ST. LOUIS_Cardinals manager Mike Matheny took a chance in the bottom of the sixth on Monday night. Pitcher Mike Leake was cruising along, striking out 11 in the first six innings, and had thrown only 88 pitches. But with the pitcher's spot coming up to the plate and runners on first and second, Matheny decided to lift him for a pinch hitter.
Considering how the Cardinals bullpen has played lately, it was a risky move, trusting them to get nine outs in what at the time was a one-run game. But pinch hitter Matt Adams doubled in two runs and that opened the floodgates for the Cardinals, who scored four in the sixth and three in the seventh on their way to a 10-2 win over the Padres.
The Cardinals bullpen allowed a run in the seventh (off Matt Bowman), got a 1-2-3 eighth from Seth Maness and Trevor Rosenthal had a 1-2-3 ninth, striking out two of the three batters he faced.
The offensive burst gave the bullpen some needed breathing room. After Adams' double scored Jedd Gyorko and Greg Garcia, Aledmys Diaz tripled to score Adams and Diaz scored on a single by Stephen Piscotty. In the sixth, Yadier Molina led off with a single and Randal Grichuk homered to left center, his 12th of the season, and then another from Jedd Gyorko, his eighth of the season. Gyorko, who played three seasons for the Padres before being traded to the Cardinals for Jon Jay in the offseason, has gone 9 for 14 against his old team this season, a .642 batting average.
Leake had one of his best games of the season, striking out a season-high 11 while walking none. He was one off his career best for strikeouts. He also put the team ahead in the fifth, walking and coming around to score the tying run. As he came to the plate on that play, the throw from left field hit him in the hip and bounced away from catcher Derek Norris, allowing Diaz to score all the way from first on Matt Holliday's single.
Piscotty homered into Big Mac Land in left in the eighth for the final runs.
