Cardinals turn triple play, still lose 3-1

Despite turning their first triple play in nine years, the Saint Louis Cardinals were unable to pull out a victory at Rogers Centre on Friday. The Toronto Blue Jays won 3-1.
The Cardinals struck early on an RBI single off the bat of first baseman Allen Craig in the top of the first. In the bottom of the frame, the Blue Jays loaded the bases with one out but failed to get on the board.
In the second and third innings, Saint Louis threatened to expand its lead but left two runners stranded in each inning. In the bottom of the third, Toronto right fielder Jose Bautista tied the game at one with his 15th homer of the season.
The next inning, the Blue Jays attempted to take the lead when they loaded the bases, but first baseman Adam Lind grounded out to second to end the threat. They did take the lead in the fifth on a solo home run by infielder Brett Lawrie. His blast is Toronto’s 89th this season, the most of any team in the majors.
In the sixth inning, Toronto got the first two batters on base, but then Bautista lined out to Daniel Descalso at second base, which began the 4-6-3 triple play. This is the Cardinals first triple play since May 5, 2005, according to ESPN.
After this magnificent play in the field, Saint Louis looked to put some runs on the board in the seventh but left runners stranded on first and third.
The Jays added an insurance run on an RBI single by shortstop Jose Reyes, which scored Lawrie.
Blue Jays rookie starter Marcus Stroman won his third game of the year, going six innings and yielding one run on seven hits.
“Right out of the gate, he did struggle a little bit, but then he started using all his pitches” Toronto manager John Gibbons said in his postgame press conference on MLB.com. “I don’t think early on he was doing that, you know he was primarily pumping fast balls in there, and when he started using his breaking ball and change-up a little bit, it made all the difference in the world. He was really, really good.”
The Blue Jays, who had won 15 of the last 17 games, look to extend their six-game winning streak on Saturday in the second game of the series.

WordPress › Error

There has been a critical error on your website.

Learn more about debugging in WordPress.