Three high fastballs in the seventh inning doomed the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday as the St. Louis Cardinals rallied late and cruised to an 11-7 victory in Phoenix.
With the game tied 3-3 after six innings, St. Louis scored three runs in the seventh and added five in the eighth as the Cardinals took the rubber game of a three-game series.
Former Phoenix high school star Nolan Gorman homered twice among his three hits for the Cardinals, and teammate Lars Nootbaar also had three hits and a home run. Paul Goldschmidt and Andrew Knizner also went deep for St. Louis.
Christian Walker and Emmanuel Rivera homered for the Diamondbacks, while Walker, Jake McCarthy and Corbin Carroll had three hits apiece.
Paul DeJong smoked a one-out double to right-center off Arizona ace Zac Gallen in the seventh, and Knizner drove home DeJong with a go-ahead single, ending Gallen’s afternoon.
Diamondbacks reliever Kyle Nelson induced a Brendan Donovan foulout, but another high fastball to Goldschmidt ended up deep in the left field stands to give St. Louis a 6-3 lead.
The Cardinals added on in the eighth. Gorman blasted his second home run of the day, a two-run shot to dead center, and Knizner cracked a two-run shot as well, scoring DeJong ahead of him.
Nootbaar singled home Donovan to cap the St. Louis scoring.
Cardinals starter Jack Flaherty, among the leading trade targets as the Tuesday deadline nears, went five-plus innings, allowing three runs and eight hits. He struck out four and walked two.
Relievers Andre Pallante (3-1), Giovanny Gallegos and Andrew Suarez finished up for St. Louis.
Gallen (11-5), who was chasing a major-league-leading 12th victory, went 6 1/3 innings, walking two, striking out eight and yielding five runs on seven hits.
Nootbaar put the Cardinals on top 3-2 with a home run in the sixth inning, but Rivera tied it in the bottom of the sixth with a long drive over the left field fence.
DeJong, Donovan and Tyler O’Neill joined Knizner with two hits apiece for St. Louis.
Carroll, the betting favorite for National League Rookie of the Year, doubled, singled twice, walked, scored three times and stole his 30th base.
Walker cracked a two-run homer in the ninth.
The Diamondbacks took their sixth loss in seven games. The Cardinals won for just the second time in six games.
–Field Level Media