Bettis grounds Cards with aggressive style

ST. LOUIS — The first hitter Rockies pitcher Chad Bettis faced Tuesday night, the Cardinals’ Matt Carpenter, drove a pitch deep to center field, only to see the ball die in thick, wet air of Busch Stadium and fall to Charlie Blackmon’s glove at the warning track. But even with the atmospheric conditions on his side, Bettis hardly took any chances.

Pounding a sinking fastball, with a two-seamer mixed in for effect, Bettis forced 11 groundouts, struck out four and kept the Cards quiet for most of his 6 2/3 innings while pitching the Rockies to a 3-1 victory.

“It was kind of what was working tonight, so we ran with it,” Bettis said. “Once they made an adjustment, we tried to stay ahead of them.”

The outing was a forward stride for Bettis (4-2), who in three of his previous four outings had key mistakes prevent him from earning wins.

On Tuesday, he breezed through the sixth. He was clipped for three singles and the only run, on Randal Grichuk’s single, after recording two outs in the seventh. So reliever Boone Logan …

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