Dark Horse Tavern » , Minnesota, contributed to this report.

PHOENIX — For the first time in 52 days Dexter Williams Jersey , A.J. Pollock was back Monday where he belonged — in center field and hitting fourth in the Arizona lineup after missing time with a fractured left thumb.

St. Louis, meanwhile, seems to be in a juggling mode where its outfield is concerned. Jose Martinez, who has spent most of the first half at first base, did pregame work in right field for the second straight day, and that appears that is his position moving forward.

Pollock was hitless in four at-bats and scored a run, but the Cardinals took the first game of the series when Yadier Molina had two hits, including a homer and three RBIs in a 6-3 victory Monday.

Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo apologized to Molina behind the batting cage before the game for language he used in an argument the second inning of an April 8 game in St. Louis. Lovullo was ejected and Molina had to be restrained as players from both teams entered the field.

“Everything is in the past,” Molina said. “I have a bunch of respect for him and the organization in Arizona.”

Arizona right-hander Zack Greinke is to oppose St. Louis right-hander Jack Flaherty in the second game of the series Tuesday.

St. Louis broke a four-game losing streak and, with four runs in the first inning, had a lead for the first time since last Tuesday. The Diamondbacks have lost four in a row.

“It is frustrating,” Lovullo said. “I think we are a better team then we have showed these last four games. The season has its ups and downs and we should know that. We had a situation just like this before.”

Pollock, who has missed extended time because of injuries the last two seasons, will be monitored, Lovullo said.

“He wants to play every day. He makes that perfectly clear,” Lovullo said. “He does not like to come out of the lineup, and I love that. But I explained to him that we’re going to control his playing time and his innings until he’s one hundred percent removed from any more things popping up.”

Pollock was slashing .293/.346.503 with 11 homers and 33 RBIs in 40 games before his injury.

Martinez leads the Cardinals with 52 RBIs, but he also leads NL first basemen with seven errors. Rookie Tyler O’Neill started in right field Monday, with Matt Carpenter at first.

“One of those tough conversations,” St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said of Martinez’s position shift.

“He is so good offensively. And trying to figure out ways to maybe help our defense a little bit on the infield. We’re going to be working him as hard as we can to get him comfortable there and plug him into the equation. There are still going to be some opportunities at first.”

Martinez, slashing .299/.367/.496 with 13 and a team-high 52 RBIs Tytus Howard Jersey , has played 72 games at first base this season after basically splitting time between first and the corner outfield spots in last season. Left field is now covered by free agent sign Marcell Ozuna.

“Tyler O’Neill is going to play,” Matheny said. “We know when he gets hot, he’s got the potential to do good things for us. Try to get a good look at him while he is in play mode. He’s been swinging it well. Just some different looks. Get some other guys engaged in the infield, too.”

Greinke, 8-5 with a 3.41 ERA, has 13 scoreless innings in his last two starts, victories at Pittsburgh and Miami as part of a three-win road trip. He has won three starts in a row and was 5-1 with a 2.95 ERA in six June starts, dropping his ERA to the lowest it has been since the second week of the season.

“He’s on a Zack Greinke run,” Lovullo said. “He had a real nice run from the middle of May last year until the end of the season, where he just grinds up innings. Fast innings, which equal wins.”

Greinke is 12-5 with a 3.42 ERA in 19 career appearances against the Cardinals. He has more victories against only team, Detroit (13). Greinke is 3-1 with a 2.40 ERA in eight home starts this season and is 16-2 at Chase Field the last two years.

Rookie Flaherty, 3-3 with a 2.92 ERA, has made quality starts in four of his 11 appearances and had a career-high 13 strikeouts while giving up only one hit in seven innings of a no-decision against Milwaukee on June 22. He gave up four runs in four innings in his last appear, a 5-1 loss to Cleveland.

Flaherty, 1-1 with a 2.20 ERA in five starts on the road, has never faced Arizona.

As much as Saints All-Pro Cam Jordan admires his father, Steve, and effusively praises the former Minnesota Vikings tight end, he hasn’t been able to resist the urge to be his own man.

Cam Jordan never wanted to play tight end, and acknowledged on Thursday that he doesn’t always follow his father’s advice Nick Bosa Jersey , either, particularly when it comes to his playful antics and comments when engaging the media.

