Even the excitement of a Little League grand slam couldn’t save the Rockies from an inevitable defeat on Friday at Busch Stadium.
The Cardinals beat the Rockies on the second night of the four-game series, as St. Louis got to Colorado pitchers early and then late in the game. After Austin Gomber’s rough opening, the Cardinals’ decisive swings came by tagging Matt Carasiti for a three-run eighth.
In the 8-5 defeat, the Rockies were subpar in clutch situations, finishing the game 2-for-8 with runners in scoring position while stranding nine runners.
Gomber, owner of an unsightly 8.18 ERA in the first inning this year entering Friday, continued that trend.
The Cardinals scored three in the opening inning off the southpaw via Paul Goldschmidt’s RBI infield single, Nolan Arenado’s sacrifice fly and Nolan Gorman’s RBI single to center. Considering the Rockies have just two wins this season in games where they trailed by three or more runs, it wasn’t an ideal start.
St. Louis added to the early lead in the second via another RBI knock by Goldschmidt. Colorado threatened to get some back in the bottom of the frame, but veteran right-hander Lance Lynn struck out Michael Toglia with the bases loaded to end the inning.
But the recently recalled Toglia, whose home run robbery highlighted Colorado’s win in Thursday’s series opener, made up for that K in the fourth inning as the Rockies rallied to tie the game.
In that frame, Brendan Rodgers exited the game after appearing to tweak a leg muscle on a fielder’s choice grounder. Alan Trejo replaced Rodgers on the bases and then at second base.
A few batters later, Toglia came up with the bases loaded and promptly laced Lynn’s first-pitch elevated cutter into the corner down the right field line. That scored three on a triple, then Toglia scored on an errant relay throw by Gorman, resulting in a Little League grand slam and a 4-4 game.
In the fifth, with right-hander Kyle Leahy on the mound for St. Louis, Ryan McMahon led off with a double and Trejo singled him home as Colorado took a 5-4 lead. While the visiting bats found life, Gomber zoned in, setting St. Louis down in order in his final three frames.
The Cardinals tied the game in the sixth, using a trio of singles off Anthony Molina to make it 5-5. But Molina kept the game tied by retiring the heart of the St. Louis order in the seventh.
After Carasiti allowed a walk and a single to the first couple of batters of the eighth, Toglia made his presence felt again. Toglia, who started the game in right field, extended full-body on a sinking line drive in left field to steal a hit from Matt Carpenter.
But the next batter, Brendan Donovan, lined a single to center that gave St. Louis a 6-5 lead when pinch runner Michael Siani barely beat Brenton Doyle’s throw home. Dylan Carlson proceeded to give the Cardinals insurance with a two-RBI double before the Rockies offense went down one-two-three against Cardinals closer Ryan Helsley.
Charlie Blackmon, on the 13th anniversary of his MLB debut, had two hits. He was also hit on his right hand in the eighth inning, but his hand guard saved him. Blackmon was hit on the same hand last June, resulting in a fracture that landed him on the injured list.
Saturday’s pitching matchup
Rockies RHP Ryan Feltner (1-5, 6.22) at Cardinals RHP Kyle Gibson (4-2, 3.69)
2:15 p.m. Saturday, Busch Stadium
TV: Rockies.TV (streaming); Comcast/Xfinity (channel 1262); DirecTV (683); Spectrum (130, 445, 305, 435 or 445, depending on region).
Radio: 850 AM/94.1 FM
Feltner got blasted in his last outing, allowing a career-high eight runs on a career-high-tying 10 hits in a 13-3 loss to the Reds at Coors Field earlier this week. The 27-year-old’s been up and down this season, and has been much better on the road (5.54 ERA in seven starts) than at home (7.30 ERA in five starts). His lone career start against the Cardinals came in 2022, when he allowed five runs in five-plus innings. Meanwhile, Gibson was tagged for three runs in five-plus innings in his last start, a 7-4 loss to the Astros. He’s capable of getting lots of outs on the ground and has been effective when locating his sinker, sweeper and cutter.
Pitching probables
Sunday: Rockies LHP Ty Blach (2-3, 4.54) at Cardinals RHP Andre Pallante (1-2, 6.16), 12:15 p.m.
Monday: Rockies RHP Daniel Hudson (2-7, 5.25) at Twins RHP Chris Paddack (4-3, 5.26), 5:40 p.m.
Tuesday: Rockies RHP Cal Quantrill (5-4, 3.58) at Twins RHP (5-6, 5.45), 5:40 p.m.
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