Tag Archive: St. Louis Cardinals


Madden chokes up at Coryell memorial service

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July 13, 2010

SAN DIEGO (AP)—An emotional John Madden said Monday at a memorial service for Don Coryell that something was missing—the late coach isn’t in the Pro Football Hall of Fame while some of his notable players and former assistants are.

“You know, I’m sitting down there in front, and next to me is Joe Gibbs, and next to him is Dan Fouts, and the three of us are in the Hall of Fame because of Don Coryell,” Madden said, pausing to compose himself while delivering a eulogy at San Diego State’s basketball arena. “There’s something missing.”

That was a recurring theme at Monday’s service for Coryell, the innovative coach whose Air Coryell offense produced some of the most dynamic passing attacks in NFL history. He died July 1 at age 85.

Coryell was a finalist for the Hall of Fame in February, but was not selected for induction.

“I’m Dan Fouts, and I never thought I’d ever say, ‘Good job, John Madden,”’ Fouts said as he began his eulogy.

Fouts was the quarterback who made Air Coryell fly with the San Diego Chargers in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Gibbs played for Coryell at San Diego State in the early 1960s, and he and Madden were assistant coaches with the Aztecs.

Madden later became a Chargers nemesis as coach of the Oakland Raiders.

The former players and coaches remembered Coryell as more than just a mastermind, or a “mad scientist” as safety-turned-pastor Miles McPherson called Coryell.

They recalled his loyalty to players, coaches and family members. They remembered his competitiveness, and how he could work up a hatred for opponents during game week. Gibbs remembers Coryell throwing oranges at his SDSU players during a halftime tirade.

Others attending included Hall of Famers Kellen Winslow and Charlie Joiner, two of the key players during the Chargers’ Air Coryell years; former offensive coordinator Ernie Zampese; several former Chargers who wore their old jerseys; and San Diego State’s football players, who filed in together, all wearing their jerseys.

Most of the speakers said Coryell should be in the Hall of Fame. Although Coryell’s teams never made it to the Super Bowl, his innovations remain part of the NFL today. Coryell is the first coach to win 100 games in college and pro football. He also coached the St. Louis Cardinals.

“As for the Hall of Fame, as coach said, we’re there because of Don. No question,” Fouts said. “I would not be standing here today if not for Don. But don’t worry, he’ll get in. The voters will get it right,” Fouts said to cheers from approximately 2,000 people. “Wouldn’t it be great if we could have this type of celebration, this type of feeling, and move it to Canton, Ohio, one day?

“But you know, more than the recognition in the Hall of Fame, it’s the life that Don led, how he lived, the people he touched, and the extraordinary memories and feelings he leaves us with. That will be his legacy,” Fouts continued. “Having known Don Coryell makes us all better people and we must strive to emulate his spirit and emulate him in our own lives and share it, as coach did, with and share it everyone he met. That is what he would have wanted. Coach, we love you, we thank you, my friend. You may have taken your last breath, but you will be in our hearts. We love you.”

Before the service, Winslow said it was “embarrassing” that Coryell isn’t in the Hall of Fame.

Fans can’t watch the NFL today “and not see Don Coryell’s influence,” Winslow added. “And that’s why he should be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, as an innovator and as a contributor to the game. You can put a dollar figure on his value to professional football. It’s called a TV contract. That’s because it’s entertainment.”

Madden said he thought Coryell would get in this year.

“Sometimes it’s just getting there, and I feel in Don’s case, he will be,” Madden said before the service. “So it’s not, ‘Is Don a Hall of Fame coach or not?’ It’s just, ‘When does he go in?’ It’s just a shame that he didn’t go in before now.”

McPherson, who was with the Chargers from 1982-85 is now the pastor at The Rock church in San Diego. He wore a No. 24 Chargers jersey.

“Today I’m a defensive back for Don Coryell,” McPherson said.

McPherson read off a list of Hall of Fames Coryell belongs to—at San Diego State, the University of Washington, San Diego Chargers, and the College Football Hall of Fame.

“The NFL needs to put him in the Hall of Fame,” McPherson said.

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St. Louis (45-38) at Colorado (45-38)

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July 7, 2010

After the way the opener of this series ended, the St. Louis Cardinals are probably wondering if they will ever beat the Colorado Rockies.

Coming off a stunning loss, the Cardinals will be looking to earn just their second win in 11 meetings with the Rockies on Wednesday night at Coors Field.
St. Louis looked like it was well on its way to winning the opener of this three-game set, leading 9-3 heading into the ninth inning Tuesday night. The Rockies, though, had other ideas.

Seth Smith’s three-run homer with two outs capped a nine-run rally as the Rockies (45-38) won 12-9 and improved to 9-1 in the last 10 matchups against St. Louis.

