Diaz’s hot bat helps Cardinals snap three-game losing skid

There hasn’t been much early concern about the St. Louis Cardinals’ starting pitching. The offense, however, has been another matter.

That changed Saturday afternoon at Busch Stadium when the Cardinals recorded 10 hits in a 10-4 triumph over the Cincinnati Reds. Shortstop Aledmys Diaz was in the middle of the storm with his first career two-homer game.

Diaz was 3-for-5 with four RBIs and Jedd Gyorko had two hits, including a double, two RBIs and two walks, helping the Cardinals jump their average from .188 to .211.

Both of Diaz’s homers came against right-hander Bronson Arroyo, who became the first 40-year-old pitcher to start a game for Cincinnati since Hod Lisenbee (46) and Boom-Boom Beck (40) on June 8-9, 1945, against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.

“The good thing I took from the last series is you have to trust in the process,” said Diaz, who was 0-for-4 in the series-opening 2-0 loss Friday. “It’s a long season, so you can’t be mad if you have a bad day. Just trust in the process and work hard every day.

“It’s not a secret. (Friday) I was disappointed in the game. We came today with the mindset of taking good at-bats and taking the lead early in the game. We did that today.”

Diaz made it 1-0 with his first-inning homer on a 1-0 fastball that traveled 381 feet to left-center. Diaz’s three-run homer in the fourth came on a 3-2 curveball that was inside. The drive again carried 381 feet, this time to left, and boosted the Cardinals’ lead to 6-1.

“I just reacted to it,” said Diaz.

Cardinals manager Mike Matheny did more than react. He marveled.

“Watch the flight of that second home run he hit,” Matheny said. “To be able to pull his hands in like he did and be able to keep that ball fair, there’s just not a lot of guys who can do that.”

Diaz’s .304 average (7-for-23) leads the team. Last year, he hit .400 in his first month.

“He has the power, but he also has the rest (of the package), too,” Matheny said. “He can fight through a good at-bat. ... He’s just a very impressive young hitter that continues to improve. A lot of it has to do with the gift he has of quick hands. He can see the ball and let it travel. It’s been a real nice start for him.”

Wacha takes turn

Michael Wacha completed the Cardinals’ first trip through the rotation and was as impressive as all of them as he allowed one run (earned) on three hits in six innings. He walked one, struck out six and smacked an RBI single in the fourth to make it 3-1.

Wacha also laid down a successful sacrifice in the second.

As good as his pitching was, Wacha enjoyed his performance at the plate.

“The first at-bat, I was able to get the sac down,” Wacha said. “I got the job done, and then I had Jedd over there at third with two outs and just tried to put a good swing on it and drive something back up the middle. It ended up getting through and sparked a big inning for us.”

Wacha was a .092 career hitter (13-for-141) with nine RBIs entering the game.

Another pitcher, Adam Wainwright, contributed a pinch-hit single and scored a run in the eighth.

Regarding his pitching, Wacha was equally satisfied.

“I was able to establish the fastball down in the zone and was able to work the changeup off it,” he said. “I was able to get some swings and misses on it and the guys were playing great defense behind me. They were tracking balls down and we got a big double play that (fifth) inning. I was able to keep them off-balanced for the most part.”

Through five games, Cardinals starters are 1-2 with a 1.70 ERA. Matheny said the starters are feeding off each other.

“We encourage that. They’re all the time trying to one-up the last guy,” Matheny said. “I thought that was a pretty impressive round for our starters to start the season with. There’s no reason not to continue it. I think they just confirmed to themselves the kind of staff they should be.”

Wacha didn’t disagree with Matheny’s assessment.

“Definitely,” Wacha said. “I think there’s a friendly competition here. We’re all rooting for each other to do our best. Whenever you see the four (other) starters go out there and dominate the way they did, you’ve got to go out there and back it up and put together another good start.

“I know our expectations in this clubhouse are high. That’s what we want to do. We want to go out there and give our team the best chance to win. Go out there and set the tone for the game. So far, we’ve been doing that. Hopefully, we can keep on attacking (hitters) the way we have been.”

Relievers struggling

The Cardinals’ bullpen, meanwhile, has been shaky with a 7.43 ERA in 13 1/3 innings. Five of them have allowed one home run apiece: Seung Hwan Oh, Brett Cecil, Kevin Siegrist, Jonathan Broxton and Sam Tuivailala. All have come in the seventh inning or later.

“Any time our guys are getting hit hard, we want to know why. They’re guys with good stuff,” Matheny said. “We’ll just continue to get them out there and realize they’re going to make pitches when we need them to.”

This story was originally published April 8, 2017 at 9:38 PM with the headline "Diaz’s hot bat helps Cardinals snap three-game losing skid."