Recap: Arizona vs. St. Louis
Sports Network | September 01, 2008
Phoenix, AZ (Sports Network) - Stephen Drew hit for the cycle as part of a five-hit day while three other Arizona players homered to give the Diamondbacks an 8-6 comeback victory over the St. Louis Cardinals in the opening game of a three-game series at Chase Field. Adam Dunn, Chris Young and Mark Reynolds all homered while new addition David Eckstein went 2-for-3 with two runs batted in, as the Diamondbacks won for only the second time in eight games. The win puts Arizona ahead of the Dodgers by three games in the NL West. Los Angeles plays at Chavez Ravine later Monday night against the Padres. Randy Johnson struggled in his outing, giving up four homers, five runs and six hits in only 3 2/3 innings of work while striking out eight and walking three. Chad Qualls (3-8) got the win after throwing one scoreless inning. Brandon Lyon pitched a scoreless ninth for his 26th save of the season. Joel Pineiro allowed four runs on six hits and two walks in five innings, with three strikeouts. Kyle McClellan (2-7) took the loss after giving up three runs on four hits in 1 1/3 innings of relief work. Albert Pujols, Yadier Molina, Joe Mather and Felipe Lopez all swatted homers in the loss. Cesar Izturis added three hits as the Cardinals dropped their fifth game out of the last six. After Ron Villone walked Dunn to start the home sixth, he was lifted for McClellan. The reliever didn't fare very well, as Reynolds crushed the first pitch he saw into the left field seats, tying the game at six. The Diamondbacks took their first lead of the game in the seventh. Pinch- hitter Jeff Salazar singled off Villone, and Drew hit a ground-rule double to complete the cycle and put two runners in scoring position. Eckstein took the very next pitch to right field, an RBI single to give Arizona a 7-6 lead. Dunn walked to load the bases, and Russ Springer was brought in to get out of the jam. After striking out Reynolds, Springer unloaded a wild pitch to plate Drew for a two-run advantage that held up for the final two innings. Molina gave the Cardinals a 1-0 advantage, leading off the second with his sixth home run of the season. Two batters later Mather crushed his eighth homer of the year for a 2-0 lead. Dunn got one of the runs back in the home half of the inning, blasting his 35th homer of the year off Pineiro. The Cardinals widened their lead in the third. Ryan Ludwick doubled, and Pujols followed with a two-run shot, his 30th of the season. Lopez added a solo homer with two outs in the frame for a 5-1 cushion. Arizona scored one in the third. Drew led off with a triple and Eckstein hit a sacrifice fly to make it 5-2. Young homered with one out in the fourth to cut the deficit to two. Drew added yet another solo home run, hitting his 16th of the season with one out in the fifth. St. Louis got to Jon Rauch in the sixth. With two outs, Izturis singled and Ludwick doubled deep to center to plate the runner and give the team a 6-4 lead. Game Notes The Diamondbacks lead the season series 1-0; Arizona won last year's season series 4-3...Pujols is 28-for-54 (.519) in last 14 games...Rauch and Villone were ejected from the game for arguing balls and strikes...Drew hit for the third cycle in Diamondbacks history, the first at Chase Field. The last time an Arizona player accomplished the feat was September 18, 2002, when Greg Colbrunn did it against the Padres...Monday marked the Diamondbacks 25th comeback win of the season, and they improved to 27-4 when homering two or more times...Arizona outfielder Justin Upton left the game after being hit in the head during a pickoff attempt at first base in the eighth inning. Game Notes The Diamondbacks lead the season series 1-0; Arizona won last year's season series 4-3...Pujols is 28-for-54 (.519) in last 14 games...Rauch and Villone were ejected from the game for arguing balls and strikes...Drew hit for the third cycle in Diamondbacks history, the first at Chase Field. The last time an Arizona player accomplished the feat was September 18, 2002, when Greg Colbrunn did it against the Padres...Monday marked the Diamondbacks 25th comeback win of the season, and they improved to 27-4 when homering two or more times...Arizona outfielder Justin Upton left the game after being hit in the head during a pickoff attempt at first base in the eighth inning.
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