St. Louis Cardinals vs. Houston Astros (3/4) Recap

Jaime Garcia got bit early for two long balls and the St. Louis Cardinal bats couldn’t overcome the deficit, falling 6-3 to the Astros

The long balls came early and often for the Astros, as they bit St. Louis Cardinals pitchers for three round-trippers on the afternoon.

Astros starter Wandy Rodriguez worked around a one-out single and stolen base from Stephen Piscotty by striking out the side in the top of the first. Then in the bottom half, the Astro bats jumped on St. Louis starter Jaime Garcia.

With one out in the bottom of the first, Houston DH Marwin Gonzalez jumped on a 2-2 fastball, depositing his first homer of the spring over the left field wall for a 1-0 lead.

Garcia would walk Carlos Correa immediately after, before cleanup man Luis Valbuena jumped on a first pitch cutter to put the score at 3-0.

Feb 25, 2016; Jupiter, FL, USA; St. Louis Cardinals left fielder Anthony Garcia (81) during photo day at Roger Dean Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports /

The Cardinals would get two back in the top of the 4th on a sacrifice fly by third baseman Jacob Wilson and an RBI double by left fielder Anthony Garcia to narrow the deficit at 3-2.

However, the Astros would score once in the 4th on a Preston Tucker solo shot and then two more times in the 5th inning off of St. Louis pitching prospect Luke Weaver to make the score 6-2.

The Cardinals added a run in the top of the 6th on a Carson Kelly groundout to cut the deficit to 6-3. Jordan Walden threw in his first game action since last April, working a scoreless bottom of the 6th with a walk and two strikeouts.

Sam Tuivailala worked around a pair of two out hits by striking out the side in the bottom half of the 7th.

Aledmys Diaz led off the top of the 8th with a single to left, but was thrown out trying to advance to second on the play. The Cardinals would go down in order after that.

25-year-old right-hander Juan Gonzalez worked around a two-out infield single in the bottom of the 8th for St. Louis to complete the scoreless frame.

Dean Anna led off the top of the 9th with a single to right with the Cardinals still trailing 6-3. Anna would advance to second on a wild pitch before a Carlos Peguero strikeout.

The Cardinals put runners on the corners with one out after a David Washington single moved Anna to third. Charlie Tilson would get caught looking on a full count change up that looked to be a few inches off the plate.

With two outs and Cardinals still on the corners, Jon Rodriguez worked a five pitch walk to load the bases with two down.

But, with a 2-0 count, Patrick Wisdom popped up an inside fastball to end the game with a score of 6-3 Houston.

Stephen Piscotty turned in two hits in two at-bats with a stolen base. Randal Grichuk also had two hits, going 2-3 with an RBI single in the 4th. Kolten Wong was 2-3 on the afternoon, and outfield prospect Anthony Garcia impressed with two hits and an RBI in his four at-bats.