It’s the raw deal that keeps on haunting the Rockies.
Cardinals star third baseman Nolan Arenado blasted his former team Wednesday night, coming up a triple short of the cycle in the Redbirds’ 9-5 victory at Coors Field.
Future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols rapped out four hits and also came up a triple short of the cycle as St. Louis battered Colorado pitching for 18 hits, much to the delight of the red-hued crowd of 35,164.
Shortstop Paul DeJong tied a career-high with four hits. Nine of the Cardinals’ hits went for extra bases (five doubles, two triples, and two home runs), their most in a game since July 24, 2019, at Pittsburgh.
The Rockies made some noise late, scoring three runs on five hits off reliever Chris Stratton, but it was too little, too late. Worse, catcher Elias Diaz left the game before the ninth inning with a hand injury. Manager Bud Black said that Diaz will have an MRI to evaluate the extent of the injury.
Colorado, last in the National League West, fell to 6-14 since the All-Star break. The Cardinals, leaders of the NL Central, improved to 9-2 in their last 11 games.
It was a tough night for Rockies starter Kyle Freeland, who entered the night riding a three-game win streak with a 2.41 ERA. The left-hander departed after 4 1/3 innings, the victim of six St. Louis runs on 10 hits.
“I didn’t have a good feel for anything and it was a battle to try and get out of that first inning,” said Freeland, now 7-8 with a 4.84 ERA.
Added Black: “It was a tough one, for sure. It was the result of too many pitches left up over the plate and the Cardinals took advantage of those pitches that missed location. Kyle settled in and put up three zeroes, and that was much needed. He battled and started getting some groundballs.”
Arenado ripped an RBI double to the left-field wall off Freeland in the first, stroked a single off him in the fourth, and launched a two-out, solo homer off lefty Austin Gomber in the sixth.
Gomber, by the way, was part of the Feb. 1, 2021 trade that sent the disgruntled Arenado to St. Louis. The Rockies, by the way, will be paying $21 million of Arenado’s salary next season.
Arenado’s homer, his 23rd, traveled 403 feet and landed in the giant UC Health Charity mitt beyond the left-field wall. Anytime a Rockies player hits the mitt, it triggers a $5,000 donation to the American Cancer Society through the Colorado Rockies Foundation. The donation is not automatically activated when an opposing player homers into the mitt.
Immediately following Arenado’s homer, Pujols, playing his final season, hit a 412-foot homer to left off of Gomber. It was career homer No. 687 for Pujols, who ranks fifth in major league history, nine behind Alex Rodriguez.
“He’s still extremely motivated to perform and play well,” Black said of Pujols. “When you have talent and you take care of yourself, and you are strong like he is, and with the way the Cardinals are handling him, he can keep bat speed and he can keep the intensity, and he can stay fresh. I think that’s what we saw tonight.”
Freeland was off his game from the beginning.
He walked leadoff hitter Dylan Carlson, coaxed a groundout from Tommy Edmonds, and then gave up five consecutive hits, including an Arenado’s double down the left-field line and a run-scoring single by Pujols. By the time the inning was over, the Cardinals had sent 10 men to the plate, taken a 5-0 lead and forced Freeland to throw 37 pitches.
St. Louis lefty Jose Quintana, acquired from Pittsburgh at the trade deadline, kept Colorado in check for six innings, scattering seven hits and giving up two runs.
In the third, Yonathan Daza led off with a single, scooted to third on Charlie Blackmon’s double, and scored on Jose Iglesias’ sacrifice fly to right. Iglesias also doubled in the fifth and scored on C.J. Cron’s triple into the right-field corner. It was Cron’s third triple of the season.
Designated hitter Elehuris Montero went 2-for-4 and extended his hitting streak to nine games and has five consecutive multi-hit games, tied for the most by a rookie in Rockies history.
The two clubs will play for the series victory on Thursday afternoon at Coors. The Rockies routed St. Louis, 16-5, on Tuesday.
