The Diamondbacks crushed the Cardinals 14-1 Tuesday night in St. Louis, rebounding from a tough walk-off loss the night before. On a day when the D-backs placed three pitchers on the injured list, Tommy Henry came back from Reno to toss six strong innings and Pavin Smith drove in six runs with a grand slam and a two-run double to pace the offense.
There were many highlights in this game, but it starts with Henry. Having struggled enough to be sent down to the minors last Tuesday, the left-hander was pressed back into the rotation due to Merrill Kelly suffering a shoulder strain. Henry turned in his best outing of the year, going six innings, allowing just one run on a solo homer to Willson Contreras. Henry gave up five hits in all, walked one, and struck out six.
The big push moment came in the 4th inning. Christian Walker hit a three-run homer in the 3rd inning, staking Henry to a 4-1 lead. Henry walked Contreras to start the 4th and then gave up a single to Nolan Arenado. It looked like the Cardinals were going to climb back into the game.
Henry held firm. He struck out Paul Goldschmidt swinging on a fastball, then got Lars Nootbar to ground out to second. Masyn Winn worked a seven-pitch at-bat but was caught looking on a curveball on the low, outside corner to end the inning. Henry gave up a couple of singles in the fifth and retired the side in order in the 6th to finish his outing.
Henry threw a career-high 30 curveballs, landing nine of them for called strikes, to go with a couple of whiffs. He threw 93 pitches in total, 62 for strikes.
The Diamondbacks broke the game open by sending 10 men to the plate in a six-run fifth inning. Ketel Marte got it started with a double, followed by Gabriel Moreno driving him in with a base hit. After knocking Cardinals starter Steven Matz out of the game in the fifth for the second straight time, Ollie Marmol sent Zack Thompson out.
Randall Grichuk hit a two-out RBI single for his 1000th career hit. Smith followed with a two-run double off the left field wall. The big blow came from an unexpected source, however. Kevin Newman hit a massive upper tank home run into Big Mac Land to punctuate the inning. The D-backs came right back in the 6th to load the bases before Smith’s two-out grand slam to finish off the scoring.
Every Diamondback starter had at least one hit in the 15-hit attack, including Lourdes Gurriel Jr. with three and Moreno with two. It was the third time the D-backs have won by 13 runs, a single-season franchise record set just 25 games into the year.
There were defensive highlights as well, especially from Ketel Marte. He had three outstanding plays in the game, including two early on when the game was still in doubt. Marte came into the game leading all MLB second basemen with +4 defensive runs saved. Gabriel Moreno nailed Nolan Gorman trying to advance to third after a two-out double. It was a perfect throw, one that seemingly only Moreno would make in that situation.
Henry’s record now stands at 1-1. Logan Allen was credited with his first career save, recording three scoreless innings. It was a much-needed night off for the rest of the bullpen. The Diamondbacks record is 12-13 and the Cardinals drop to 10-14. The series finale is Wednesday at 10:15 A.M. MST. Jordan Montgomery will start against his former team, and Kyle Gibson will pitch for the Cardinals.
Here is highlight reel for those that couldn’t watch the game.
#Dbacks power to 14-1 victory over Cardinals behind Henry's strong outing https://t.co/repCUkSqjQ #MLBFilmRoom via @MLB
— Jack Sommers (@shoewizard59) April 24, 2024
