PHOENIX — This was not a repeat of Saturday’s classic game, it wasn’t even a critics-pick sequel of an evening crammed with historic homers and memorable moments.
It did not have to be for the Cardinals to win.
The Cardinals got a short start from Jose Quintana and shorter appearance from manager Oliver Marmol before his ejection, and yet found a way to cobble together enough relief and just enough runs to rally for a series sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Nolan Arenado delivered the game-flipping, two-run single in the seventh to send the Cardinals toward a 6-4 victory Sunday at Chase Field.
The Cardinals won their seventh consecutive and it came in a far different way than Saturday’s raucous show of force.
The Cardinals got a leadoff homer from Lars Nootbaar and jumped to an early 3-0 lead before Arizona had an out. But such a lead eroded swiftly when Quintana struggled to find whatever strike zone the home-plate umpire was calling at that moment. The Cardinals lefty let the lead he was given lean away in the second inning when two walks and three singles combined with an error to knot the game, 3-3. Quintana, so superb in his previous starts since being traded to the Cardinals, did not finish the third inning.
The Diamondbacks tagged him with four runs (two earned) on seven hits, and it wasn’t until the seventh inning that the Cardinals’ offense stirred again.
A day after Albert Pujols had two homers, Paul DeJong had a grand slam, and Paul Goldschmidt hit his 31st homer, the Cardinals took the game with singles – and opportunity. The first pitch that reliever Kevin Ginkel threw in the seventh inning plunked Goldschmidt to load the bases for cleanup hitter and designated hitter Arenado. Frustrated by strike calls in previous at-bats, Arenado went on the aggressive and still fell behind in the count.
With two strikes, he stung a single to center field that scored two teammates to tie the game and take the lead for good. He finished the day with 80 RBIs for the season.
Giovanny Gallegos close the game with a scoreless ninth for his 12th save.
Strong long relief stalls Diamondbacks
The innings vacated by Quintana were handled deftly by the pitcher who came with him at the trade deadline from Pittsburgh. Chris Stratton joked that he followed Quintana’s “coattails” to being a Cardinal as the addition to that deal.
He was the substance of Sunday’s game.
In relief of Quintana, Stratton retired the first batter he faced to leave two inherited runners stranded. Stratton retired eight consecutive batters to get the one-run game into the sixth inning and absorb additional innings so that other relievers would not. Stratton threw a season-high 2 2/3 innings, and he did not allow a baserunner until he walked the final two batters he faced. Neither of those runners scored as Jake Woodford benefited from two balls hit to Goldschmidt to end the inning.
A candidate to start one game in Tuesday’s doubleheader, Woodford entered the sixth inning with the two runners on. He piloted the game into the seventh while not spilling over his pitch count to erase him as an option for the next several days.
Combined, Stratton and Woodford pitched four scoreless innings and allowed one hit and three baserunners total. Their scoreless work bought time for the offense to rally.
Lars launches first leadoff homer
What Lars Nootbaar did from the caboose of the Cardinals’ lineup Saturday he continued from the front Sunday. And that has the Cardinals thinking about how he might look at leadoff regardless of the opposing pitcher.
As the Cardinals’ successful August has unfolded, Nootbaar and Dylan Carlson have hit into a platoon at No. 1. Carlson leads off against lefties, as he did in each of the first two games of this series, and Nootbaar gets the top spot against right-handers, like Sunday. Nootbaar remains in the lineup against lefties, and from the No. 9 spot Saturday he participated in two game-tying rallies and reached base five times. He went three-for-three with a triple, two RBIs, and he walked twice.
Walking, more than the runs, has his moving up in conversation.
Nootbaar walked twice from the leadoff spot Sunday.
But runs also help. So do trots.
Nootbaar started the Cardinals’ three-run first inning with a leadoff homer on the fifth pitch of the game. Nootbaar’s seventh homer of the season was his first career leadoff homer. In the seventh, back on base, Nootbaar scored the tying run, 4-4, before the Cardinals quickly moved to take the lead.
Knizner takes a whack, cost Cardinals a run
The run broke the game’s 3-3 tie in the third inning could be traced back to a bruise on catcher Andrew Knizner’s left wrist.
With a runner on base and no outs in the third, Stone Garrett took a swing at a pitch from Quintana and connected only with Knizner’s glove. The catcher’s interference gave Knizner an error, Garrett the base, and the game a lengthy pause as Knizner crumpled, cradling his hand. Met at home plate by a trainer, Knizner went through a series of tests on his hand, its comfort, and its range of motion.
At one point he received two fastballs from Quintana to see how they felt.
With rookie Ivan Herrera on the roster for two days as Yadier Molina flew back to Puerto Rico, Knizner remained in the game for the remainder of it. The runner Knizner’s interference put on base also nudged Christian Walker to second base and got Arizona’s tiebreaking run in motion. Walker took third on a double play, and he scored on Jordan Luplow’s two-out single. The run was unearned against Quintana’s line, though it did help end his appearance.
Irked by ump's zone, Marmol earns ejection
The pitch that did it was hardly the only one that merited it.
It may not have even been the most egregious.
The frustration boiling against home-plate umpire C. B. Bucknor spilled into a quick ejection in the third inning for Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol. The Cardinals’ dugout had issues with how starter Quintana was not getting the edges, and then came the call where Diamondbacks’ right-hander Merrill Kelly got far more than that. The first pitch to Arenado in the third inning was off the inside edge of the plate, according to replay and MLB.com’s Gamecast. Arenado’s head snapped back at Bucknor when the ump made the strike call.
Marmol was not out of the dugout when Bucknor turned to him and dramatically tossed him from the game. With six innings suddenly free, Marmol marched out to home plate to get the remainder of his complaints in before leaving. The ejection was Marmol’s third of the season, but his first arguing a first strike of an at-bat.
Bench coach Skip Schumaker took over game management.
