The Cardinals set a major league record with three pinch-hit home runs and rallied from a four-run deficit to beat the Atlanta Braves 7-4 Friday night.
Rookie Aledmys Diaz got his first career homer to break a tie as a pinch-hitter in the eighth, and Greg Garcia and rookie Jeremy Hazelbaker also had pinch-hit homers in the Cardinals’ first win.
At what point does Mike Matheny wake up and get Hazelbaker in the lineup everyday? Â He’s been swinging the hottest bat since spring training. Â He led the club in Florida with three homers and ten RBIs. Â He now has two homers and a double in his first four MLB games.
Watch the pinch hit HRs from MLB.com
After four games, while its still early, we can start to see some things taking shape. Â For starters, the Cardinals need to the starters to ramp up quickly. Â This was another sub par performance.
Jaime Garcia allowed four runs in six innings. Â He settled down, but after the damage was done in the fourth.
The bullpen, especially the back end looks solid.  They did not allow a hit, Kevin Siegrist and Trevor Rosenthal will finish off many 8th and 9th innings this season.
The bats need to get going. Â Kolten Wong is the only starter hitting over .200 (.250). Â The starters got eight hits, but struck out nine times.