Diamondbacks fall to Cardinals, Ray exits game after being struck on head
Jul 28, 2017, 8:46 PM | Updated: 9:04 pm
Arizona Diamondbacks catcher Chris Herrmann pats St. Louis Cardinals' Luke Voit (40) on the shoulder as Diamondbacks' Paul Goldschmidt (44) crouches after Voit hit Diamondbacks starting pitcher Robbie Ray on the head with a line drive back to the mound during the second inning of a baseball game Friday, July 28, 2017, in St. Louis. Ray left the game. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
(AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
ST. LOUIS — St. Louis starter Michael Wacha pitched six innings and Jedd Gyorko drove in the lone run with one of his three hits Friday night, leading the Cardinals to a 1-0 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Wacha (8-4) allowed three hits. He has won five of his last six starts and improved to 7-1 in 12 starts at Busch Stadium this season.
Wacha finished strong. He pitched out of a jam in the sixth. He gave up a single and double with two outs before striking out David Peralta to end his night.
Trevor Rosenthal, the third reliever for St. Louis, earned his fifth save with two innings of work.
Arizona starter Robbie Ray left the game in the second inning after getting hit in the head by a line drive off the bat of rookie Luke Voit. The ball caromed in the air into foul territory where third baseman Daniel Descalso caught it for the out.
Ray laid prone on the mound for several minutes before sitting up with his teammates surrounding him. He was driven off the field on a cart and was taken for an examination.
The only St. Louis run came in the sixth. Tommy Pham reached on an error by Descalso. After stealing second, Pham moved to third on a ground ball to second by rookie Paul DeJong. Gyorko followed and lined an RBI single up the middle.
The run snapped a 15-inning scoreless streak for the Cardinals.
Arizona had a chance to score against Seung Hwan Oh in the seventh. With two on and two outs, Oh got Chris Herrman to ground to first.
St. Louis loaded the bases with one out in the seventh but Andrew
Chafin got Pham to hit into an inning-ending double play.
Against Brett Cecil in the eighth, the Diamondbacks put two runners on second and third with a single and double. Rosenthal relieved and struck out A.J. Pollack. With the infield in, Peralta grounded to second and Kolten Wong, who entered in the seventh as a pinch runner, cut down Ketel Marte at home. Arizona challenged and lost the replay.
Rosenthal ended the inning by striking out Paul Goldschmidt. That was his fifth strikeout in nine career at-bats versus Rosentahl.
DOUBLE TROUBLE
Chris Owings hit a double in the fifth inning, the first of three in the game. Arizona has hit 31 doubles in its last 11 games. The Diamondbacks have 209 doubles this season to rank fourth in the majors.
LOU BROCK HEALTH UPDATE
The St. Louis Cardinals announced during the game that Hall of Famer Lou Brock earlier disclosed he is cancer free.
The team had revealed back in April that Brock had been diagnosed with a type of blood cancer.
Brock retired in 1979 with 3,023 hits and a .293 average.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Diamondbacks: 3B Jake Lamb felt sore Friday and was a late lineup scratch. Lamb made a great catch on a foul fly by Randal Grichuk in the fourth inning. He fell backwards into the stands but stayed in the game. Lamb did pinch-hit in the ninth.
Cardinals: RF Steve Piscotty continues to play at Peoria, where he was in the lineup Friday, as he works to come back from a right groin strain. He’s supposed to rejoin the club Monday in Milwaukee.
UP NEXT
Diamondbacks: Zach Greinke (12-4, 2.92) is 4-0 in his last five starts with a 2.25 ERA. Opponents are hitting .202 with 29 strikeouts in 32 innings in those starts.
Cardinals: Mike Leake (7-8, 3.20) is 4-1 in six starts at home against Arizona. He threw seven shutout innings in an 8-2 win in his last start against Colorado.
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