It was a game plan that worked to perfection, mostly thanks to Szczur, who went 3-for-4 with four runs scored, three RBIs and his first career multi-home run game with two blasts to left field. From left to right, Contreras, Szczur and Soler started in the outfield instead and came through on a muggy afternoon.
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“I was frightful”, said Wainwright, who called the start and the season the worst of his career.
“The way I was tipping was when they got in the batter’s box, they knew I was going to throw something over the middle of the plate”, Wainwright said, wryly. “That not a bad thing”.
“It was awesome to see my name in the lineup when I got to the ballpark today”, Szczur said. “Joe has tremendous faith in me and always expects me to produce, and I’ve been able to produce for him”.
Padres 8, Mets 6: Rookie Ryan Schimpf hit a grand slam and added a two-run shot to lead San Diego.
Two days after optioning the right-hander to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, the New York Yankees recalled the 22-year-old from the Class AAA farm team Friday and said he would start Sunday’s series finale against Tampa Bay. “My stuff was bad, my delivery was bad, everything was bad”. The Cardinals have been one of few teams to solve Hendricks this season, as they tagged him for four runs in 5 1/3 innings in a 5-3 win on April 20 in St. Louis.
“We have a lot of youth that’s continued to learn on a really fast pace”, Arrieta said. “I’m glad we came on top”.
“This 11-game winning streak is special, but we want to be playing our best baseball going into October”.
Stephen Piscotty and Jedd Gyorko homered for the Cardinals.
Arrieta delivered a second straight solid start in August after going 0-3 with two no-decisions and a 4.88 ERA in July. Hendricks is 0-2 with a 4.50 ERA in five starts against the Cardinals. The 2015 NL Cy Young victor pitched eight shutout innings at Oakland last Saturday. Addison Russell drove Bryant home in the first inning for a 2-0 lead, and it felt as if Wainwright had dodged further damage. It was Montgomery’s first pitch since July 31 and he pitched two scoreless inning in order to win. The Cubs’ runaway lead in the division, the lack of Holliday, and the overall malaise of the Cardinals’ play served as a backdrop for Wainwright’s start opposite Cubs ace Jake Arrieta. Wainwright hit Szczur’s left shoulder with a pitch in the second inning, and mop-up reliever Jerome Williams drilled Chris Coghlan’s left knee in the seventh, but there were no real fireworks.
Cardinals: Holliday will decide next week on treatments including surgery or letting the injury heal on its own, according to GM John Mozeliak.
Cubs: RHP Trevor Cahill arrived at the Cubs clubhouse on Friday but has not been activated from the DL. The Cardinals, who have dropped nine of their last 13 since climbing within 6 1/2 games of the Cubs, send right-hander Luke Weaver to the mound for his major-league debut Saturday.
The lopsidedness of the loss comes less than 24 hours after the Cardinals learned they would be without Matt Holliday for a month or more due to the thumb fractured by a pitch in Thursday’s loss.
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Weaver has plowed through the Cardinals’ minor-league system since being drafted in the first round out of Florida State in 2014.
