Rockies 1 - 4 Cardinals
Final
  for this game

Cards hand ball to Gonzalez against Rockies

Sep 14, 2014 - 11:53 AM (SportsNetwork.com) - The first major league appearance for Marco Gonzales came in a starting role at Coors Field on June 25. The St. Louis left-hander takes the mound this afternoon when the Cardinals aim for a three-game sweep against the Colorado Rockies at Busch Stadium.

Gonzales will try for his third consecutive winning decision, although his last two appearances have come out of the bullpen. The Cardinals' first-round pick in the 2013 First-Year Player Draft, Gonzales gave up seven hits and five runs in a no-decision in his first major league start.

The Cardinals come into today with a 3 1/2-game lead on Pittsburgh.

Last night, Shelby Miller fired six innings of one-run ball and St. Louis held off the Rockies, 5-4. Miller (10-9) scattered five hits and struck out five for the Cardinals, who have won the first two games of this series on the heels of a three- game slide. Matt Carpenter smacked a two-run homer and Matt Holliday added a solo shot in the triumph.

"No walks against a team that's patient, that's got power and puts together good at-bats. I'm happy about that," Miller said.

The Cardinals held a 5-1 lead entering the ninth, but the Rockies pushed across three runs in the frame and had the tying-run on second in pinch-runner Charlie Culberson. Pat Neshek, though, got Rafael Ynoa to fly out to center to end the game and notch his sixth save of the season.

"We put together some good at-bats, some pinch-hit at-bats, a couple RBI hits in the ninth," Rockies manager Walt Weiss said.

St. Louis moved 3 1/2 games ahead of Pittsburgh in the NL Central after the Pirates lost to the Cubs on Saturday.

Franklin Morales (6-8) surrendered four runs on five hits and two walks over four frames for Colorado, which has dropped five straight games.

Winless in his last six outings, Jordan Lyles gets the starting assignment for the Rockies. The only previous time Lyles faced the Cardinals was July 10. 2013 in St. Louis. In that game, he went 6 1/3 innings and gave up four runs on six hits in the no-decision. Lyles was pitching for Houston at the time.

The Cardinals lead the season series, 4-1






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