Nolan Arenado had his share of moments over the last two days in his return to St. Louis before he stepped to the plate in the ninth inning. It was altogether fitting that one more would find him. Arenado ripped a double into the left-field corner with which he became so familiar over five seasons in St. Louis, breaking a scoreless tie and lifting the Diamondbacks to a 4-3 victory that evened this four-game set at a game apiece, following a dramatic ninth inning. “It’s a really tough arm. It’s heavy sink with a sweeper. It’s not an easy at-bat for a righty,” he said of the seven-pitch battle with ex-teammate Matt Svanson. “To be honest, that was probably one of my best at-bats I’ve had all year.” The four-spot put up by Arizona in the top of the ninth would ordinarily have been determinative, but the Cardinals managed to rally against Paul Sewald in a wild bottom of the inning that was capped by Brandyn Garcia striking out JJ Wetherholt to record his first career save, stranding the tying run on first base. “Tough scenario in the bottom, but we got the win,” Garcia said. “That’s the most important thing. That’s my job coming in there, Paul’s job going in there as well. We combined it for the win.” Monday’s emotional return to St. Louis saw Arenado lift his helmet and tap his heart to a grateful crowd -- and his own call and response in the roll call conducted by the “tarps off” section in right field -- but was capped only by an RBI groundout in a loss. Those acknowledgements were repeated Tuesday, and Arenado thanked – or perhaps tormented – the fans with a vintage, game-breaking performance.
