Aledmys Diaz notched one of an MLB-record three pinch-hit home runs the Cardinals produced en route to Friday’s night’s 7-4 win over the Braves, who remain winless despite holding a lead in the seventh inning or later in each of their first three games.
“Obviously, we needed a spark,” said Cardinals manager Mike Matheny, after watching Jeremy Hazelbaker, Diaz and Greg Garcia each hit solo homers off the bench. “We talked kind of going through the winter about our bench and how there was a little more thump. I don’t think those were the three guys we were talking about, though.”
The Cardinals were staring at the possibility of opening the season with four straight losses when the Braves tallied four third-inning runs off Jaime Garcia. But Garcia found a groove over his final three frames and St. Louis began its comeback during a three-run fourth against Matt Wisler, whose 6 2/3-inning effort was tarnished by Hazelbaker’s game-tying pinch-hit dinger in the seventh.
Diaz’s eighth-inning solo shot off lefty Eric O’Flaherty accounted for his first career dinger. The Braves had gained a comfortable early lead courtesy of three consecutive two-out RBI singles by Nick Markakis, Hector Olivera and Tyler Flowers off Garcia.
Cardinals reliever Seung Hwan Oh, making his third big league apperance, notched his sixth — and biggest — strikeout yet this season by getting cleanup hitter Adonis Garcia to swing through three sliders with one out and the potential go-ahead run on third in the seventh. Oh then handed the ball to Kevin Siegrist, who stranded the pair of runners by inducing an inning-ending forceout. It was the first of three scoreless innings by the Cardinals’ bullpen.
“Just following Yadi’s call pretty much,” Oh said, deflecting the credit to his catcher, Yadier Molina.
“We’ve got to start swinging the bats. I’m really confident we’re going to win a game [soon]. We’re playing good baseball. It just seems like it’s one inning or one play that has kind of gotten us these last three games.” — Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez
Julio Teheran will make his second start of the season when Atlanta resumes its three-game series against St. Louis at 6:10 p.m. CT. Teheran did not get a decision after limiting the Nationals to two solo homers over six innings on Opening Day.
