ST. LOUIS -- Randal Grichuk looks good since his return from Class AAA. So does the St. Louis lineup.
Grichuk homered for the second consecutive game and the Cardinals broke out the bats again for an 8-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Monday.
"I feel good with where I'm at mentally, and I feel good with where I'm at mechanically with my swing," Grichuk said. "It's one of those things, I think I'm more of a guy who kind of thrives off almost playing stupid -- just going up there and seeing ball, hit ball and not overthinking my swing and my stance and how I feel and just letting the body take over."
Grichuk, who was hitting .222 when he was demoted last month, is 4 for 10 with 2 home runs, 4 RBI and 3 runs scored since his recall Sunday. His two-run home run in the fourth inning was his sixth of the season.
The Cardinals avoided a three-game sweep with an 8-4 victory over the Pirates on Sunday night. On Monday, a makeup from the April 29 contest that was postponed because of severe weather, they scored eight more runs on 13 hits.
Grichuk and Jedd Gyorko each had two hits, including a home run, and three RBI. Tommy Pham had two hits, walked twice, stole a base and scored three runs. Paul DeJong added three hits.
"They hit a lot of bad pitches and that's what good teams do," Reds Manager Bryan Price said. "I just said the same thing about the Nationals. It's not a matter of having to consistently hit good pitches, it's taking the mistakes that you get and not missing them and not taking and not fouling them back, not hooking them down the line just foul there and putting it on the barrel."
St. Louis gave starter Michael Wacha (4-3) more than enough support.
Wacha, who began the day with an 8.17 ERA over his past seven starts, limited the Reds to 1 run on 5 hits in 6 innings. He struck out five and walked one.
"I thought he was great," Cardinals Manager Mike Matheny said. "He did a nice job establishing the bottom of the zone. I think we saw the kind of swing and misses that we were hoping for with the changeup. I do believe that curveball has become a much better pitch. He's using it to steal strikes. He's also using it to put guys away."
Brandon Finnegan (1-1) was activated off the disabled list after missing more than two months because of a shoulder problem. The lefty exited in the fourth with a strained left triceps, an injury he said was different than his previous issue.
Finnegan gave up three runs in the first inning. He allowed three hits and four walks overall.
Pham, starting in the leadoff spot for the first time this season, manufactured the first run. He drew a walk, tagged up and took second base on a routine flyout to left-center field, stole third and scored on a passed ball when Stephen Piscotty walked.
"That was great," Gyorko said. "I haven't seen something quite like that in a while, and it wasn't on normal plays that you would see. Just great hustle plays and got us a run, got us on the board early and Michael took care of the rest."
Adam Duvall had a pair of sacrifice flies for the Reds.
DIAMONDBACKS 6, PHILLIES 1 Zack Greinke pitched five effective innings after a shaky start, Daniel Descalso had three RBI and Arizona rolled to a victory over Philadelphia in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks were sluggish Sunday against the Phillies, scratching out a 2-1 victory in 11 innings. They took advantage of a rough outing by Nick Pivetta (1-4) in the series finale, racking up six runs in less than three innings against the rookie right-hander. Chris Herrmann led off the first inning with a home run and Greinke (9-4) allowed 1 run and 3 hits with 5 strikeouts. Arizona won for the 12th time in 14 games to extend the best start in team history (49-28). The Diamondbacks also won their fifth consecutive home series and ninth overall, matching their 2016 total. The Phillies continued to struggle offensively, managing five hits to lose for the 10th time in 14 games against Arizona. Greinke entered the game 6-0 at Chase Field this season, but struggled early, needing 23 pitches to get through the first inning. He worked around the traffic without giving up a run and settled in after that, keeping the Phillies in check until Freddy Galvis' RBI single in the fifth inning. Pivetta also struggled at the start, but didn't recover. The right-hander gave up a home run to the first batter he faced, a line-drive into the pool in right field by Herrmann. Descalso had a run-scoring single in the second inning, then Pivetta had trouble finding the strike zone, walking three straight batters for another run. Descalso added a two-run single in Arizona's three-run third for a 6-0 lead.
CUBS 5, NATIONALS 4 Wade Davis struck out big league batting leader Ryan Zimmerman with runners on second and third to end Washington's ninth-inning rally, and Chicago held off the host Nationals. In jeopardy of being shut out for the first time this season, the NL East-leading Nationals scored four times in the ninth. Their comeback began against Hector Rondon and continued when Davis entered. With Washington down 5-3, Bryce Harper's single loaded the bases with two outs. Davis threw a wild pitch that scored a run before striking out a swinging Zimmerman, who's hitting .344. The final pitch bounced, and catcher Willson Contreras zipped a low throw to first baseman Anthony Rizzo to close out the victory.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
INDIANS 15, RANGERS 9 Francisco Lindor, Lonnie Chisenhall and Carlos Santana each had three RBI to help host Cleveland rally from a seven-run deficit and beat Texas after Manager Terry Francona left the game because he wasn't feeling well. The Indians came back after trailing 9-2 in the fourth inning to avoid their first four-game losing streak since 2015. Cleveland did not provide any other details about Francona, who presented Rangers first baseman and former Indian Mike Napoli with his American League Championship ring before the game. Bryan Shaw (2-2) pitched 1⅓ scoreless innings for the victory. Tanner Scheppers (0-1) allowed all three batters he faced to reach base.
RED SOX 4, TWINS 1 Chris Sale (10-3) pitched 6⅓ overpowering innings with nine strikeouts, Mitch Moreland hit a home run for the third consecutive game and host Boston beat Minnesota. Dustin Pedroia had two hits and drove in a run and Moreland added a sacrifice for Boston, which kept pace with the New York Yankees atop the East. Jose Berrios (7-2) allowed 4 runs on 8 hits in 6⅓ innings for the Twins. Chris Gimenez had a home run for Minnesota.
YANKEES 6, WHITE SOX 5 Jordan Montgomery (6-4) matched his season high with seven solid innings and closer Aroldis Chapman shut down a ninth-inning rally just in time, lifting visiting New York over Chicago. New York led 6-1 entering the ninth, but Yankees reliever Chasen Shreve gave up a three-run home run to Tim Anderson and Chapman allowed an RBI double to Jose Abreu. Chapman retired Avisail Garcia and Todd Frazier to finish his eighth save and first since returning from the disabled list a week ago.
Sports on 06/27/2017