MEDIA CLIPS – September 20, 2016 LeMahieu all about team goals, not batting title Rockies second baseman has reached base in 35 straight games, leads NL in hitting By Thomas Harding / MLB.com | @harding_at_mlb | 2:02 AM ET DENVER -- If Rockies second baseman DJ LeMahieu's plate appearances, which double as clinics in situational hitting, fly under the radar, it's time to recalibrate the device. LeMahieu drew a first-inning walk, went 2-for-4 and scored two runs in the Rockies' 5-3 loss to the Cardinals on Monday at Coors Field. The fact he struck out with one on during an unsuccessful comeback attempt in the ninth inning qualifies as news, the way LeMahieu has been performing. LeMahieu has reached in 35 straight games. His night left his batting average at .349, which leads the National League by one point over the Nationals' Daniel Murphy. LeMahieu is better measured by the mission and accomplishment. For example, on Monday, Cards starter Carlos Martinez was finding the strike zone and his breath -- he needed oxygen at one point -- in Denver's atmosphere when LeMahieu patiently walked on a full-count curveball. With the Rockies down, 2-1, in the third and just needing a baserunner, LeMahieu singled into center and would score on Nolan Arenado's two- out single. The examples come almost daily. 1 During a four-run second in Friday's 8-7 victory over the Padres, Christian Friedrich had given up two hits and two walks when LeMahieu came up and watched the count go 3-0. The next pitch was down the middle, and one LeMahieu could legitimately have tried to crush. But he let it go, then smoked the next pitch to right for a three-run double. In a five-run fourth during Sunday's 6-3 win over the Padres, LeMahieu let struggling pitcher Jarred Cosart's full-count pitch go for a bases-loaded walk. "He's very secure in the box; you don't see the game speed up on him when he's taking an at-bat," Rockies manager Walt Weiss said this weekend, while noting that LeMahieu set and reached a goal of cutting down his strikeouts. It's all because LeMahieu lets the scoreboard dictate the at-bat. And, no, it's not the life-sized batting average number. "If a runner needs to be moved over or I need to get an RBI, I've been doing that stuff all year, and I'm not going to change that for anything," LeMahieu said. "So that's it, just have good, team at-bats and try to help our team win. If the average is good, then great. If not, helping the team win is all I can do." LeMahieu and Murphy have been vying for the batting lead for much of the second half, but it seems a byproduct rather than a goal for both. Murphy has been out of the lineup the past two games with what he called "left leg discomfort," and the Nats appear to be making sure he is fresh for the playoffs. LeMahieu is not keeping an eye on Murphy but on a Rockies club looking to finish strong. "I'll tell anyone that asks me, I'm trying to get on base for Nolan Arenado and Carlos Gonzalez, trying to move Charlie Blackmon over," LeMahieu said. "That's what it's all about. I don't think of the other stuff too much. "If I focus on things I need to focus on, personal stuff happens." 2 Rox battle back, but can't catch Cards By Ben Weinrib and Thomas Harding / MLB.com | 1:10 AM ET DENVER -- Carlos Martinez powered himself to his career-high 15th win with a fourth-inning double, as the Cardinals topped the Rockies, 5-3, at Coors Field on Monday and moved into a tie for the second National League Wild Card spot. The Cards joined the Giants -- who lost to the Dodgers -- top the second Wild Card, while the Mets lead the first Wild Card by one game. The Cardinals scored early against Rockies starter Tyler Anderson. Randal Grichuk launched his 23rd homer, a two-run shot, to take a 2-1 lead in the third, and Martinez doubled in two runs an inning later -- after a two-out Nolan Arenado throwing error on a spinning throw to first base -- with his first extra-base hit of the season. Matt Carpenter singled to right to score Martinez. "It really helped that I was helping my cause," Martinez said through a translator. "Not only my cause but also the team. I knew that the minute that the game was tied, we were going to come back a lot more aggressive and a lot more positive to be able to have the outcome that we had." Anderson