Rafael Furcal (R) gets past the tag of Diamonbacks third baseman Chris Johnson with a triple. UPI/Bill Greenblatt
Adam Wainwright and three relievers combined to allow five hits as the Cardinals beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-2. One of those hits was a 456-foot shot from Paul Goldschmidt, the longest homer hit by an opposing player at Busch III, that gave Arizona a 1-0 lead. However, David Freese hit his 16th and Allen Craig his 18th and Rafael Furcal hit a big two run triple to help the Cardinals catch the Pirates, who lost their fourth straight, 9-3 to the Dodgers.
The Cardinals and Pirates are tied for second in the Central and tied for the second Wild Card spot, a half game ahead of San Francisco. The Giants received the news that former Royal and All-Star Melky Cabrera has been slapped with a 50 game schedule for testing positive for performance enhancing drugs.
The big questions for the final month and a half? Could that suspension really hurt the Giants and can the Cardinals outplay the Pirates for the final 45 games to grab one of the wild card spots? Adam Wainwright thinks so, but Mike Matheny doesn’t want that becoming a distraction.
AUDIO Wainwright and Matheny on catching Pittsburgh (:45)
Yadier Molina is day to day with a sore lower back. Jaime Garcia, who hasn’t made a start in the majors since June 5, will go Sunday against the Pirates and Joe Kelly, the rookie who filled in admirably, will move to the bullpen.