If there hasn't been a major boost in All-Star voting for Paul Goldschmidt after his epic hitting exploits this past week alone, it's something of a minor tragedy. The first baseman for the Arizona Diamondbacks has been on an absolute tear during the last five games, including blasting a grand slam last night during his team's 10-3 defeat of the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium.
Goldschmidt's bases-loaded knock (his second in the last week) came during the seventh inning against Cardinals reliever Maikel Cleto and helped the D-backs turn the tide in the contest and secured a win for Arizona starting pitcher Wade Miley, who picked up his fourth win of the season after 6.2 strong innings of work.
See Also: Paul Goldschmidt's 14th-Inning RBI Lifts Diamondbacks Over Cardinals
Diamondbacks TV play-by-play broadcaster Steve Berthiaume got to use his "Goldy, Goldy, gone!" catchphrase once again when Goldschmidt transformed Cleto's 89 m.p.h. splitter into a 422-foot homer that landed in the center field seats.
"Vote now, vote often," Berthiaume added after the grand slam, a statement that we're inclined to agree with, considering how much of a boss Goldschmidt has been as of late. Because of his pair of grand slams and other offensive highlights this season -- like his game-winning RBI on Tuesday -- Goldy's one of the top five National League sluggers in terms of hits, RBIs, homers, and a few other categories, which more than qualifies him for a spot in next month's All-Star Game in Houston.
The Arizona first baseman's performance wasn't the only scoring taking place on Wednesday night as Didi Gregorius, Will Nieves, and Willie Bloomquist each had RBI singles throughout the game, and Gerardo Parra knocked in two-run hit in the eighth.
Jason Kubel wound up getting an accidental triple in the sixth after St. Louis' Matt Holiday missed the outfield catch, which gave Bloomquist enough time to make it to home plate. Cardinals catcher Tony Cruz also effed up the toss over to David Freese at third base, allowing Kubel to get in safe. (And while St. Louis was experiencing fielding gaffes aplenty in the sixth, Parra and A.J. Pollock showed 'em how it should be done by making beautiful catches in the eighth and ninth, respectively.)
Arizona's surfeit of slugging was more than enough run support for Miley (4-5, 4.92 ERA), who scattered 11 hits and accumulated three earned runs while striking out three and walking one. He kept St. Louis scoreless until the fourth when Miley allowed Holiday and Allen Craig to both get aboard before Shane Robinson's RBI single.
The Diamondbacks (34-25) will attempt to win the four-game series with the Cardinals (currently the best team in the bigs at 38-21) when Ian Kennedy (3-3, 4.74) gets the start against Shelby Miller (6-3, 1.82). First pitch: 4:15 p.m. TV: Fox Sports Arizona. Radio: KTAR 620 AM. More info: www.dbacks.com.
