Diamondbacks 7, Cardinals 6

The expected pitching duel between top young prospects Tyler Skaggs and Michael Wacha did not materialize. Wacha was tagged for 10 hits and didn't get through five, allowing six Arizona runs, with the big blow A.J. Pollock's fifth home-run of the year, a three-run shot in the fourth. Skaggs was a little better, but allowed two home-runs, and six hits in total over 5.2 innings. He should have escaped the sixth, when Carlos Beltran was clearly out stealing third, as shown above, but to everyone's amazement, replacement-level third-base umpire Jordan Baker called Beltran safe. D-backs bench coach Alan Trammell was thrown out in the ensuing argument.

The extended inning which resulted, allowed the Cardinals to pull within one, and they tied the game in the seventh. From then on, this had an air of inevitable defeat about it, even though David Hernandez worked a scoreless five outs, Tony Sipp/Will Harris the ninth and Josh Collmenter provided outstanding relief work with four scoreless innings from the tenth through the thirteenth. However, after a pair of walks in the 14th, Paul Goldschmidt punched the ball back up the middle for the go-ahead run. In the bottom half, the Heath Bell Experience allowed a leadoff double, but retired the next three for the save, and a win that took about two hours longer than it should have.

On offense, Willie Bloomquist continued his incendiary start, with two doubles and two singles, while Paul Goldschmidt had three and Didi Gregorius two hit nights. We're back tomorrow (or "later today", if you're in St. Louis!) to Busch, and god forbid there are any close calls at second-base, where Jordan Baker will be operating. It'll be Wade Miley for us and Joe Kelly for the Cardinals, with the first pitch at 5:15pm, Arizona time. Full recap to follow in a bit...