No team in the modern era had ever scored nine runs in the bottom of the ninth to win a game.

“Never, ever in my career have I been associated with a better comeback than that,” manager Jim Tracy said. “If there’s a huge lesson learned from this game, it’s the fact that … the game’s 27 outs and you play every single one of them. You don’t give an at-bat away just because the score starts to get away from you.”

Chris Iannetta also hit a three-run homer in the ninth and Carlos Gonzalez scored the tying run from first base when Jason Giambi’s single was mishandled by right fielder Randy Winn for an error – his first in 254 games.

Gonzalez went 4 for 6 with three RBIs and hit his 15th home run to give him five homers and 12 RBIs over his last eight games.

Felipe Lopez and Matt Holliday homered and drove in three runs apiece for the Cardinals, who have lost nine of 13 on the road.

“There’s no way you can not get three outs with a six-run lead,” manager Tony La Russa said. “It’s just one of those games. There’s no way to explain it, no excuses you make, it’s just a really difficult loss. It’s just brutal.”

St. Louis (45-38) will try to bounce back against Aaron Cook, who is 4-0 with a 2.23 ERA in nine starts at Coors Field since Sept. 25. He is 3-0 with a 2.64 ERA in seven home starts this season, pitching at least six innings and not allowing more than three runs in every outing.

Cook (3-5, 4.66) beat San Francisco 7-3 at Coors Field on Thursday for his first win since May 29. On Wednesday, he will be looking for his first win at home over St. Louis.

Cook is 0-2 with a 6.51 ERA in five starts in Denver against the Cardinals. He has one win and a 5.07 ERA in nine appearances – eight starts – versus St. Louis.

The Cardinals will send Jaime Garcia (8-4, 2.10) to the mound. The rookie left-hander has been inconsistent, alternating wins and losses in his last five starts, but he is coming off one of the best outings of his career.

Garcia allowed three hits and matched career highs with seven strikeouts and seven innings to defeat Milwaukee 5-0 at home Friday.

In his previous outing, Garcia gave up a career-worst five runs over two innings – his shortest start in the majors – in a 10-3 loss at Kansas City on June 27.

He’ll be facing the Rockies for the first time.

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Rockies rally for nine in 9th for win over Cards

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July 7, 2010

DENVER (AP)—Seth Smith struggled to remember what had just happened, it was all such a blur.

The ninth inning began with the Colorado Rockies down six runs and ended with him rounding the bases and getting mobbed by his delirious teammates following a colossal comeback for the history books.
“Baseball’s crazy, even stupid sometimes,” Smith said after his three-run homer off Ryan Franklin with two outs in the ninth capped a nine-run rally Tuesday night that gave the Rockies a 12-9 win over the stunned St. Louis Cardinals.

“It’s just one of those things, tomorrow he could come out and be nails and we go three up and three down.”

No team in the modern era had ever scored nine runs in the bottom of the ninth to win a game, according to STATS LLC, whose data goes back to 1918. Just six weeks ago, the Atlanta Braves trailed Cincinnati 9-3 before scoring seven times in the bottom of the ninth.

The Rockies did them two runs better.

“I don’t even know what just happened,” Smith said. “I’ll have a chance to watch it later tonight, catch some highlights and enjoy it. You go from, ‘Let’s not give any at-bats away,’ to ‘Good try,’ to ‘Oh, wait, we can do this.”’

And finally to, “What just happened?”

“Since I’ve been here that’s the way we’ve been,” Smith said. “No one’s going to quit trying even though the game may be out of hand.”

Franklin kept thinking he’d get out of the jam. Instead, it ended when he left a split-finger fastball up over the plate and Smith got all of it.

“I thought I could get out of it with one pitch,” Franklin said. “I was confident the whole time. That’s my game, make them hit the ball. They just hit it kind of hard.”

And far.

“Never, ever in my career have I been associated with a better comeback than that,” Rockies manager Jim Tracy said after watching his team, which had stranded a franchise record 20 runners in their last game and 13 runners through seven innings on this night suddenly come through time after time.

“If there’s a huge lesson learned from this game, it’s the fact that … the game’s 27 outs and you play every single one of them,” Tracy said. “You don’t give an at-bat away just because the score starts to get away from you.”

The Rockies trailed 9-2 after Matt Holliday’s three-run shot in the sixth and got one run back in the seventh on Chris Iannetta’s fielder’s choice groundball.

In the ninth, Iannetta hit a three-run homer off Franklin (3-1), who allowed six runs and six hits while retiring just one batter.

“We played our butts off for nine innings and I didn’t get the last out. I feel bad for everyone in here who battled hard for three hours,” Franklin said.

“Momentum built on their side and we couldn’t stop it,” Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa said. “We just lost a very difficult game. It isn’t on Ryan Franklin.”

