The St. Louis Cardinals took on the Atlanta Braves in game two of a three game series at Busch Stadium on Saturday night.
And in a game that came down to the wire, rookie Stephen Piscotty scored Pete Kozma on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth inning, to give the Cardinals a 1-0 victory, and, with the rival Cubs and Pirates both losing, giving them another game ahead in the National League Central.
For Saturday evening’s game, the pitching match-up featured Carlos Martinez (10-4, 2.51) for St. Louis, going up against former Cardinals’ pitcher Shelby Miller (5-6, 2.33).
In the top of the second inning, Miller stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded, and receive a strong ovation from the Busch Stadium crowd. Martinez was able, however, to strike out Miller to end the inning.
Both pitcher’s put on a clinic, as Miller held the Cardinals to a mere two hits.
By the end of his start, Miller allowed a run and two hits in 7 1/3 innings. Meanwhile, Martinez’s final line for the evening: 8.0 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 Ks.
During the bottom of the eighth inning, the Cardinals finally got on the board. With Miller still on the mound, inning started with a single by Yadier Molina. Randal Grichuk was issued a walk, and Molina advanced to second. Pete Kozma then came in to pinch run for Molina. Kozma then advanced to third base after a fly out by Mark Reynolds. Dan Johnson pinch-hit for Martinez, and Luis Avilán entered the game to pitch for Miller.
Stephen Piscotty then came in to pinch hit for Johnson. And Piscotty hit a sacrifice fly that scored Kozma, to give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead.
Seth Maness entered the game to pitch for Martinez, and Tony Cruz entered to catch for Molina. Cameron Maybin led off by lining out. Randy Choate relieved Maness afterwards. Nick Markakis then singled. Afterwards, A.J Pierzynski ended the game by grounded into a double play, to notch his first save of the season.
Martinez improves to 11-4 on the season, while Miller falls to 5-7 on the season. The Cardinals enter Sunday with a record of 63-34, and the Braves enter the day 45-52.
Michael Wacha will get the start on Sunday.
(Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)
