John Axford Blows Another Save, Colorado Rockies Lose 9-8 In St. Louis

Jul 30, 2015; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals third baseman M. Carpenter (13) rounds the bases after hitting a three-run home run off of Colorado Rockies starting pitcher C. Rusin (not pictured) in the second inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

The Colorado Rockies and St. Louis Cardinals are officially past the craziness of the trade deadline, with Friday night’s game the first in the season’s stretch run.

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The Colorado Rockies fought again and again to regain the lead on Thursday evening in a hotly contested game in St. Louis, only to see John Axford blow his fifth straight save for the club, losing 9-8 to the St. Louis Cardinals in the first game of their four-game series.

The Rockies got the scoring going in the top of the first when Nolan Arenado doubled off Cardinals’ ace Carlos Martinez, scoring Jose Reyes for a 1-0 lead. The Cardinals answered back in the bottom of the first though, when Kolten Wong knocked an RBI groundout off Chris Rusin to tie up the game early.

The Cardinals scored three more in the bottom of the second, when Matt Carpenter smashed a home run off Rusin to dead center field, but the lead wouldn’t last for long and the Rockies still had some fight left in them despite going down 4-1 early.

In the top of the fourth, a Nick Hundley double scored DJ LeMahieu, and then shockingly, Rusin hit a two-run home run off Martinez to tie the game at four runs apiece.

The Rockies would take the lead in the fifth, when Corey Dickerson hit an RBI single to left field, going up 5-4 off Martinez and the Cards. The inning would get hairy, too; Martinez drilled LeMahieu with a fastball in the rib cage later in the inning, setting off a screaming match that reignited after Martinez celebrated an inning ending double play like he’d won an intergalactic basketball tournament on Space Jam.

The drama died down, though (to be picked up tomorrow?) and the Rockies took their 5-4 lead into the bottom of the fifth, where Rusin promptly gave up two more Cardinals runs on another Carpenter homer — his second of the game — and a Jason Heyward RBI triple.

On the triple, when Dickerson dove to try to catch the ball before running it down in the left field corner, the Rockies’ left fielder appeared to injure his rib cage; after the game, he was listed as day-to-day with a right rib contusion. He would leave the game after the inning, being replaced by Brandon Barnes.

The Rockies would re-tie the game at six runs apiece in the top of the sixth inning when Hundley blasted a long second-deck home run off Cardinals’ reliever Seth Maness.

Then, in the top of the 8th inning, the Rockies would push across the two go-ahead runs, first on a Reyes sacrifice fly, and then on a bizarre play where Charlie Blackmon, who had been on second base, was caught on a pickoff move in between second and third base.

The Cardinals’ reliever Kevin Siegrist threw the ball into left field, and Blackmon scored to make the game 8-6 in favor of the visiting Rockies.

In the ninth inning, though, Boone Logan started off by allowing a leadoff double to Carpenter, before John Axford came on and gave up a walk and a single to load the bases with nobody out.

Then, Jhonny Peralta hit a two-RBI bloop single to tie the game at 8 runs apiece, and the Cardinals brought Yadier Molina to the plate with the bases loaded after Axford intentionally walked Jason Heyward.

With Barnes in on the infield as the fifth infielder, Molina flew out to center field, bringing up Greg Garcia. Axford walked him on five pitches, sealing the win for the Cardinals on the walk-off walk.

The Rockies and Cardinals continue their four-game series on Friday night from Busch Stadium.

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