manager takes the ball

shushu · Dwarf Data inscrierii: 21/Feb/2019 Mesaje: 407

ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis Cardinals ended their offensive slump, but the Kansas City Royals found a way to keep the National League champs down. Eric Hosmer hit a tiebreaking single off closer Trevor Rosenthal in the ninth inning and the Royals won 8-7 Tuesday night for their second straight road victory in the four-game, two-city series. "It was a great game back and forth, a lot of clutch hits by both teams," said Alex Gordon, who homered in both games. "It was good to see and hopefully we can build on this." Rookie Kolten Wongs first career home run was a grand slam in the second that ended the Cardinals 20-inning scoreless drought and gave them an early four-run cushion. Wong said it was the first grand slam hes hit at any level. "Its awesome," Wong said. "It was good to get us up early, try and give us a chance." The Cardinals finished a dismal 2-7 home stand when their pitchers faltered and fell to 30-29 overall. Before the game, manager Mike Matheny fielded an endless series of questions about the lack of hitting. Gordons three-run homer capped a six-run fifth for the Royals against Jaime Garcia that put them up by two. "We cant complain about what the offence did," Matheny said. "It just wasnt enough." Kansas City starter James Shields also scuffled, surrendering five earned runs in 5 1-3 innings, and has given up seven homers his last three starts. Shields helped himself with two hits, including an RBI double. "I was just kind of all over the place, really wasnt commanding my slider at all," Shields said. "I made three crucial bad pitches and thats what caused six runs." Peter Bourjos 422-foot homer put the Cardinals ahead 7-6 in the sixth. Alcides Escobars bloop RBI single off Pat Neshek tied it in the eighth, a rally fueled by pinch hitter Billy Butlers infield hit. Omar Infante doubled off Rosenthal (0-3) with one out in the ninth ahead of Hosmers hit. Wade Davis (5-1) allowed a hit in the eighth and Greg Holland worked the ninth for his 16th save in 17 chances for the Royals, the home team for the last two games of intrastate interleague series that resumes Wednesday. "That was one of those grinder games, where youre grinding right from the get-go -- everybody," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "It was a great game." Jhonny Peralta added two doubles and an RBI for St. Louis, outscored 14-0 the previous two games by the Royals and Giants. Wong was chosen as the NL rookie of the month earlier Tuesday and his slam in the second was the Cardinals fifth hit in 10 at-bats against Shields. St. Louis loaded the bases in the first, too, but Yadier Molina grounded into an inning-ending double play on good glovework by Escobar at shortstop and capped by Infantes barehanded grab on the move at second and relay. The Royals had one runner in scoring position the first four innings, then batted around and hit for the cycle in the sixth to take the lead. Gordon homered for the second straight day, Escobar had an RBI triple and Shields had an RBI dublu with his second straight hit. No St. Louis relievers warmed up during the rally and Matheny said after the game a couple of pitchers had been unavailable. "Im on the mound, Im trying to execute pitches until the manager takes the ball out of my hand," Garcia said. "Im not looking anywhere else." NOTES: Cardinals RHP Adam Wainwright (8-3, 2.32) opposes Jason Vargas (5-2, 3.39) on Wednesday night. Wainwright is 4-1 against the Royals and 9-5 overall in interleague play. Vargas has at least six strikeouts his last five starts, the longest such stretch of his career. ... Shields is the first Royals pitcher to get an RBI since Luis Mendoza May 29, 2013, at St. Louis. ... The Royals six-run inning tied their season best and tied the best against the Cardinals. ... Matt Holliday walked twice and has reached safely the first 30 home games. ... The Royals have played six games with new batting coach Dale Sveum, and have scored six or more runs in four of them. ... Escobars hit ended Nesheks career-best streak of 20 2-3 scoreless innings. ... Wong, the Cardinals 2B, said he jammed his shoulder a bit diving for Butlers infield hit in the eighth and might miss a game. ROTTERDAM, Netherlands -- Top seeds Juan Martin del Potro and Andy Murray overcame bumps to reach the ABN Amro quarterfinals on Thursday. Del Potro, the 2012 runner-up and 2013 champion, beat Paul-Henri Mathieu of France 6-2, 7-6 (2) but had to save two set-points on serve at 5-6 in the second. "I recovered myself well in the tiebreak, because I made too many mistakes in the second set," he said. Still feeling pain in his left wrist, he added, "Sometimes I get frustrated . its not easy when I want to close the point and hit hard but I have to hit slices. But I have done this for the past month on the tour and I have to deal with it. If the pain goes away I will start to hit the backhand harder again." Second-seeded Murray bested Austrian qualifier Dominic Thiem 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. They were evenly matched in the first two sets, with Thiem saving three break points to take the second.dddddddddddd But Murray asserted himself in the third, in an exciting match which lasted 2 hours, 21 minutes. "It was unbelievably tough with a lot of long games," Murray said. "Maybe fun for the fans, but not (for me) to play against a talent like Dominic Thiem. Well be hearing a lot from him." Murray faces Marin Cilic in the quarterfinals after Cilic upset fifth-seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-4, 6-4. Del Potro plays Latvian Ernests Gulbis, who beat eighth-seed Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria 6-4, 7-6 (3). Also, third-seeded Tomas Berdych beat Nicolas Mahut of France 6-4, 6-3 and will meet Wimbledon semifinalist Jerzy Janowicz on Friday. But fourth-seeded Richard Gasquet was knocked out by Philipp Kohlschreiber 7-5, 7-5, and the German will face Dutch wild card Igor Sijsling in the last eight. ' ' '