Weaver Dominates, Bats Silent
The first hit of the game came in the bottom of the 3rd inning with 2 outs, Luke Weaver hit a single up the middle off Diamondbacks starting pitcher, Taijuan Walker, to break up the no-hitter. The Cardinals would only manage to get four more hits from that point forward, scoring one run.
The most entertaining moment of this game occurred in the tp of the 2nd inning with AJ Pollock up at the plate. The D-backs CF struck out looking on Luke Weaver fastball low in the zone. Pollock didn’t agree with the call from the home plate umpire, Tim Timmons. This forced D-backs manager, Torey Lovullo to take action. Lovullo continued to express the disagreement him and Pollock had about the call and he was quickly ejected. He wasn’t done there. Lovullo started pointing at Yadier Molina as if he was complaining about Yadier Molina getting calls due to his framing ability. He also may have called Yadi a name he shouldn’t have, sparking the Cardinals catcher with anger immediately. The benches and bullpens would clear. Tim Timmons and Mike Matheny would hold Molina back to make sure things didn’t escalate any further.
Luke Weaver:
Luke Weaver turned in another exceptional performance today going 6.1 innings, fanning 7 batters along the way. Weaver was locked in from the first pitch, striking Peralta and Goldschmidt out to start the 1st inning. The first time through the D-backs order, Weaver collected 4 strikeouts while holding the opposition hitless. Weaver would make quick work to start his 5th inning of work, striking out Descalso & Avila in back-to-back at bats. Weaver followed that up with his only walk of the game, then he retired the next 5 batters he faced. Weaver’s 7th inning of work started with a fantastic diving play at third base from Carpenter. Jose Martínez followed that up with an equally as good pick on the play to retire Goldschmidt. AJ Pollock would single the next at bat and that was the end of the day for Weaver. (6.1 IP, 3 hits, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 k’s)
Bullpen:
Tyler Lyons would enter the game to face LH, Daniel Descalso. With Pollock on first, Lyons would attempt a pick-off that Jose Martínez couldn’t get out of his glove, advancing Pollock to second. Lyons would strike Descalso out looking, but was given a quick hook when a RH pinch-hitter was announced.
Matheny turned duties over to Matt Bowman for his sixth appearance in the early parts of this season. Bowman wasn’t effective today, walking the pinch-hitter, Walker. Ahmed was next, and a little flare was all it took to tie the game 1-1. Dominic Leone was given the 8th and greeted with a pinch-hit single from Owings.
Leadoff batter, David Peralta delivered the throat punch next, barely hitting a ball that cleared the RCF wall by inches giving the D-backs the 3-1 lead. Mike Mayers made his second appearance of the season giving up a bomb to Pollock. And freshly shaved John Brebbia, just called up for the injured Ryan Sherriff, pitched a clean 1-2-3 9th inning.
Offensive Highlights:
Literally nothing to boast about from this game, but I will brag on Kolten Wong for a second. Wong collected his first RBI of the season driving in Molina in the 5th inning. He also lined a single into RF to start the 8th inning off reliever, Archie Bradley. Cardinals 1-5 hitter combined went (1-18) with 3 strikeouts, 2 walks, and a double play that ended the game with a 4-1 Diamondbacks win.
The Cardinals (4-5) welcome the division rival, Milwaukee Brewers (5-5) into Busch Stadium for a three game series starting Monday night. The Cardinals are expected to add reliever, Greg Holland, to the 25-man roster Monday heading into the series. Jhoulys Chacín (0-1, 7.00) vs Miles Mikolas (1-0, 6.35) is the matchup. Hope to see you then.
Thanks for reading, cheers!
Stew // @StewStilez
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