ST. LOUIS (AP) — LuJames Groover and Ketel Marte hit back-to-back home runs to cap a six-run fourth inning that powered the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 9-4 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday night.
Tommy Troy went 2 for 5 with two RBIs on a night during which every Diamondbacks hitter had at least one hit.
Mitch Bratt allowed one run and two hits and two walks in three innings as he became the first Canadian pitcher to make his major league debut with the Diamondbacks. Ryan Thompson (3-1) allowed one run on two hits in two innings in relief of Bratt.
José Fermín homered in the ninth inning for St. Louis and rookie Blaze Jordan went 2 for 3 with three RBIs for his third multi-RBI game in 12 games since making his major league debut on June 12.
Cardinals starter Matthew Liberatore (3-5) allowed six runs and eight hits with two walks in 5 1/3 innings. He’s 0-2 with a 10.34 ERA in four June starts.
Groover hit a two-run homer to left field for his first career home run. Marte followed with his 13th homer of the season to give the Diamondbacks a 3-0 lead.
Ildemaro Vargas hit a two-out, two-run double to left field before the homers as the Diamondbacks batted around in the fourth inning and scored five of their six runs with two outs.
Hitting coach Joe Mather served as the acting bench coach for Arizona with Jeff Bannister away from the team for personal reasons.
Up next
Diamondbacks RHP Zac Gallen (3-6, 6.10 ERA) will face Cardinals RHP Michael McGreevy in the final game of the four-game series Thursday night.
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