Robbie Ray (3-9, 3.38 ERA) and Lance Lynn (9-8, 2.94 ERA) take the hill in the first of a four-game series between the Arizona Diamondbacks (62-61) and the St. Louis Cardinals (78-45) at Chase Field.
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“To be honest, I wanted to do something to get him the win”, Garcia said of Lynn. Lamb got the out at first, but with Greg Garcia rounding second and taking off for third with the base vacated, Welington Castillo hustled to the base but failed to grab and tag Garcia. Tommy Pham hit a run-scoring single off Daniel Hudson – charged to Chacin – and Molina made it 5-2 with a two-run single punched into right field.
The Diamondbacks, trailing 5-2 in the bottom of the seventh and hoping to respond, loaded the bases with two outs. The injury is not believed to be serious.
Carpenter hit his 19th homer of the season in the third inning, and right-hander Lance Lynn (10-8) gave up two runs in six innings to become the Cardinals’ fourth 10-game victor. Lynn ended the third inning with a double play, then got Hill and Goldschmidt to do the same the next two innings.
The right-hander wriggled his way out of it each time with a double play, including one big one with the bases loaded and Arizona’s best hitter at the plate.
The New York Yankees moved into a tie for top spot in the American League East by scoring the sole run of the game in the ninth inning against Houston, while Kansas City stretched its huge lead atop the AL Central by beating Baltimore. “Did a great job of getting guys in scoring position, some of our good RBI guys like Goldy, Aaron Hill coming up, just hit into double plays”. St. Louis put two aboard to begin the frame, but the second hit by Garcia was inches away from being a double play. “You also have to give the pitcher credit”. “He made good pitches, Molina called good pitches, and they took advantage of us being a little too aggressive”. Arizona lost all three games to the Cardinals in May in St. Louis by a total of four runs. Carpenter ended a 0-for-21 slide with a solo homer in the third and Chacin gave up an unearned run on a fielder’s choice in the sixth after an error in left field by Peralta. He struck out five and walked one. 500 for the first time since April 22 and within five games of the struggling first-place Dodgers.
Arizona had 14 hits, but stranded 11 base runners to end a four-game winning streak.
“We had our chances, ” manager Chip Hale said. Submarining reliever Brad Ziegler has converted on 21 straight save opportunities. He signed with the Diamondbacks two months ago and has posted a 3.39 ERA and 61/29 K/BB ratio in 79 2/3 innings over 12 starts.
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Chacin was a solid starter from 2010-2013, but he had a 5.40 ERA in 11 starts last season while dealing with shoulder issues and was cut loose by Colorado this spring after an very bad showing during Cactus League action. Arizona RHP Zack Godley was optioned to Double-A Mobile, and 1B/OF Danny Dorn was designated for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster for Chacin…. Wong had one hit in his past 19 at-bats. Arizona RHP Archie Bradley was activated from the disabled list and optioned to Triple-A Reno.