When Jordan consistently gets the better of an offensive lineman, he’ll refer to him as ”Speed Bump Magee.” After last Sunday’s playoff victory over Carolina, Jordan conspicuously positioned a bottle of Jordan cabernet (not a family business) on the top shelf of his locker and pledged to send his namesake wine to his namesake star quarterback, Cam Newton.

Jordan said his father, ”always tries to tone me back. He’s always like, `Hey, dude, have you thought about the ramifications?”’

”No, I haven’t. I shot my shot and said what I said and had to back it up,” the younger Jordan continued. ”At 28, I’m in my physical prime so at this point I feel like I can back it up.”

Indeed, Jordan was named first-team Associated Press All-Pro for the first time in his career this season – his seventh since being New Orleans’ first of two first-round draft choices in 2011 out of California. The 6-foot-4, 287-pound edge rusher had 13 sacks, 17 tackles for losses, 28 QB hits, 11 passes defended (mostly batted passes), an interception and two forced fumbles.

Teammates marvel at his conditioning, boundless energy and how he hardly ever misses a defensive snap.

In last weekend’s wild-card round playoff triumph over the Panthers , Jordan not only had a sack, a tackle for loss D.K. Metcalf Jersey , a QB hit and two batted passes, but he also forced Cam Newton into a pivotal intentional grounding penalty. That play turned a second-and-10 at the Saints 21-yard line with 41 seconds left into third-and-23 at the New Orleans 34 – with just 19 seconds to go after a 10-second runoff for an offensive penalty in the final minute. The Panthers could not recover in a 31-26 loss.

Now Jordan is preparing for a high-stakes playoff clash in Minnesota, where he spent his early childhood while his father was being named to Pro Bowls – six in all – for the Vikings. Jordan knows plenty about Vikings history, but doesn’t sound too sentimental about it.

”I want to destroy them just the same,” Jordan said. ”There’s going to be an offensive line that I want to destroy. There’s going to be a running back I want to destroy. There’s going to be a quarterback that I have to destroy.”

Cam Jordan said he expects his father and brother to be at the game, along with old family friends from the area. Whether he brings along another bottle of his namesake wine is to be determined, he said.

Steve Jordan’s career ended in 1994, when Cam was 5. Soon after, they moved to Arizona.

The elder Jordan described himself as ”pretty jovial” and someone who ”could get goofy on occasion.” But Cam, he said, is ”full-on most of the time.”

”He’s just a fun-loving guy. He doesn’t take himself too seriously, doesn’t take life too seriously,” Steve Jordan said. ”But this game of football, particularly now, he’s definitely taking that serious. And he’s really focused, and I like that.”

The younger Jordan considers the Phoenix area his home, as he says, because that’s where he had his first kiss and learned how to drive. He doesn’t get all that nostalgic about returning to Minneapolis.

”I remember jumping in some leaves, getting so cold outside we got locked out of a car,” Jordan said with a chuckle. But he also fondly remembers meeting a number of ”my dad’s co-workers, and they turned out to be legends. You talk about (defensive end) Chris Doleman Jamel Dean Jersey , you talk about (safety) Joey Browner, (running back) Darrin Nelsons of the game. I won’t talk about Herschel Walker, because he ruined (that) franchise.

”You grow up and you get drafted by the Saints,” Jordan added. ”This is my team. This is my family.”

Saints coach Sean Payton generally urges his players to refrain from providing opponents with bulletin-board material, but didn’t sound inclined to rein in Jordan.

”It’s just Cam’s personality,” Payton said. ”He’s humorous and I think he genuinely enjoys what he does and that’s just how it’s expressed. Outside of that, I’m glad he’s on our team.”

Likewise, Vikings offensive linemen didn’t sound inclined to talk tough about shutting up Jordan. They deferred to a more respectful approach.

”He’s had a great career, great year, and it’s going to be a tough battle,” Vikings offensive tackle Mike Remmers said. ”The first thing that we’d like to do is just block him. … He’s just fast, physical, just a smart player. He’s really got a little bit of everything.”

Vikings QB Case Keenum called Jordan ”a really talented player” who ”creates a lot of havoc in the backfield in the run or pass game – a guy that we need to know where he’s at at all times.”

Odds are, they’ll hear him coming.

—

AP Sports Writer Dave Campbell in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, contributed to this report.

—