Diamondbacks 10, Cardinals 3
ST. LOUIS -- A rare St. Louis Cardinals error opened the floodgates for the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday night.
Matt Holliday's dropped fly ball in the top of the sixth inning snapped a 1-1 tie, and the Diamondbacks broke the game open the next inning on their way to a 10-3 win at rainy Busch Stadium.
Paul Goldschmidt's seventh-inning grand slam gave Arizona a 7-1 lead as the beat St. Louis for the second straight evening. It was the first time since April 27-29 that the Cardinals (38-21) have lost consecutive games.
The Cardinals entered the night leading the majors in fielding percentage, and they'd committed the fewest errors.
Wade Miley (4-5) scattered 11 hits over 6 2/3 innings in winning for the first time since May 8.
Joe Kelly (0-3) pitched well in his first start of the year after 16 relief appearances, but still absorbed the loss despite yielding only two runs (one earned) and four hits in 5 2/3 innings.
With a runner at first and two outs in the sixth, Randy Choate relieved Kelly and induced a deep fly ball to left on an 0-2 pitch to Jason Kubel. Holliday reached up for the ball and it clanked off the heel of his glove as Willie Bloomquist raced all the way around to score.
The Diamondbacks (34-25) scored five runs in the seventh off Choate and Maikel Cleto, called up from Triple-A Memphis earlier Wednesday. Wil Nieves' RBI single made it 3-1, and Goldschmidt rocketed Cleto's 2-2 fastball into the seats in left-center for his second slam of the team's eight-game road trip.
Coming off a 7-6, 14-inning Arizona win in which the teams' bullpens combined to work 18 innings, the Diamondbacks and Cardinals were fervently hoping for good starts from Wade Miley and Joe Kelly, respectively.
Miley had struggled in his last four starts, going 0-3 with a 9.14 ERA, but he kept St. Louis off the board until the fourth. Shane Robinson touched him for an RBI single that scored Matt Holliday to even the game at 1.
Kelly mowed down 11 consecutive hitters after giving up a run-producing hit to Didi Gregorius in the second. He departed after 80 effective pitches, drawing a warm ovation from the crowd of 40,792.
It was one of the last things they had to cheer about on this night.
NOTES: The game was delayed 46 minutes at the start due to rain, and a steady drizzle fell throughout the night ... Arizona RHP Daniel Hudson departed his first rehab start Tuesday night at Double-A Mobile with stiffness in his surgically repaired right elbow. Hudson threw 48 pitches, allowing two hits and a run. He will have his elbow examined by team physician Michael Lee. ... Cardinals C Yadier Molina dropped the appeal of his one-game suspension and sat out Wednesday's game. Manager Mike Matheny was planning to rest him after Tuesday's 4-hour, 53-minute contest. ... To make room for Cleto on the roster, the Cardinals optioned RHP Victor Marte, the loser in Tuesday night's marathon game, to Memphis. ... Arizona RHP Daniel Hudson departed his first rehab start Tuesday night at Double-A Mobile with stiffness in his surgically repaired right elbow. Hudson threw 48 pitches, allowing two hits and a run. He will have his elbow examined by team physician Michael Lee. ... Cardinals C Yadier Molina dropped the appeal of his one-game suspension and sat out Wednesday's game. Manager Mike Matheny was planning to rest him after Tuesday's 4-hour, 53-minute contest.
