Reyes Dominates, Diaz Goes Deep, Cards Close Wild Card Gap to One Game
Alex Reyes dominated Giants’ batters through seven shutout innings on Sunday afternoon, giving up just four hits, and striking out six. Reyes did walk two, a problem area for him this year, but that is far better than the six free passes in his last outing against Chicago. Aledmys Diaz gave Reyes all the run support he would need in the third inning, with a two run blast to left, his sixteenth homer on the season.
Diaz gave the Redbirds an early 2-0 lead when he connected for his 16th home run on Sunday.
The only trouble Reyes ran into on Sunday was self-created, when he airmailed a ball to first base, on a tapper by Brandon Crawford, in the sixth. He then issued a two out walk to Brandon Belt, after striking out Hunter Pence, to load the bases. Reyes got the next hitter, Eduardo Nunez, to pop out, ending the biggest threat he faced. He showed the same poise we have seen from him in all his appearances to this point, giving us more hope that he would not be affected by the pressure of the post season.
Kevin Siegrist came on in the eighth and put up a scoreless frame. Oh did the same in the ninth, earning save number 18. Both Siegrist and Oh struck out a batter a piece, and kept the Giants off the board, to preserve a rare shut out for this Cardinals pitching staff.
Yadier Molina extended his hitting streak, with a 2-4 game, but aside from that, and the Diaz home run, the offense was relatively quiet. Sunday’s game marked the ninth consecutive time the Cardinals bats have been held to single digits in the hit column. They did tac on an insurance run in the eighth, though, when Kolten Wong tripled into right center, and then scored on a single by Jhonny Peralta.
The Cardinals will be in Colorado tomorrow to begin the final series, of their last road trip this season. They will take the field behind their ace Carlos Martinez, in an effort to win three in a row, and keep the pressure on the Mets and the Giants. After Sunday’s win, the Cardinals find themselves just one game out of the second wild card spot with just 13 games to play.
