St. Louis Cardinals vs Arizona Diamondbacks — Recap

📰Game Recap

The Arizona Diamondbacks, entering the contest at 55-51 and as the market favorite, successfully defended their home turf against the St. Louis Cardinals (53-52), securing a 5-3 victory. The D-backs wasted no time establishing control, breaking the scoreless tie in the bottom of the second inning when McCann's single to right field brought Moreno home, putting Arizona up 1-0.

Arizona then blew the game open in the third inning, which proved to be the turning point of the contest. The Diamondbacks capitalized on Cardinals pitching, with Marte scoring on a wild pitch from May to double their lead. The rally continued as Arenado delivered a crucial double to left, plating both Kepler and Moreno and expanding Arizona's advantage to 4-0. The home team wasn't done, adding another run in the fourth inning when Marte's single to left allowed Waldschmidt to score, pushing the lead to a commanding 5-0.

Meanwhile, Diamondbacks starter Brandon Pfaadt held the Cardinals in check for much of the game, delivering a strong performance over 5.1 innings, fanning three batters and surrendering just two earned runs. The Cardinals finally managed to get on the scoreboard in the sixth inning. Walker singled to center field, scoring Wetherholt and cutting the deficit to 5-1. St. Louis continued to chip away, with Burleson crossing the plate on Winn's fielder's choice to make it a 5-2 game.

However, that was as close as they would get until the final frame. In the top of the ninth, Jimmy Crooks launched a solo home run to right-center field, a 443-foot blast, bringing the Cardinals within two runs. Despite Crooks' impressive individual effort, which marked his top batting performance of the night, the late rally was ultimately insufficient. The Diamondbacks’ early offensive surge and solid pitching from Pfaadt proved to be enough to hold off the Cardinals’ attempts at a comeback. With the win, the 55-51 Diamondbacks improved their standing, while the 53-52 Cardinals fell to 53-53 on the season.