“Just pile on”, Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts said.
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Trevor Brown hit a double leading off the 12th, and Williamson singled up the middle with one out, just past the glove of the diving shortstop, to bring in the winning run. 378 since the All-Star break, reinforced those words with action. That being said, while it may not have been realistic to expect Leake to repeat his past two performances, Saturday night’s shellacking was not exactly written in the tea leaves either. Mayers allowed six runs in the first inning, including a grand slam HR to LA’s Adrian Gonzalez.
Mayers became the first pitcher to allow nine or more runs with less than two innings pitched in his first start since at least 1913, and St. Louis lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers 9-6 on Sunday night. The Cardinals got a run back in the first when Matt Holliday’s liner sailed over the head of left fielder Howie Kendrick, who was slow to go back on the ball, for an RBI double that scored Piscotty.
PIRATES 7, PHILLIES 4 Gregory Polanco and David Freese hit two-run singles during a five-run fifth inning to rally host Pittsburgh over Philadelphia after top Pirates prospect Tyler Glasnow was removed with shoulder discomfort. Maeda said through an interpreter that the early lead gave him confidence.
“It helps me attack hitters, but at the same time since they did give me the early lead I want to throw a little more”, Maeda said.
Andrew Toles went 3 for 4 and scored once for the Dodgers.
The six-run first inning was the worst by a Cardinals starting pitcher in his Major League Baseball debut since 1924.
Leake was tagged with seven runs, one of them unearned, and allowed 12 hits over six innings. He was victimized by a mental error on Maeda’s single when second baseman Greg Garcia failed to cover first on the bunt attempt.
“I didn’t feel the ball come off the bat”, Adams said. “They were ready for mistakes”.
The Dodgers are hitting the ball well as of late and Kazmir has allowed just four runs in his last three games combined.
Adams homered for the second consecutive game.
Friday night’s hero, Matt Adams, capitalized off his game-winning home run in the 16 inning with a solo shot in the fifth inning to put the Cardinals on the board. Diazs streak is the second-longest by a Cardinals rookie since Albert Pujols had streaks of 30 and 48 games in 2001.
The loss dropped St. Louis’ home record to 25-29.
San Diego left runners in scoring position in each of the last two innings.
“It’s not getting an out, but other than that I think it’s still my job to get us out of that jam”, Leake said. “It’s about knowing you can win baseball games when you’re not playing your best. I definitely need to do a much better job of that”.
Dodgers: OF Yasiel Puig (hamstring) did plyometrics and sprint work.
The Dodgers are 7-3 in their last 10 during game 3 of a series and 5-0 in Kazmirs last 5 starts. Carpenter, sidelined since July 6 with a strained right oblique, took swings in the outdoor batting cage and ran the bases Sunday. The 24-year-old right-hander, drafted by St. Louis in the third round in 2013, is 8-5 with a 2.62 ERA in 18 minor league starts this season, nine each for Double-A Springfield and Triple-A, with 86 strikeouts and 36 walks in 106⅔ innings.
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Mayers will be the first pitcher outside of the regular five-man starting rotation to make a start for the Cardinals this year, and he’ll make his big-league debut on the national stage that accompanies ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball.
