Cardinals win first game without Matheny
ST. LOUIS – As the St. Louis Cardinals took stock of their situation a day after the firing of manager Mike Matheny, some players said they bear some responsibility for Matheny’s sudden dismissal.
Matheny was fired Saturday night after an 8-2 loss to the last-place Cincinnati Reds. The Cardinals entered Sunday’s game one game over .500 and 7½ games behind the NL Central-leading Chicago Cubs and are in danger of missing the playoffs for a third straight season for the first time since 1999.
“We all feel bad for Mike and ultimately it comes down on us,” veteran infielder Jedd Gyorko said Sunday. “We’re the guys that go out there and play and perform. I feel like we haven’t done that good enough.”
Bench coach Mike Shildt will serve as interim manager.
“As a player, for me, it’s like, ‘What could I have done better to keep this from happening?'” reliever Greg Holland said. “I don’t know if it’s necessarily fair. It’s just the way the world works.”
The Cardinals’ recent mediocrity simply isn’t something the franchise is used to. Owner William DeWitt Jr. said a change was necessary to put the team in position for another playoff run.
“It’s not like we were 20 games under .500 and desperate,” DeWitt said. “We haven’t played to our capabilities. It just didn’t seem to be happening. It was a logical time to make a change.”
The 47-year-old Matheny was a Gold Glove-winning catcher for St. Louis from 2000-04. He compiled a 591-474 record in his six-plus seasons, reaching the postseason in each of his first four years while compiling a 375-273 mark. The 2013 team lost in the World Series to the Boston Red Sox.
The Cardinals were 216-201 in his final two-plus campaigns.
The 49-year-old has been part of the organization since 2004.
St. Louis 6, Cincinnati 4: Matt Carpenter and Dexter Fowler homered to give Shildt a win in his first game as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Cincinnati Reds 6-4 Sunday.
Chicago Cubs 7, San Diego 4: Jon Lester won for the eighth time in nine starts, Jason Heyward drove in two runs and the Chicago Cubs swept the San Diego Padres with a 7-4 win.
Atlanta 5, Arizona 1: Julio Teheran pitched six-plus scoreless innings, and the Atlanta Braves used a four-run third inning to beat Patrick Corbin and the Arizona Diamondbacks, 5-1.
Washington 6, N.Y. Mets 1: Daniel Murphy and Trea Turner each hit a two-run single in Washington’s five-run seventh inning, helping the Nationals beat the New York Mets 6-1.
Miami 10, Philadelphia 5: Brian Anderson hit a three-run homer in an eight-run fifth inning, and the Miami Marlins overcame a five-run deficit to beat the Philadelphia Phillies 10-5.
L.A. Dodgers 5, L.A. Angels 3: Yasmani Grandal homered, Enrique Hernandez hit a solo shot on his first pitch in the seventh inning for the go-ahead run, and the Los Angeles Dodgers rallied for a 5-3 win over the Angels to earn a split in the Freeway Series.
American League
Detroit 6, Houston 3: John Hicks hit one of Detroit’s four home runs off Justin Verlander, and the Tigers snapped a six-game losing streak with a 6-3 win over the Houston Astros.
Cleveland 5, N.Y. Yankees 2: Michael Brantley homered leading off the eighth inning, and the Cleveland Indians headed into the All-Star break with a 5-2 win over the New York Yankees to split their four-game series.
Carlos Carrasco (11-5) earned his first win in relief since July 19, 2014. The right-hander was available after pitching only five innings in Wednesday night’s 19-4 blowout of Cincinnati.
Cody Allen struck out two in the ninth and got his 20th save in 21 opportunities, but Cleveland’s win ended with the Indians worrying about Edwin Encarnacion. The Indians’ cleanup hitter homered in the fourth inning, but had to leave in the eighth after being hit on the right hand by a pitch.
Boston 5, Toronto 2: Xander Bogaerts homered in his first at-bat a day after hitting a walk-off grand slam and drove in two runs, leading the Boston Red Sox past the Toronto Blue Jays 5-2 to enter the All-Star break with their best record since 1949.
Chicago White Sox 10, Kansas City 1: Daniel Palka and Yoan Moncada each homered and Lucas Giolito tossed two-hit ball into the seventh inning, lifting the Chicago White Sox to a 10-1 victory over the struggling Kansas City Royals.