St. Louis Cardinals
The Cardinals entered Monday with a 34-40 record, the first time they’ve been under .500 this late in a season since 2007, which was also the last time they finished with a winning record. The Cardinals are pitching well, ranking fourth in the National League with a 4.10 ERA. They have not been very good offensively, however, averaging just 4.35 runs per game, the fifth-lowest total in the NL. They’ve been hitting better in recent weeks, averaging 5.8 runs with 30 homers in 15 games. 3B Jedd Gyorko is having a good year, hitting .293/.352/.504. The top three in the Cardinals rotation has been good, with RHP Carlos Martinez (2.87 ERA), RHP Mike Leake (3.12 ERA) and RHP Lance Lynn (3.86 ERA) all off to good starts. RHP Adam Wainwright is having another down year, with a 5.35 ERA. and pitcher Zack Greinke in the second.
The Phillies played so listlessly that shortstop Freddy Galvis vented to reporters after the game about his team’s apparent complacency and lack of effort.
“That’s what good teams do,” Daniel Descalso said of beating a club like the Phillies. “The Phillies, they don’t play as bad as their record shows. They’ve been in a lot of close games. I think they have a ton of onerun losses this year. For us to take the series on a getaway day with an opportunity for them to split with us, it’s a big series win.”
The Diamondbacks, despite giving star Paul Goldschmidt a day off, continued to roll. Chris Herrmann, hitting in the leadoff spot for the first time in his career, blasted a home run on the sixth pitch he saw. Utility man Descalso, a day afterdelivering a walkoff hit, drove in three more runs. The Diamondbacks led 6-0 after three innings.
Greinke needed 102 pitches to get through five innings, struggling either to hit the corners or to comply with a tight zone, or perhaps both. He gave up just one run, and three relievers managed four shutout innings to close it out.
“It was a little bit of a trap series,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “We could have come out on the other side of this and it could have been a dangerous situation. But these guys did a great job.”
Greinke has been on some good teams in his career, including a 2013 Dodgers team that won 42 out of 50 games at one point in the season. Though the Diamondbacks have won 15 of 18, Greinke is hesitant to draw comparisons, but he does think his club would be winning regardless of the competition.
“We’ve been playing really good lately,” Greinke said. “I think no matter what team we were playing, we’d been playing good and we’d probably win some games. But you don’t want to lose games you should win.”
ATLANTA - When Atlanta Braves grounds crewmember Nigel Talton was asked during the offseason if he wanted to race fans as a part of an ingame promotion, he had no idea it was the start of something special.
The Braves in-game promotion — “Beat The Freeze” — has made Talton somewhat of a national celebrity.
Fans are selected before the game to race The Freeze. They receive a head start in the sprint around the outfield wall at SunTrust Field, while Talton —a former college sprinter wearing an electric blue superhero-like outfit — attempts to catch them in a dash to the finish line. He usually does. Talton has received national media attention as The Freeze. The Olympic hopeful has been the subject of a Washington Post article and interviewed on ESPN’s SportsCenter.
“If someone told me last summer I’d be here where I am now, I wouldn’t believe them,” said Talton, from Fort Valley, Georgia. “My phone has been blowing up every second. It doesn’t stay charged.”
Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez has gone on the 10-day disabled with a strained right shoulder that had kept him out the past three games.
Manager Bud Black said Monday, ahead of the series opener against the Giants, that neither the training staff nor Gonzalez were sure he would even be ready by the start of a weekend series Friday at Arizona, so this was the best decision. Gonzalez is expected to return next Monday.
Colorado also placed lefty starter Tyler Anderson on the DL with inflammation in the back of his left knee near the hamstring. He felt it during his Sunday start at Dodger Stadium in what had been described as a cramp, but the Rockies thought that could become a strain and made the precautionary move to shut him down.
Dusty Baker would love for his Washington Nationals to add reliever Francisco Rodriguez — so long as K-Rod can replicate the form that made him a six-time All-Star.
Amid reports Monday that the Nationals may sign the veteran right-hander to a minor league deal, Baker said only that he had taken “calls from various people” about him and that nothing was official.
Does Washington’s manager want the 35-year-old for his struggling bullpen? “It depends if he’s still K-Rod,” Baker said.
— Wire services