There is a power bug going through the St. Louis Cardinals’ lineup right now.
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But it scored two runs and those helped, too.
The series concludes Sunday afternoon with St. Louis RHP Mike Leake (8-9, 4.78 ERA) facing off with RHP Vince Velasquez (8-5, 4.14) in the finale.
Among their four home runs for the day was a pinch homer by Jeremy Hazelbaker, a two-run drive in the eighth inning that was the Cardinals’ 14th pinch homer of the season, tying the major league mark established in 2001 by both the San Francisco Giants and Arizona Diamondbacks.
“It’s not the only way we can score runs but it’s our main way, ” Moss said. “We’ve got a lot of guys in the lineup that can do a lot of damage”.
If your hand is up in the air, you’re not a very good liar.
The Cardinals, who have a 1 1/2-game lead for the second wild card spot in the National League, need Leake to start improving if they want to continue to make a playoff push.
The right-hander allowed two runs and seven hits with eight strikeouts and one walk.
“It looked to me that he kind of relaxed after making the All-Star team, and kind of said, ‘OK, I’m here and now I’m good, ‘” Mackanin continued the other day. “It was a great outing for him”. You’re seeing some odd swings because the ball was moving a lot for him today, and I thought he used his changeup well. “And the breaking ball was there for strikes when he wanted it”. The Rangers tacked on two more in the inning, taking a 5-0 lead when reliever Ryan Garton walked Jurickson Profar with the bases loaded. Manager Pete Mackanin has repeatedly called him the team’s “last choice” as closer and there we all were in July, talking about Gomez as a potential All-Star candidate. “He’s got to keep working on it”. Piscotty jumped all over a 1-2 curveball for a 5-0 St. Louis lead.
Hernandez kicked things off right on Saturday, slapping a solo homer off Cardinals starter Luke Weaver.
“It felt fine”, Hellickson said afterward. “I don’t know about the rest of the guys”.
The Phillies jumped on Weaver with a pair of runs in the first.
Velasquez struck out 16 in a game earlier this season, but big league hitters have caught on to his fastball. “I haven’t found that turning point”. Jedd Gyorko homers to left field. She held an ice pack as she was helped to the concourse from her seat about 10 rows behind the dugout.
“We acquired Jeremy last off season mainly to be a leader in our rotation, to pitch meaningful innings for us and to take some of the burden off some of our young pitchers”, Phillies general manager Matt Klentak said.
Though Hernandez has a.474 on-base percentage in his last 24 starts, and while he and Freddy Galvis ended the game on a highlights-level double play, Mackanin remains firm in his refusal to appoint him as the Phils’ second baseman of the future. “.We’re still 7-8 games back right now so you never know”. Galvis said. “We’re anxious about speeding up the game. Why don’t you put up a net and protect all the fans?”
“If you can get a few runs on the board and have that much of a lead, then you can go into a little more of an attack mode”, Leake said. “I think a round of golf is going to solve it”. Jake Thompson (1-2, 8.79 ERA) takes the mound against LHP Carlos Rodon (3-8, 4.26). He hasn’t won in three August starts and his 1.28 WHIP is his worst since 2012.
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The Phillies will have off on Monday as they travel to Chicago to prepare for a two-game series against the White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field.
