He began his inning-and-a-third tenure striking out a swinging Lance Berkman to wrap up the fifth. He then impressed in the sixth, giving up just a single base to Matt Carpenter. The veteran forced a pair of batters to flyout during the inning, as well as keeping a grounder low enough for the outfield to make a play at first on Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright.
Manager Ron Roenicke told reporters after the game that he
is extremely happy that Axford pitched a productive game just days after his
demotion. The pitcher, too, was pleased with his performance, telling media
that he just focused on the moment at hand. While Axford claimed the win, the
relative new-comer, Thornburg, pitched the brunt of the game. The righty threw
a whopping 103 pitches over four-and-half innings, giving up two solo homers.
That pair of boomers was the seventh of his so-far twelve innings in the big
leagues, though his other numbers make-up for that. Thornburg struck out five on that day, and gave up an equal
amount of hits, though none scored. He did walk four, but some leniency must be
given, seeing as the young starter last appeared on the mound nearly a month
ago, and only has two starts since early June.
