Good first impression
Newly acquired Moss plates winning run with 9th-inning pinch hit
ST. LOUIS — Brandon Moss felt as if he got a new baseball life after he was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday.
“It was like I won the lottery,” he said. “I’ve got a smile on my face all the time now.”
Moss recorded his first big hit with St. Louis, a pinch-hit game-ending single in the ninth inning, and Randal Grichuk had a two-run homer to lead the Cardinals to a 3-2 win over the Colorado Rockies on Sunday.
Moss’ one-out hit to left off reliever Scott Oberg (2-2) drove in Jason Heyward, who doubled with one away.
Closer Trevor Rosenthal (2-2) pitched a perfect inning for the win.
The Cardinals have won nine of 12 and have a major league-best 4016 mark at home. Colorado has lost four of five.
Moss is 2 for 11 with the Cardinals, but he hit the ball hard to the warning track three times in a 7-0 win on Friday.
He was acquired from Cleveland for minor league left-hander Rob Kaminsky.
Since the trade, Moss has been on cloud nine.
“You forget about how tough a season it has been for me personally,” Moss said. “Coming here, instantly makes you a better ballplayer.”
St. Louis manager Mike Matheny noticed that Moss has displayed plenty of enthusiasm since joining the team.
“There have been a lot of players that have come through here that have been happy to put on the Cardinal uniform,” Matheny said. “But, I haven’t seen anyone as visually excited as he was.”
Heyward kick-started the winning rally with a first-pitch double.
“We put some good AB’s together,” Heyward said. “Then (Moss) came through at the right time. That’s what he’s going to be able to do for us.”
St. Louis jumped to a 2-0 lead on Grichuk’s home run off Colorado starter Yohan Flande in the fifth. It was Grichuk’s 12th homer of the season and fifth since the AllStar break.
Colorado tied it in the sixth on singles by DJ LeMahieu and Nolan Arenado and a run-scoring double by Ben Paulsen. Arenado then came home on a wild pitch by reliever Steve Cishek.
St. Louis starter Jaime Garcia allowed just one run and two hits in fiveplus innings. He left with a 2-0 lead but was not pleased with his four walks.