Before turning their attention to a four-game showdown against the Cubs, the Cardinals found a way to wrap up an uneven homestand on a high note. With a 3-2 victory that showcased Jaime Garcia at his near best, the Cardinals nabbed a series from the Reds on Wednesday and climbed back into a tie with the Marlins for the National League’s second Wild Card spot.
Garcia bookended the Cardinals’ 3-3 homestand with a pair of sensational starts. Pulled from his last outing three outs short, the left-hander was given the opportunity to secure his fifth career complete game. That leash ran out after Garcia surrendered hits to Joey Votto and Adam Duvall to open the inning. But closer Seung Hwan Oh took over from there and sealed the win on five pitches.
Full Game Coverage
“He was great,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said of Garcia. “He just kind of built off of what we saw last time out. Boy, whatever we have to do to keep him there because that’s impressive to watch.”
Garcia’s eight-plus-inning performance goes down as one of his most dominant this season. He served up a fourth-inning home run to Eugenio Suarez, but finished on 85 pitches (60 strikes).
Reds starter Anthony DeSclafani entered with a 1.35 ERA in four appearances against the Cardinals, but he was stung by home runs from Matt Carpenter and Jhonny Peralta. Carpenter also tripled and scored to help build the team’s early advantage.
“I just think I got into some bad counts and made bad pitches when I needed to make a good pitch,” DeSclafani said. “I felt like I kind of beat myself tonight, obviously not discrediting them at all … but I felt like I didn’t execute to the best of my ability at all.”
Both Carpenter and Peralta helped Garcia in the field as well, as the Cardinals’ infield had a standout night in a game where Garcia tallied 15 ground-ball outs. Carpenter, making his fourth start at first base this season, picked several short-hop throws. Peralta, playing third, and shortstop Greg Garcia each made highlight-worthy plays in the eighth to help Garcia work around a leadoff double.
Click here to read more of this story.
About Marion Online Sports
