The St. Louis Cardinals scored eight runs in the seventh inning to rally from a four-run deficit and beat the Los Angeles Angels 10-5 Monday night in Anaheim, Calif.
The Cardinals had scored as many as eight runs in a game only twice all season before Monday, and not at all in more than a month, before they got seven hits, two walks and a hit batter on their way to their biggest inning of the season.
The Angels got 5 1/3 scoreless innings from starter Jose Soriano and a key double-play grounder with the bases-loaded by reliever Adam Cimber off the bat of Paul Goldschmidt, taking a 4-0 lead into the seventh.
But in the seventh, the Angels bullpen fell apart.
St. Louis’ Nolan Arenado led off the inning with a home run, just his third of the season. It began a string of five consecutive hits by Cardinals batters, the first three coming against Cimber.
Lefty Matt Moore (0-1) replaced Cimber and fared no better. Moore gave up an RBI single to Masyn Winn and a two-run single to Matt Carpenter. Next up on the mound for the Angels was Luis Garcia, who hit Goldschmidt with a pitch with the bases loaded, then issued a bases-loaded walk to Nolan Gorman and allowed a two-run single to Ivan Herrera.
The Angels took the early lead with four runs in the third inning against Cardinals starter Matthew Liberatore, normally a reliever making just his second start of the season.
Zach Neto led off the inning with a single and scored on a double by Kyren Paris. Nolan Schanuel followed with a bunt single, moving Paris to third. And when the third baseman Arenado’s throw to first was in the dirt, Paris was able to score on the throwing error for a 2-0 Angels lead.
Kevin Pillar hit a two-run homer later in the inning to make it 4-0.
Liberatore retired the first batter of the fourth inning and was replaced by Kyle Leahy (1-1), who retired all eight hitters he faced. In fact, when Jo Adell hit an infield single with two out in the eighth, it ended a streak of 15 consecutive Angels hitters who failed to reach base.
Pillar had an RBI single later in the eighth to cut the Angels’ deficit to 8-5, but the Cardinals added two runs in the top of the ninth.
–Field Level Media