Cardinals 4, Diamondbacks 2
Jaime Garcia continued his home brilliance with six strong innings and David Freese homered and drove in three runs as the St. Louis Cardinals closed out the first half with a 4-2 victory over the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday.
All-Star Matt Holliday had an RBI single and Albert Pujols had two hits for the Cardinals (49-43), who are near the top of the National League Central at the break despite injuries to Pujols and ace Adam Wainwright (Tommy John surgery).
They won a second straight behind Garcia, who allowed two runs and seven hits to improve to 6-1 at home. He has a major league-best 1.14 ERA at home. The lefthander allowed just his second home run at the new Busch Stadium – a game-tying, two-run shot to Ryan Roberts in the second.
But Freese snapped the deadlock with an opposite-field, two-run homer to right one inning later. He belted a 1-0 fastball from Zach Duke (2-4) into the Cardinals’ bullpen for his third homer of the season and first since returning from the disabled list on June 27. Lance Lynn threw two scoreless innings, and Fernando Salas worked the ninth for his 16th save in 18 chances.
One of the biggest surprises of the first half, the Diamondbacks (49-43) enter the break 2 1/2 games behind the defending champion San Francisco Giants in the NL West. They will open the second half by hosting the Dodgers.The Cardinals, meanwhile, begin the second half on the road against the Cincinnati Reds.