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Petit fills in admirably as D-Backs whip Cardinals

Jul 4, 2007 - 4:29 AM ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- A combination of a relatively unknown starter and some good old fashioned power put the Arizona Diamondbacks back in the win column.

Yusmerio Petit pitched well into the sixth inning and was backed with three home runs as the Diamondbacks broke a three-game losing streak with a 7-1 win against the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday.

Chris Young, Chad Tracy and Mark Reynolds homered for Arizona, which improved to 2-3 on its 10-game road trip leading up to the All-Star break.

"(Petit) gave us just what we needed," Arizona manager Bob Melvin said. "He's pretty impressive, keeps the ball down, throws strikes, gets ahead of guys, and mixing off-speed on top of that."

Earlier in the day, scheduled starter Randy Johnson was placed on the 15-day disabled list for the third time this season due to back pains from a herniated disk. The 22-year-old Petit, who flew from Sacramento on Tuesday morning, arrived at Busch Stadium a little more than three hours before first pitch.

"It was a little bit of a long trip," the Venezuelan born Petit said through Diamondbacks catcher, Miguel Montero. "I was feeling good when I got here, I got a little rest, it was just enough time for me."

Acquired in at the end of spring training from the Florida as part of a trade that sent Jorge Julio to the Marlins, the righthander had one previous start for the Diamondbacks this season, allowing two runs and four hits over seven innings against the Giants on April 22.

"I felt a little more comfortable getting called up again," Petit said. "I didn't want to do too much, just try to throw strikes."

Petit shut down the Cardinals through the first five innings, but tired in the sixth as the Cardinals loaded the bases with one out. Righthander Tony Pena came on to put out the fire, allowing only a sacrifice fly to Scott Rolen.

Things went the Diamondbacks' way early, as the Cardinals made two errors behind starter Todd Wellemeyer (2-1) in the first inning leading to two unearned runs.

"What you never know is, what would have happened if we played a clean first and gotten into the game," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. "(Wellemeyer) was working hard, I never saw him give in, but then all of a sudden there's a rash of stuff and then you just don't know."

Arizona started the power surge in the second as Chris Young connected off of Wellemeyer for his 12th home run of the season.

Tracy and Reynolds added back-to-back homers in the third inning as the Diamondbacks built a 6-0 lead.

"Guys were just not missing the pitches tonight," Tracy said. "Lately it seems like we've been missing some pitches, tonight we finally nailed a few and got lucky enough where they went out of the park."

Wellemeyer lasted only three innings and was charged with six runs - four earned - and seven hits. It was the first loss for the converted reliever in seven starts as a member of the Cardinals.

"I felt good," said Wellemeyer, whose three home runs allowed were a career high. "I threw some good pitches but any mistake, those guys were all over it."

National League All-Star Albert Pujols had three hits for St. Louis, which failed to win three straight for the first time since early June.