St. Louis Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol figured his slumping offense was ready to break out at any point.
That time came Monday night when the Cardinals rallied from a three-run deficit to post a 5-3 win over the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks.
After snapping a four-game skid, the Cardinals will try to build on that breakthrough when they continue their three-game series against the Diamondbacks on Tuesday.
“The reality is, you look at the careers in that clubhouse and there is a lot of success, guys who have done it for a long time and done it well,” Marmol said. “You have to reach down deep and figure out a way to flip this. That’s a really good example of that tonight.”
In their previous 14 games, the Cardinals had scored three runs or fewer on 12 occasions. They had gone eight games without hitting a homer before Paul Goldschmidt’s solo shot in the seventh inning on Monday.
Nolan Gorman, who came into the game hitting .150 in April, decided the game with a two-run homer in the ninth inning. He had gone 0-for-17 in his previous four games.
“The tougher it gets, the closer we get and we keep competing,” Marmol said. “We competed our (backsides) off tonight.”
The Cardinals will start left-hander Steven Matz (1-1, 3.60 ERA) on Tuesday.
Matz is 2-1 with a 2.97 ERA in seven career starts against Arizona. He allowed four runs (one earned) on eight hits in 4 2/3 innings in a no-decision versus the Diamondbacks on April 12.
In his most recent start overall, Matz permitted five runs on seven hits in five innings en route to being saddled with a 6-3 loss to the A’s in Oakland.
“You always want to go out there and put up zeros as much as you can and be efficient,” Matz said. “I think that’s something I can be better at, just being efficient and going deeper in the game.”
A spate of pitching injuries forced Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo to mull several options for Tuesday’s game. Left-hander Tommy Henry (0-1, 6.87) likely will take the mound for Arizona.
In his previous outing, Henry allowed five runs on nine hits in 4 1/3 innings in a no-decision against the Chicago Cubs last Tuesday. The Diamondbacks eventually won that game 12-11 in 10 innings.
Henry pitched well in his only previous start against the Cardinals. He yielded one run on six hits with seven strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings of a 5-1 setback on Aug. 19, 2022.
Ryne Nelson (elbow) and Merrill Kelley (shoulder) are Arizona’s two most recent casualties in the starting rotation.
“I can’t explain why it’s happened, or at the rate in which it’s happening,” Lovullo said of the injuries. “It’s a little uncommon. But we’ve got to keep pressing forward.”
Arizona shortstop Blaze Alexander was out of the starting lineup Monday while dealing with a hamstring injury.
“Truth be told, every team has a situation like this at some point,” Lovullo said. “Players get banged up. … It happens. I don’t want to complain about it.”
–Field Level Media
