Diaz Walk-off Single Gives Cardinals Win

By ESPN

Aledmys Diaz learned a valuable lesson at the All-Star Game. The St. Louis rookie infielder's walk-off single in the ninth inning gave the Cardinals a 6-5 come-from-behind victory over the San Diego Padres on Thursday night.

St. Louis, which scored four runs in the eighth, recorded its first four-game series sweep at home since beating Colorado on Sept. 30-Oct. 3, 2010.

San Diego has lost four of seven.

Diaz ripped a full-count, one-out, bases loaded pitch into left field off reliever Carlos Villanueva (1-1).

In this month's All-Star Game, Diaz took a called third strike with the bases loaded to end the eighth inning of the AL's 4-2 victory.

He decided that wasn't going to happen in a similar situation on Thursday.

"This time, I wanted to be aggressive," Diaz said. "Go get it, if it looks good."

Tommy Pham led off the bottom of the ninth with a double. Greg Garcia drew a walk and Jeremy Hazelbaker moved the runners over with a perfect bunt. Jedd Gyorko was walked intentionally to set the stage for Diaz's heroics.

St. Louis reliever Jonathan Broxton (2-2) picked up the win with a scoreless ninth.

The Cardinals erased a 5-1 deficit in the eighth. Hazelbaker led off with a double and he scored on hit by Gyorko, his seventh RBI of the series against his former team. Kolten Wong doubled with one out and Stephen Piscotty hit a three-run homer to center field.

Tigers 2, White Sox 1

The Detroit Tigers had to wait out a marathon rain delay before the game was finally called. They won't get too many wins like this, and they won't complain about it, either.

Ian Kinsler hit his 20th home run, Miguel Cabrera added his 19th and Detroit beat the struggling Chicago White Sox 2-1 in a game that was stopped after more than a two-hour rain delay in the seventh inning on Thursday.

A heavy downpour before the bottom of the seventh sent players and umpires running for cover. And after two hours, five minutes the game was called.

"A lot of riddles, dominos, cribbage, poker, watching other games," Kinsler said, describing the scene in the clubhouse during the delay. "Just kind of hanging out, trying to stay aware of the weather situation and if we're gonna have a chance to play. There's not really much you can do."

The Tigers did what they needed to do before the rain came and opened a seven-game trip on a winning note. The White Sox have now dropped seven of eight.

Kinsler and Cabrera made it 2-1 with solo homers against James Shields (4-12) in the fifth. Mike Pelfrey (3-9) won for just the second time in nine starts, and the Tigers came out on top after dropping two of three against Minnesota.

Thursday, July 21 Scoreboard

Los Angeles Dodgers 6, Washington 3

Baltimore 4, New York Yankees 1

Miami 9, Philadelphia 3

Pittsburgh 5, Milwaukee 3

Boston 13, Minnesota 2

St. Louis 6, San Diego 5

Detroit 2, Chicago White Sox 1 (F/7)

Colorado 7, Altanta 3

Tampa Bay 7, Oakland 3

Friday, July 22 Schedule (All Times Central)

San Francisco at New York Yankees, 6:05 p.m.

Cleveland at Baltimore, 6:05 p.m.

San Diego at Washington, 6:05 p.m.

Philadelphia at Pittsburgh, 6:05 p.m.

Seattle at Toronto, 6:07 p.m.

Minnesota at Boston, 6:10 p.m.

Arizona at Cincinnati, 6:10 p.m.

New York Mets at Miami, 6:10 p.m.

Detroit at Chicago White Sox, 7:10 p.m.

Chicago Cubs at Milwaukee, 7:10 p.m.

Los Angeles Angels at Houston, 7:10 p.m.

Texas at Kansas City, 7:15 p.m.

Los Angeles Dodgers at St. Louis, 7:15 p.m.

Atlanta at Colorado, 7:40 p.m.

Tampa Bay at Oakland, 9:05 p.m.

Saturday, July 23 Schedule (All Times Central)

Seattle at Toronto, 12:07 p.m.

San Francisco at New York Yankees, 3:05 p.m.

Philadelphia at Pittsburgh, 3:05 p.m.

Cleveland at Baltimore, 6:05 p.m.

San Diego at Washington, 6:05 p.m.

Minnesota at Boston, 6:10 p.m.

Detroit at Chicago White Sox, 6:10 p.m.

Chicago Cubs at Milwaukee, 6:10 p.m.

Arizona at Cincinnati, 6:10 p.m.

Los Angeles Angels at Houston, 6:10 p.m.

New York Mets at Miami, 6:10 p.m.

Texas at Kansas City, 6:15 p.m.

Los Angeles Dodgers St. Louis, 6:15 p.m.

Atlanta at Colorado, 7:10 p.m.

Tampa Bay at Oakland, 8:05 p.m.

Sunday, July 24 Schedule (All Times Central)

San Francisco at New York Yankees, 12:05 p.m.

Seattle at Toronto, 12:07 p.m.

Arizona at Cincinnati, 12:10 p.m.

New York Mets at Miami, 12:10 p.m.

Cleveland at Baltimore, 12:35 p.m.

Minnesota at Boston, 12:35 p.m.

San Diego at Washington, 12:35 p.m.

Philadelphia at Pittsburgh, 12:35 p.m.

Detroit at Chicago White Sox, 1:10 p.m.

Chicago Cubs at Milwaukee, 1:10 p.m.

Los Angeles Dodgers at Houston, 1:10 p.m.

Texas at Kansas City, 1:15 p.m.

Tampa Bay at Oakland, 3:05 p.m.

Atlanta at Colorado, 3:10 p.m.

Los Angeles Dodgers at St. Louis, 7 p.m.