by Lars Nootbaar and a two-run single from Alec Burleson … Ivan Herrera drove in Church with a single in the fourth … Their only hit after the fifth inning was a home run by Willson Contreras leading off the seventh, his second game in a row with a home run and his team-leading 18th of the season.
On the mound: Sonny Gray allowed three runs over five innings. He scattered six hits, walked one and struck out five while throwing 92 pitches … Kyle Leahy allowed three hits and issued two walks while recording only three outs, one coming on the Church outfield assist … Matt Svanson allowed a runner he inherited from Leahy to score in the seventh … JoJo Romero earned the six-out save, allowing a two-out single in the ninth before ending the game with his third strikeout.
Key stat: Church’s streak of 14 at-bats without his first career hit is the longest by a Cardinals position player to begin his career since Miquel Mejia was 0-of-15 in 1996.
Worth noting: Nootbaar had a single in the fourth inning to go along with his second-inning double, extending his streak of consecutive multi-hit games to five. Nootbaar also drew his first walk since July 11, before he went on the IL … Nolan Gorman also had a two-hit night with a single and double. Burleson and Contreras each added two hits to the Cardinals’ 10-hit total.
Up next: Miles Mikolas will get the start on Friday night in the second game of the series.
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