The St. Louis Cardinals scored eight runs in the seventh inning to rally from a four-run deficit and beat the Los Angeles Angels 10-5 on Monday in Anaheim, Calif.
The Cardinals had scored as many as eight runs in a game only twice all season before Monday, and not at all in more than a month, before they got seven hits, three walks and a hit batter on their way to their biggest inning of the season.
The Angels got 5 1/3 scoreless innings from starter Jose Soriano and a key double-play grounder with the bases loaded induced by reliever Adam Cimber off the bat of Paul Goldschmidt to take a 4-0 lead into the seventh.
In the seventh, Los Angeles’ bullpen fell apart.
St. Louis’ Nolan Arenado led off the inning with a home run, just his third of the season. It began a string of five consecutive hits by Cardinals batters, the first three coming against Cimber.
Left-hander Matt Moore (0-1) replaced Cimber and fared no better. Moore gave up an RBI single to Masyn Winn and a two-run single to Matt Carpenter. Next up on the mound for the Angels was Luis Garcia, who hit Goldschmidt with a pitch with the bases loaded, then issued a bases-loaded walk to Nolan Gorman and allowed a two-run single to Ivan Herrera.
The Angels took the early lead with four runs in the third inning against Cardinals starter Matthew Liberatore, a reliever making just his second start of the season.
Zach Neto led off the inning with a single and scored on a double by Kyren Paris. Nolan Schanuel followed with a bunt single, moving Paris to third. And when the third baseman Arenado’s throw to first was in the dirt, Paris was able to score on the throwing error for a 2-0 Angels lead.
Kevin Pillar hit a two-run homer later in the inning to make it 4-0.
Liberatore retired the first batter of the fourth inning and was replaced by Kyle Leahy (1-1), who retired all eight hitters he faced. In fact, when Jo Adell hit an infield single with two outs in the eighth, it ended a streak of 15 consecutive Angels hitters who failed to reach base.
Leahy emerged with his first career win.
Pillar had an RBI single later in the eighth to cut the Angels’ deficit to 8-5, but the Cardinals added two runs in the top of the ninth.
–Field Level Media
