It was a bittersweet night for the Cardinals as they opened up a four game series at Coors Field against the Rockies.
Harrison Bader returned to the lineup for the first time since his rib injury on May 24, but most notable was the fact that Nolan Arenado made his return to Coors Field for the first time as a visiting player.
It started with a tribute video prior to the game. Then, when Nolan Arenado came to bat for the first time, the Rockies faithful went wild and gave their former star a touching standing ovation that nearly brought the slugger to tears.
“I know they understand I made my career here,” Arenado said before the game. “Denver is a second home. I hope I was bringing joy to them
It was also another solid outing for the ageless wonder Adam Wainwright, who fired eight innings of two-run ball while striking out four and only walking one. Unlike many pitchers, Wainwright has fared quite well at Coors Field during his career.
“Pitching here is like the ultimate art craft,” Wainwright said. “I just love it. I love coming here to pitch. It doesn’t make any sense in the world, because you gotta do things differently. You gotta go up when you don’t normally go up, you gotta go a little slower sometimes, you gotta go a little harder sometimes, you gotta really rip your breaking balls, you gotta change speeds, and you gotta use stuff you don’t normally use. That’s pitching. That’s pitching to me and so it’s just fun, it’s a good competition.”
Not so sweet was the way the game ended, as following Wainwright’s departure, Giovanny Gallegos gave up back to back walks to Brendan Rodgers and Ryan McMahon after retiring the first two hitters in the bottom of the ninth. He then hung an 0-2 slider to Rockies catcher Elias Diaz, who hit it over the left field wall to give Colorado a 5-2 walk-off win, spoiling Arenado’s homecoming.
“The walk to Rodgers was the one, because we were tap dancing around pitching McMahon pretty tough, so that was a walk we could deal with,” manager Mike Shildt said. “And then nasty slider and a slider that just got too much plate, and Diaz put a good swing on it.”
The loss dropped St. Louis to 40-42 on the season and sank them further behind Milwaukee in the central, as they beat the Pirates 7-2. Ironically, on a night where Wainwright didn’t have to help them stop a losing skid, the Cardinals managed to fall short.
And it’s not going to get much better for St. Louis. Tonight, they send the winless Johan Oviedo to the mound, who has had just one quality start this year. In all his other starts, he’s only managed to get through five innings once. That was back on April 28 against the Phillies.
The Cardinals will start play tonight at a season high 9 games back of first place.
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