Diaz's lesson pays off as Cardinals stage comeback

St. Louis shortstop Aledmys Diaz delivered the game-winning RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning as the Cardinals erased a four-run, eighth-inning defi cit to beat San Diego 6-5 on Thursday.
St. Louis shortstop Aledmys Diaz delivered the game-winning RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning as the Cardinals erased a four-run, eighth-inning defi cit to beat San Diego 6-5 on Thursday.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

CARDINALS 6, PADRES 5

ST. LOUIS -- Aledmys Diaz learned a valuable lesson at the All-Star Game.

The St. Louis rookie infielder's walk-off single in the ninth inning gave the Cardinals a 6-5 come-from-behind victory over the San Diego Padres on Thursday night.

St. Louis, which scored four runs in the eighth, recorded its first four-game series sweep at home since beating Colorado on Sept. 30-Oct. 3, 2010.

San Diego has lost four of seven.

Diaz ripped a full-count, one-out, bases-loaded pitch into left field off reliever Carlos Villanueva (1-1).

In this month's All-Star Game, Diaz took a called third strike with the bases loaded to end the eighth inning of the AL's 4-2 victory.

He decided that wasn't going to happen in a similar situation on Thursday.

"This time, I wanted to be aggressive," Diaz said. "Go get it, if it looks good."

Tommy Pham led off the bottom of the ninth with a double. Greg Garcia drew a walk and Jeremy Hazelbaker moved the runners over with a perfect bunt. Jedd Gyorko was walked intentionally to set the stage for Diaz's heroics.

St. Louis reliever Jonathan Broxton (2-2) picked up the victory with a scoreless ninth.

The Cardinals erased a 5-1 deficit in the eighth. Hazelbaker led off with a double and he scored on a hit by Gyorko, his seventh RBI of the series against his former team. Kolten Wong doubled with one out and Stephen Piscotty hit a three-run home run to center field.

"This was definitely a special one," Piscotty said. "It's a lot more fun when those things happen and you end up winning. This was a great way for our team to come back."

Yangervis Solarte homered in the eighth inning to extend the Padres' franchise-record home run streak to 19 consecutive games. The streak is the longest in the National League since the Milwaukee Brewers hit home runs in 20 consecutive games in July 2008.

His 10th home run of the season pushed the lead to 5-1.

"To put it simply, it's just hard work," Solarte said of the home run streak. "I know we have some power on this team."

Andrew Cashner, the subject of trade rumors the past few days, allowed one run and three hits for San Diego. He struck out eight and did not walk a batter. Cashner has allowed one run or less in three of his last four starts.

"I've been working on a slider for the past couple weeks and I've finally got a good feel," Cashner said.

Alexei Ramirez had three hits and drove in two runs for the Padres, who have scored an NL-best 226 runs since June 1.

St. Louis starter Adam Wainwright gave up 2 runs and 7 hits over 6 innings. He struck out eight and did not walk a batter.

Wainwright believes the comeback victory can lead to better things.

"We're ready for a good streak here," he said. "We're ready to run off a 12-spot or something."

Ramirez gave his team a 1-0 lead with a run-scoring single in the fifth that brought in Ryan Schimpf, who doubled to start the inning. Travis Jankowski followed with an RBI double.

St. Louis outfielder Matt Holliday left the game in the sixth inning after he was hit in the face by a pitch. The ball appeared to strike Holliday's helmet and then glance off his nose.

X-rays were negative. Holliday, according to an announcement from the club, sustained a facial abrasion in the nose/upper lip area but avoided a fracture. He is listed as day-to-day.

DODGERS 6, NATIONALS 3 Justin Turner homered twice and drove in five runs and Los Angeles ended Stephen Strasburg's undefeated streak by beating host Washington. Strasburg (13-1) lost for the first time since Sept. 9, ending a run of 16 consecutive winning decisions. Making it through the sixth, he allowed a season-high 6 earned runs and 7 hits -- all in the first 3 innings -- and struck out 10.

MARLINS 9, PHILLIES 3 Tom Koehler pitched eight strong innings, Ichiro Suzuki moved within four hits of reaching 3,000 for his career and Miami pounded out 16 hits in a victory over Philadelphia. Miami moved 1½ games ahead of the idle Mets for the second wild-card spot in the National League. The Marlins return home for an important 10-game series that begins tonight against the Mets.

PIRATES 5, BREWERS 3 Francisco Liriano took another step toward putting his season-long control issues behind him, striking out 13 to lead Pittsburgh to a victory over Milwaukee. Liriano (6-9) gave up 3 runs and 4 hits in 6 2/3 innings and didn't issue a walk for just the second time in 19 starts. Mark Melancon worked the ninth for his 28th save.

ROCKIES 7, BRAVES 3 Carlos Gonzalez hit a three-run home run to break a scoreless tie in the sixth inning, Chad Bettis threw efficiently into the seventh and host Colorado beat Atlanta. Bettis (8-6) allowed one run over 6 2/3 innings. He was cruising through Atlanta's lineup until hitting a bump in the seventh when he gave up an RBI double to A.J. Pierzynski.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

ORIOLES 4, YANKEES 1 Chris Tillman tied for the major league lead with his 14th victory, pitching four-hit ball for seven innings and helping Baltimore avert a four-game sweep at Yankee Stadium, beating New York. Tillman (14-2) matched White Sox ace Chris Sale for the most victories in the majors. Tillman gave up 3 hits and 2 walks to the first 8 batters, capped by Starlin Castro's RBI single. The tall right-hander then set down 16 of his final hitters.

RED SOX 13, TWINS 2 Mookie Betts homered on the first pitch Boston faced, David Ortiz added a late two-run home run and the team continued to surge through July with a victory over Minnesota. Dustin Pedroia went 5 for 5 with two doubles for Boston, which had 17 hits while winning its third consecutive and improving to 12-3 in July.

Sports on 07/22/2016

Upcoming Events