Sweet revenge: Wacha stifles sixth-inning rally en route to win in LA
The sixth inning could have been trouble for Michael Wacha against the Dodgers for the second time in less than a week.
Instead, the young right-hander worked out of a jam on his way to becoming the fifth straight Cardinals starter to pitch at least seven innings. He continued his road dominance and the offense did the rest in a 7-1 win at Los Angeles.
Wacha carried a no-hitter through five innings against the Dodgers last Saturday, only to give up four runs in the sixth en route to a 5-1 loss. He told reporters during the Cardinals Live postgame show on FOX Sports Midwest he really didn't do much to change his approach the second time around.
"Maybe a couple batters," Wacha said. "Maybe try out a couple different stuff, but just the same kind of mentality going in there and attacking the hitters and throwing lots of quality strikes."
Wacha has a 6-0 record on the road to go along with a 1.59 ERA. He handed the Dodgers only their eighth loss in 29 home games, tied for the best record of any National League team outside of St. Louis.
Wacha retired eight of the first nine batters he faced before rookie Joc Pederson just missed his 18th home run with a two-out double off the wall in the third. A routine flyball out from Yasmany Grandal kept St. Louis ahead 2-0.
Los Angeles stranded two more runners in the fifth when Pederson struck out looking before loading the bases with one out in the following frame. Alex Guerrero could deliver only a sacrifice fly before Wacha got an easy grounder to second baseman Kolten Wong to end the inning.
"You've got to be able to use multiple pitches in multiple locations," Matheny told reporters on the postgame show. "It's really hard to pattern a guy when he's got that many weapons and he's got them all working."
A 1-2-3 seventh sealed Wacha's eighth win of the season, lowering his overall ERA to a team-best 2.18.
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Watch the Cardinals Live pregame and postgame shows before and after every St. Louis Cardinals game on FOX Sports Midwest.
• Carpenter heating up again. The National League leader in voting for third basemen keeps getting big hits.
Matt Carpenter walked twice and scored another two runs to bring his team high to 37, but his biggest contribution came in the Cardinals' three-run fifth inning. He set the table for the rally with a hard double to right-center, advancing Kolten Wong to third and sliding hard into second base after some great hustle.
• Heyward's hit streak. Jason Heyward extended his hit streak to a team-best seven games in style Friday night.
A two-run, two-out single gave St. Louis a 5-0 lead and raised Heyward's RBI total to 17 for the season. He's hitting 8 for 24 (.333) with a homer during his hit streak.
• Peralta's big night. Jhonny Peralta keeps quietly producing for a Cardinals offense that appears to be getting back on track.
The shortstop hit three singles in his first three at-bats against Carlos Frias, and he scored after drawing an intentional walk in the fifth inning. Peralta's average improved to .405 over his last 11 games with two home runs and 11 RBIs.
"I think he put a lot of pressure on himself last year to come in and make a big splash and he wanted to fit in right away," Matheny said. "He had a lot of stuff going on around him when he came here, but I think the guy that we see right now is the player that he is."
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• Baserunning woes. St. Louis keeps giving away outs on the basepaths.
Wong drew a leadoff walk in the first inning, only to get picked off first base, making him the third Cardinal to suffer that fate in the last week. Then Heyward ended the fifth-inning rally when he got caught between first and second following his big hit.
• Jay's slow comeback. The Cardinals are still waiting for Jon Jay to regain the stroke that made him a .300 hitter a year ago.
Although his groundball found a hole on the right side for a single in the sixth, the center fielder also struck out looking and grounded out twice in his fourth start since returning from a wrist injury. He's hitting just 2 for 14 in those games and hasn't had an extra-base hit since April 19, a span of 76 at-bats.
• Turner trouble. One Dodger appears to have figured out how to hit Michael Wacha.
Justin Turner ruined Wacha's no-hitter with a sixth-inning single last Saturday, and he did it again in the second inning Friday. The third baseman singled again to set up the Dodgers' lone run in the sixth, and he hit a hard line drive to center right at Jay in the fourth.
You can follow Luke Thompson on Twitter at @FS_LukeT or email him at lukegthompson87@gmail.com.
