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ST. LOUIS -- When he was traded from the Cleveland Indians to the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday, first baseman Brandon Moss said he felt as if he won the lottery. On Sunday, Moss helped his new team cash in an opportunity to end its weekend series and an 11-game homestand on a winning note.
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Delivering a pinch-hit, RBI single with one out in the bottom of the ninth, Moss gave St. Louis a 3-2 win over the Colorado Rockies at sold-out Busch Stadium.
After working the count to 2-1 against reliever Scott Oberg (2-2), Moss grounded a fastball through the left side for his second hit in 11 Cardinal at-bats, scoring right fielder Jason Heyward.
"I saw (Oberg) on video and noticed he had good sinking action and thought it would be tough to get him in the air," Moss said. "Then I faced a couple of pitches and thought he'd be tough to pull. So I just wanted to get the barrel to it, and if it found the hole, it found the hole."
The early returns on Moss have been nothing but positive, according to St. Louis manager Mike Matheny. Moss has hit in tough luck, with five of his nine outs scalded at fielders and two of those nine possibly clearing the wall in a more hitter-friendly environment.
"I don't know if I've been around anyone who's been as happy to put on a Cardinal uniform," Matheny said of Moss. "We put him in a tough spot today, and he delivered. He took what the pitcher gave him."
Heyward started the winning rally with a double and moved to third when center fielder Randal Grichuk beat out an infield single. Moss' hit enabled St. Louis (67-38) to beat Colorado three out of four and finish the homestand at 7-4.
Trevor Rosenthal (2-2) collected the win, fanning left fielder Drew Stubbs to end the ninth after a two-out double by right fielder Carlos Gonzalez.
The Rockies (44-59) ended their seven-game road trip at 2-5, missing on some chances to salvage a split of the four-game set at Busch Stadium. They left runners at second base in the first, third and fifth innings, unable to take advantage of unusual wildness from Cardinals starter Jaime Garcia.
Entering the game with nine walks in 54 innings, Garcia issued four walks in the first 3 1/3 innings, but none of them scored.
"That's the consequences of playing in tight games," Colorado manager Walt Weiss said. "We battled hard on this road trip, but we came up short."
After falling behind 2-0 in the fifth when Grichuk cranked his 12th homer, a two-run, 421-foot shot over the center field wall after Heyward beat out a 30-foot dribbler down the first base line for a hit, the Rockies equalized in the sixth.
First baseman Ben Paulsen's one-out double down the right field line off reliever Steve Cishek scored DJ LeMahieu. Cishek's two-out wild pitch brought home third baseman Nolan Arenado to make it a 2-2 game.
However, Colorado managed just one baserunner over the last three innings, leaving the door open for St. Louis' newest bat to decide the outcome.
"You can tell just after a few days that they breed success here," Moss said. "Players are happy here, and they want to play."
Neither starter was involved in the decision after working five innings.
Colorado left-hander Yohan Flande gave up four hits and two runs with no walks and three strikeouts. Garcia left after allowing a leadoff single to second baseman DJ LeMahieu in the sixth, yielding two hits and a run while fanning four.
NOTES: Colorado manager Walt Weiss removed RHP John Axford from the closer's role after his blown save Thursday night. Weiss hasn't named a replacement, although RHP Tommy Kahnle finished up Saturday night's 6-2 win with 1 1/3 perfect innings. ... St. Louis didn't start C Yadier Molina, but he pinch-hit for Tony Cruz in the seventh and struck out in his only at-bat. ... After facing four pitchers with ERAs under 3.00 in St. Louis, the Rockies go home to host Seattle on Monday night in an interleague series but have to go up against RHP Felix Hernandez.
