If there’s one thing the Cardinals are good at this season, it’s hitting home runs.
And if there’s one thing Jedd Gyorko is good at, it’s dominating against his former team.
“The kind of tear he’s on, not many people do something like that,” manager Mike Matheny said. “I know it always does make it a little sweeter when it’s a team you’ve been on before, for whatever reason.”
Gyorko, who the Cardinals acquired by trading away Jon Jay, is 13 for 21 (.619) against his old team with six homers and 10 RBI. He has 11 homers and 27 RBI on the year with 40 starts spread across the infield positions. He started at third base both games of the doubleheader on Wednesday.
He has four consecutive three-hit games against San Diego and four career multi-homer games, and both home runs in Game 2 were hit off of Paul Clemens (1-1). After his performance on Wednesday, he also became the first Cardinal to homer in five straight games against the Padres since Albert Pujols in 2001-02.
“He’s their best hitter right now and either make quality pitches and get him out or walk him and make the next guy beat you,” Clemens said.
But he wasn’t the only player who hit a home run against the Padres during the doubleheader, as Matt Holliday and Yadier Molina both hit home runs in Game 1, a 4-2 victory. Despite a rough first inning and suffering a nosebleed in the second inning, starter Carlos Martinez pitched a quality start in the first game marking their second straight win.
For the first game (which was a make-up of Tuesday night’s postponed game), 11,191 fans were in attendance. Paid attendance was 40,184. Attendance was 41,012 for the second game.
Starting for St. Louis in Game 2 was Jaime Garcia (7-6). The veteran left-hander allowed one run in 5 2/3 innings. Closer Seung Hwan Oh earned his fourth save in five chances, and second of the day. Interesting to note that Oh is the first Cardinals pitcher to save both ends of a doubleheader since Jason Isringhausen achieved the feat against the Pirates in 2004.
On Thursday, Adam Wainwright will get the start as they look to sweep San Diego.
