Daniel Hudson went five solid innings and drove in two runs with a single in the top of the second inning. He gave up eight hits and three walks but was able to limit the Cardinals to just three runs (two earned) before turning the ball over to Sam Demel with the bases loaded. Demel allowed two of the inherited runs to score and the D-backs 5-1 lead was cut down by two.
Hudson didn't have his best outing either. He needed 30 pitches to get through the first inning and missed an opportunity to turn a double play when a soft chopper hit off his glove. The play was ruled by the St. Louis scorekeeper as a hit but it should have been added to the three recorded D-back errors for the game.
The Diamondbacks scored again and were up 6-3 in the bottom of the eighth inning before the bullpen gave up the lead for good. Yhency Brazoban gave up his first run when Chris Young's fielding error allowed Skip Schumaker to score. Albert Pujols then delivered a two-run home run to tie the game at 6-6.
Brazoban was asked to pitch two innings in part because Hudson only went five. Temporary closer David Hernandez had pitched four of the last five days but was said to have been available if needed.
"Give St. Louis credit, they worked (Hudson) very well and extended him. We certainly wanted to get deeper with him. We were a little light in the bullpen," skipper Kirk Gibson said.
Gibson said that reliever Alberto Castillo wasn't available and he had to save Micah Ownings in case the game went into extra innings. It's not exactly clear, however, since Gibson also said Aaron Heilman could have pitched the eighth inning with Hernandez in the ninth but Brazoban pitched the eighth and gave up three runs and Joe Paterson pitched the ninth with the score tied and gave up the walk-off run. It all makes you wonder if Hernandez really was available.
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