John Lackey: Lackey limits Reds to one run over seven

Brandon Phillips had three hits including a first-inning RBI single. “That calmed me a little bit more and I got a good pitch to hit”.

He walked Jason Bourgeois on a full count to open the game and Votto singled with one out. He erased the only baserunner in that stretch – Phillips’ leadoff single in the fourth – by inducing a 5-4-3 shattered-bat double play from third baseman Todd Frazier two pitches later. I just developed how I wanted it to be.

“I don’t even want to talk about that”.

Arizona’s Paul Goldschmidt hit one 456 feet righthanded in 2012, the same year the Cardinals’ Holliday, another righthanded hitter, set the Busch III record at 469. It was Lackey’s sixth straight quality start and the third in a row in which he’s thrown seven innings with two runs or fewer allowed.

Another streak of futility ended in the seventh inning when Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina threw out Billy Hamilton attempting to steal second.

“[He] was nearly safe”.

“It was a tough inning, but stuff happens”, Garcia said. His stolen bases often lead to runs crossing the plate, which can be seen by the 56 runs he accounted for this season. The Cardinals are now 84-0 when leading after eight innings but 3-46 when trailing after eight innings…. John Lamb, sporting a 1-3 record and 5.35 ERA coming in, struck out six and never seemed to feel the pressure of six St. Louis runners through six innings.

Matheny said, “His stuff is good”. “He was sharper and didn’t give us a lot to work with”.

The Cardinals repeatedly wasted scoring opportunities, stranding runners in scoring position during the first three innings. A victory today and a San Francisco loss would clinch at least a wild card for the third consecutive season. “It’s kind of a random number I guess”, said Lackey.

In the last week, the rookie has been as close to perfection as a hitter can get.

2 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on. He comes right at guys. “To say he’s maximized it would be an understatement”. Jh.Peralta singled to right, Pham scored.

St. Louis Cardinals pinch runner Peter Bourjos returns to the… Tony (Cruz) called a good game.

“When your momentum’s going one way, I could have stopped, but at the same time maybe I would’ve gotten hurt”, said Frazier, who credited Sampson and Jim Day, a Reds TV analyst stationed in the well, for pulling him to safety. “So if we could capitalize soon, that’s only going to help us”. It takes the pressure off playing out there.

The Stanford product has delivered time and again in key moments for the Cardinals in the second half and boasts the team’s best average at.309. “He’s a talented player, first”. Piscotty jumped heart and soul into a division race, and the Cardinals’ top hitting prospect is helping the team maintain the best record in baseball by batting.310 with five home runs in 54 games.