Altuve reached the milestone in a club-record 786 games and is second to Marlins outfielder Ichiro Suzuki (696 games) among active players in reaching the plateau in the fewest number of games.Keuchel and Garcia struggled through hard first innings, with Keuchel surrendering two runs on three hits before Garcia issued a walk, hit a batter and surrendered the first home run to Astros rookie Alex Bregman.For Keuchel, his issue was finding the strike zone.
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The Astros picked up their second run in the eighth when a Jose Altuve double scored Bregman.
“It’s good we’re just having good approaches and obviously we’re having success at the plate”, Hazelbaker said. Kris Bryant and Willson Contreras also had RBIs who won the opener 4-0.
“He’s been impressive”, Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. The offensive output provided support for left-hander Jaime Garcia (10-8), who labored into the sixth inning but lasted long enough to benefit from the rally.Garcia allowed three home runs, solo shots to Alex Bregman in the first inning, Marwin Gonzalez leading off the third, and Jason Castro to open the sixth.
“The further we get in the season the more important games are”, Hazelbaker said. You could just see where he was trending and where he continues to trend.
Martinez had a no-hitter until a Teoscar Hernandez leadoff double broke it up in the 6th. Despite batting.242, Holliday is second on the Cardinals with 19 home runs and 60 RBI this season. Holliday was hit by a pitch against the Cubs last Thursday and could be sidelined through September.
“The rollercoaster ride that we’ve been on is no fun when we’re in this portion of it”, Astros manager A.J. Hinch said.
“Sam Tuivailala, fresh from the minors to take Seth Maness” spot in the bullpen, encountered turbulence in the ninth inning. Valbuena strained his right hamstring on July 27. Holliday was placed on the 15-day disabled list August 13. OF Colby Rasmus did light conditioning Tuesday for the first time after undergoing a procedure last Wednesday to remove a cyst in his right ear. Siegrist has been plagued with a dead arm since returning from the disabled list last month and was removed after shaking his arm while on the mound Sunday in Chicago. A two-run home run was among the six hits given up, but the performance wasn’t actually as bad as his final line suggests.
The offense put up very little resistance to Cardinals starting pitcher Carlos Martinez, who was able to hold them hitless through five innings.
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The Cards and Astros battled it out in a grudge match yesterday and the road side will look to chalk one up in the win column when the two sides meet up again on Wednesday as the Cards send Carlos Martinez to the mound to face off against Doug Fister.
