St. Louis CF Jason Heyward (left hamstring) didn’t start after leaving Monday night’s game in the third inning, but was available to pinch-hit if needed….
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Stephen Piscotty hit a solo home run in the Bottom of the 2nd to give the Cardinals a 2-0 lead. The right-hander served up a homer on his first pitch Thursday, but that was the only run he allowed while equaling his career high with eight strikeouts in five innings of a 3-1 win over Washington.
“That’s something he’s not going to forget”, manager Mike Matheny said. “Good for him. I wish I would have had that homer”.
Yadier Molina hit his third homer off Chris Heston leading off the fourth for St. Louis. Cain hit a bases-loaded sacrifice fly in the fifth, and Brandon Crawford drove in his 75th run with a line single to left that scored Matt Duffy in the sixth.
The Cardinals have won nine of 12, ended the Giants’ four-game winning streak, and lead Pittsburgh by six games in the NL Central. The Cardinals are 77-43 overall and 46-19 at home, both tops in the majors.
“I was thinking about it”, Molina said of reaching 100 homers. “It’s just so much fun”.
Molina’s blast made a victor of reliever Kevin Siegrist (5-0), who worked around a leadoff walk in the eighth for his second victory of the series.
“Maybe subconsciously I was thinking that”, Piscotty chuckled, addressing whether he purposefully aimed away from center, “I was just trying to get a good pitch to hit”.
“I don’t think we’re a real popular club for whatever reason and some of it is self-induced with ‘We’ve got the Cardinal Way, ‘ which was never intended that way”, Matheny said.
Rosenthal tied Pittsburgh’s Mark Melancon for the National League lead. The way Cain started the game, it looked as if he wouldn’t last long. He was undone by five walks in 4 2-3 innings.
“It wasn’t great news, but it was the news we thought would show up”, Bochy said.
MILWAUKEE – Rookie left-hander Justin Nicolino pitched 6 2-3 solid innings and Derek Dietrich homered as the Marlins beat the Brewers.
Hellickson (9-8) allowed one run and three hits in 51/3 innings while striking out four and walking one. Mitchell sustained a nasal fracture and, after being released from the hospital, was to be monitored for possible concussion symptoms.
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Leake can apparently swing a bat and throw without much concern, but can only run at about 60 percent, which remains a red-flag and reason enough to give him more time to heal, especially as a groundball pitcher who could have to cover first base more frequently than the average starter.
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Baltimore’s Steve Clevenger hit a three-run homer to power the Orioles to a 4-2 win against Oakland, completing a four-game sweep.
