St. Louis Cardinals third base coach Jose Oquendo shakes the hand of starting pitcher Shelby Miller as he touches third base after hitting a solo home run in the fifth inning. UPI/Bill Greenblatt
Shelby Miller leads the National League with a 1.91 ERA. While his arm has been steady for the Cardinals, Miller added his bat to his arsenal to help land the rookie his seventh win of the season. Miller hit his first career home run and pitched six sharp innings, leading the Cardinals over the Arizona Diamondbacks 12-8 Thursday night.
Even though a four-run win is not that close, the margin should have been bigger. Matt Adams and Daniel Descalso homered in an eight-run fourth inning off Ian Kennedy. Matt Holliday and Matt Carpenter also went deep for the Cardinals. They tagged Kennedy for 10 runs and 13 hits in four innings.
Arizona scored three times in the seventh and three tims in the ninth, and Edward Mujica had to come on for the last two outs for his 18th save in 18 chances.
David Freese extended his career-best hitting streak to 16 games. Descalso scored twice in the big fourth and finished with three hits, including a double. His hitting streak is at 15.