regrouped after the third and lasted seven innings. He yielded eight hits, and five runs (two earned), and struck out seven against no walks. Still, it was a solid comeback from his last outing, when he gave up nine hits and six runs (five earned) in 4 1/3 innings at Arizona. "Tonight my focus was to try to get ahead, try to throw a lot more strikes than I did last time, and stay out of hitter's counts," Anderson said. Although Martinez only lasted five innings -- his shortest outing since Aug. 6 -- he held the Rockies to two runs on five hits with six strikeouts. The Rockies had RBI singles by David Dahl in the first and Nolan Arenado in the third, but managed little against St. Louis' bullpen. They reached base three times against five relievers and scored once, on Ryan Raburn's pinch-hit homer in the ninth against Kevin Siegrist, who earned his third save. 3 MOMENTS THAT MATTERED Martinez recovers quickly: Following Grichuk's third-inning homer, Martinez was hit in the leg by a pitch from Anderson but remained in the game. Oddly enough, he improved his performance after the hit by pitch. Martinez surrendered two runs in the first three frames but pitched a scoreless fourth and fifth while striking out a pair. "Luckily I got hit where there's muscle and meat, so it didn't hurt as much," Martinez said. "For a minute I got scared and I thought I was going to be taken out of the game, but I was able to recuperate and stay in the game." Martinez also had to use an oxygen mask to help him catch his breath after running the bases in the fourth. Manager Mike Matheny said that he thought Martinez looked "green" at first but got back to full strength midway through the fourth. "Martinez is tough to square up," Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. "It's electric stuff -- big-time velocity and a nasty slider. Even when you get him on the ropes, it's tough to get that big hit." Battles with Blackmon: Martinez and Cards lefty Zach Duke won matchups with the Rockies' Charlie Blackmon in key two-out, two-on situations. Martinez forced a groundout in the fourth, and Duke coaxed a fly ball in the sixth. Bottom of the order steps up: The Cardinals' 7-8-9 hitters Jedd Gyorko, Grichuk and Martinez scored all five of the team's runs and reached base in each of their first two plate appearances. Gyorko doubled and singled, Grichuk homered and reached on an error by Arenado, and Martinez was hit by a pitch and doubled. "It just shows the depth that our lineup can be," Gyorko said. "Myself and 'Grich' and Jhonny [Peralta] are all at the bottom doesn't mean that that's a weak spot in the order. We take pride in being good from top to bottom and having good at- bats." A threat: The ninth ended with the possible winning run on base, but the Rockies would not have had that chance without Raburn, who has four pinch-hit homers this season. The club record is five, by Mark Sweeney in 2004. QUOTABLE "He kept his composure well. I thought he came out a little amped. Once again you could see the fastball flying a little bit. 4 He had trouble kind of getting the sinker to cooperate. ... You've got to harness that, and he did a nice job of making adjustments and finding a way to give us a chance through five." -- Matheny, on Martinez "We've seen him make that play. He makes it look easy. It wasn't an easy play, and the throw was a little high. He does that play so well. That's the thing with Nolan, you get used to him making highlight plays every night and think he's going to do it for 162 games." -- Weiss, on Arenado, who rebounded from the error for several dazzling fielding plays SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS Before Chad Bettis drew two walks Sunday against the Padres, a Rockies pitcher hadn't walked twice in a game since Juan Nicasio against the Giants on April 9, 2013. Well, Rockies pitchers didn't wait long for their next two-walk contest. Anderson drew free passes in the fourth and sixth Monday. HE KEEPS ROLLING Rockies second baseman DJ LeMahieu drew a first-inning walk to run his on-base streak to 35 games. He went 2-for-4 with two runs, and his .349 batting average put him a point ahead of Daniel Murphy for the NL lead. WHAT'S NEXT Cardinals: Right-hander Adam Wainwright starts as the Cardinals take on the Rockies at 7:40 p.m.