Quick Hitters
Padres beat Mets
SAN DIEGO — Manuel Margot came within a triple of the cycle and fellow rookie Dusty Coleman hit his first major league home run, leading the San Diego Padres past the New York Mets 7-5 on Thursday night.
Luis Perdomo (5-5) got the victory after pitching into the seventh.
Brad Hand earned his fifth save and ran his scoreless streak to 18 1/3 innings.
Margot drove in three runs, a career-high for the former Boston Red Sox prospect.
Coleman, the 30-year-old minor league veteran, was promoted this week when shortstop Erick Aybar got hurt. He hit a three-run home run that made it 7-1 in the fifth.
The Mets lost for the third time in nine games despite Jay Bruce’s 26th home run, a two-run blow off Jose Torres that drew them to 7-5 in a four-run seventh.
The Padres took a 4-1 lead against rookie Chris Flexen, a 23-year-old making his big league debut for the injured Zack Wheeler.
Flexen, promoted directly from Double-A Binghamton, gave up a home run on his third pitch, an errant 0-2 curveball that Margot pulled for his seventh homer and fourth to lead off a game.
Mets fielders erased two Padres baserunners at home plate later in the first but Flexen (0-1) continued to misfire.
The righty hit Coleman in the back with an 0-2 pitch in the second and walked No. 8 hitter Luis Torrens to load the bases.
With one out, Margot blasted a chest-high fastball off the center-field wall for a double that brought in three runs, the final one unearned.
Flexen threw 69 pitches in his three innings, allowing five hits and four walks.
Margot bunted for his third hit, bringing him a triple shy of becoming the third player in Padres history to hit for the cycle.
He grounded out in his final at-bat.
Pac-12 will test shorter halftime, reduced TV TOs
LOS ANGELES — The Pac-12 will shorten halftime and reduce the number of commercial breaks during its non-conference schedule this season as part of a trial program to reduce the length of its football games.
Halftime will be 15 minutes long, cut down from the usual 20-minute break. The number of commercial breaks will be reduced and they will be shorter in length, Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott said Wednesday.
Scott announced the initiative as the Pac-12 kicked off its media days in Hollywood. The experiment is intended to shorten ballooning game times in an era of up-tempo offenses running more plays and the increased scoring that comes with it.
“Just because metrics show robust ratings and attendance doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be experimenting and piloting with formats that will keep the sport attractive,” Scott said. “It’s incumbent on us to look at the presentation of the sport and make sure the pace of play is moving as much as possible and without changing the fundamentals of the game.”
Scott did not completely dismiss potential rule changes in the future to address the length of games, saying that the upcoming experiment was part of a larger, more comprehensive review.
Scott noted that Pac-12 games have averaged nearly 3 hours and 30 minutes, more than 30 minutes longer than NFL games. Some of that discrepancy can be attributed to stopping the clock after first downs in college football, a rule not used in the NFL.
The halftime reduction could be a significant incentive to keep television viewers tuned in. Scott said up to 30 percent of the audience is lost during that break.
The changes could also have a positive effect on stadium attendance since Pac-12 fans have complained about the increase in late starts under the conference’s most recent television deal.
ST. LOUIS — Arizona outfielder J.D. Martinez is beginning to endear himself to the Diamondbacks’ fan base.
Martinez hit a grand slam and Zack Godley pitched seven innings as the Diamondbacks beat the St. Louis Cardinals 4-0 on Thursday night.
The Diamondbacks won their third game out of four, improved to 59-43 and snapped the Cardinals’ three-game winning streak.
Godley (4-4) reversed a trend of two poor outings, in which he allowed 10 earned runs in 11 2/3 innings, with the best performance of his 14-start career. Only three Cardinals advanced into scoring position as Godley struck out seven.
“My defense, they played unbelievably behind me,” Godley said. “A lot of ground balls, a lot of tough plays to make and they made all of them.”
Archie Bradley and Fernando Rodney each pitched an inning in relief for the Diamondbacks, who had their first shutout since May 30 at Pittsburgh.
Martinez’s blast, his fourth homer as a Diamondback in four days and 20th overall, gave Arizona a 4-0 lead in the fourth inning. It was the fourth grand slam of his career for Martinez, who was acquired from the Detroit Tigers on July 18.
“That’s really and truly the one big swing of the game right there,” Godley said. “He (Cardinals starter Luke Weaver) gave up a single and a couple of walks and could have worked out of it and then that one big swing puts us up by four.”
Martinez, after starting his stint with the Diamondbacks in a 2-for-12 funk, is 3 for his last 8 with three home runs and eight RBIs during that stretch.
With a limited scouting report on Weaver, the Diamondbacks had to adjust quickly.
“They started to share some information as the game progressed and they made some adjustments,” Diamondbacks manger Torey Lovullo said. “These guys do a good job of relying on one another, sharing with one another and J.D. hit a ball really really well.”
Paul Goldschmidt had two singles, walked and scored on the grand slam.
With the loss the Cardinals, who were shut out for the first time since May 26 at Colorado, missed the opportunity to reach the .500 mark for the first time since June 2. St. Louis fell to 50-52.
Weaver (0-1), who was recalled from Triple-A Memphis after Adam Wainwright (back) was placed on the disabled list, was burned by two walks immediately in front of the Martinez grand slam, which were the only runs he gave up in his five innings.
“They got the right hitter there in that moment and I just elevated it a little too high and he got a good swing on it,” Weaver said.
Paul DeJong was the only Cardinal to reach safely more than once, with two singles and a walk. DeJong extended his hitting streak to seven games and is hitting .379 (11 for 29) with four homers and seven RBIs during that span.
WEB GEMS
Diamondbacks 3B Jake Lamb made an over the shoulder basket catch on Randal Grichuk’s foul ball a step before his momentum took him over the wall and into the stands in the fourth inning. Lamb was not injured and stayed in the game.
“I got a late jump on it,” Lamb said. “I forgot how much room was over there at third base. It just stayed in just enough for me to reach out and grab it.”
Cardinals 2B Kolten Wong ranged far into right field to make his own over the shoulder basket catch on Chris Iannetta’s pop up in the seventh.
The start of the game was delayed for 62 minutes by rain.
TRAINING ROOM
Diamondbacks: OF Yasmany Tomas (right groin tendinitis) was transferred to the 60-day disabled list from the 10-day disabled list to make room on the 40-man roster for minor league C John Ryan Murphy, who acquired in a trade with Minnesota.
Cardinals: OF Stephen Piscotty (right groin strain) went 0 for 3 in the first of four scheduled rehab assignments at Single-A Peoria.
UP NEXT
Diamondbacks: LHP Robbie Ray (9-5, 3.15 ERA) is fourth in the National League with 149 strikeouts. In nine road starts (eight quality) he is 5-1 with a 1.51 ERA.