Cardinals get off to fast start, hang on to beat Diamondbacks

Nolan Arenado hit a three-run homer and Lars Nootbaar blasted a two-run shot as the St. Louis Cardinals outlasted the Arizona Diamondbacks 9-6 Friday night in Phoenix.

Brendan Donovan (3-for-4 with a triple, two runs, RBI) and Masyn Winn (2-for-4, triple, two runs, RBI) also had big games for the Cardinals.

St. Louis starting pitcher Steven Matz allowed four runs, one earned, on eight hits in 4 2/3 innings. Reliever Giovanny Gallegos (2-0) earned the victory and Ryan Helsley earned his fifth save.

Diamondbacks pitcher Brandon Pfaadt allowed six runs on seven hits in six innings. Reliever Joe Mantiply (1-1) took the loss.

Eugenio Suarez hit a three-run homer as Arizona rallied from a 6-0 deficit to tie the game at 6-6 before faltering late.

The Cardinals took a 3-0 first-inning lead. Donovan led off with a single, Paul Goldschmidt walked and Arenado hit his first homer since Aug. 19, 2023.

St. Louis increased its lead to 4-0 in the second inning. Winn hit a single, moved to third on Victor Scott II's double and scored on Donovan's sacrifice fly.

The Cardinals made it 6-0 in the third inning. Willson Contreras dumped a single into right field and Nootbaar hit a 438-foot homer.

Arizona threatened in the third inning when Kevin Newman hit a lead-off single and Corbin Carroll had a one-out single. But Jordan Walker made a diving catch on Lourdes Gurriel Jr.'s liner to right-center field and doubled Newman off second base.

The Diamondbacks tied the game 6-6 in the fifth inning by capitalizing on Matz's one-out error on Blaze Alexander's tapper.

Newman hit a run-scoring double, then Ketel Marte hit an RBI single and took second on a groundout. When Gurriel followed with a run-scoring single, Gallegos relieved Matz and walked Christian Walker before allowing Suarez's homer.

The Cardinals regained the lead 7-6 in the seventh inning on Donovan's triple and Goldschmidt's RBI single. They made it 9-6 in the eighth on Walker's double, Winn's triple and Scott's sacrifice fly.