Then who?

“Everyone who wore gray,” LaRussa replied. “Including the manager.”

“There’s no way you can not get three outs with a six-run lead,” LaRussa said. “It’s just one of those games. There’s no way to explain it, no excuses you make, it’s just a really difficult loss. It’s just brutal.”

Manny Corpas (3-5) got the win with two perfect innings of relief.

After Iannetta’s fifth homer, Dexter Fowler doubled off the right-field wall and scored on Carlos Gonzalez’s two-out single, making it 9-8. Gonzalez scored all the way from first when Jason Giambi’s single was mishandled by right fielder Randy Winn for an error.

Aaron Cook pinch-ran for Giambi and reached third on Miguel Olivo’s single before Smith connected for his 12th homer on a 2-2 offering from Franklin.

“Nine-to-two, you feel good about it, especially with the way our bullpen’s been throwing,” Holliday said.

Yet, Holliday’s seen many a rally at his old stomping grounds.

“Yeah, I’ve seen a lot here,” he said. “Ninth inning, it was pretty amazing.”

All the while, however, Holliday kept thinking the Rockies’ rally would fizzle.

“I trust my guys. I felt the next pitch it was going to be over,” he said. “You feel like your guys are going to get it done and you’ll walk away with a scare.”

Instead, they trudged off in defeat after watching the Rockies reach base 27 times.

“We kept dodging bullets,” LaRussa said. “And you get to the end of the game, you don’t need many outs and you have a nice sized lead.”

And then, a loss.

Holliday, who hit 128 home runs in a Rockies uniform from 2004-08, made the most of his second trip to Coors Field as a visitor when he sent a 1-1 pitch from Jhoulys Chacin into the left field seats in the sixth for his 12th homer and a seemingly safe 9-2 lead.

So, how could a team that stranded 13 men on base before the ninth suddenly do everything right?

“Pride,” Fowler said. “Playing all 27 outs. Just relax and do your part. Obviously not one person’s going to win the game if you’re down by that much. Everybody’s got to do one little thing, one little thing and then one big thing.”

Notes: Winn’s ninth-inning error was his first in 254 games. … Felipe Lopez also homered and drove in three runs for St. Louis and Gonzalez hit his 15th homer, a two-run shot in the second, for Colorado. … The Rockies’ previous best ninth-inning comeback was four runs, accomplished numerous times. … Iannetta’s homer was his fifth.

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Brewers place Gallardo on 15-day disabled list

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July 7, 2010

MILWAUKEE (AP)—Milwaukee placed right-hander Yovani Gallardo on the 15-day disabled list with a left oblique strain and reinstated Doug Davis from the DL.

Davis, on the disabled list since May 16 with inflammation of the lining around his heart, will start Friday against the Pittsburgh Pirates, the team said.

Gallardo’s move was retroactive to Monday, one day after he was named to the National League All-Star team for the first time—hours before he suffered the injury while throwing a pitch in the third inning of the Brewers’ game against the St. Louis Cardinals.

“Of course I’m disappointed. Any time you go on the DL it’s not a good thing,” Gallardo said before Tuesday’s game with the San Francisco Giants. “We all know as a starting pitcher it’s a tough area. You can’t really do too much because you use it quite a bit.

“I’m just going to take it easy here this week and rehab and hopefully it gets better.”

The team had already said Gallardo (8-4, 2.58 ERA, 122 strikeouts) would miss his next start and the All-Star Game, and on Monday both Gallardo and Brewers General Manager Doug Melvin said the team would take a wait-and-see approach with the injury.

Gallardo said he was still feeling “a little tightness” in his left oblique on Tuesday.

“It’s nothing major, which is a good thing,” he said. “But you still have tightness in there and that’s the last thing you want to do is go out there and start and hurt it even more.”

Brewers manager Ken Macha agreed.

“I’m good with that,” he said of the roster move. “I think we’ve got to be very cautious with this. … If that thing tears, then that’s going to be six weeks. So I don’t think we want anything like that to happen.”

Added Macha: “We’ve invested a lot of money in the guy for the long haul. We just want to make sure he’s OK and not create a bigger problem than the small one we’ve got now.”

In April, the Brewers signed Gallardo to a five-year deal with a club option for a sixth. The contract guarantees Gallardo $30.1 million and as much as $42.5 million.

Davis had struggled since joining the Brewers as a free agent in the offseason. In seven starts, Davis (1-4, 7.56 ERA) has given up 28 earned runs and 48 hits in 33 1-3 innings.

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Pujols’ bat helps Cardinals whip Arizona 8-0

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July 1, 2010

ST. LOUIS (AP)—Albert Pujols matched Stan Musial to reach another milestone. Still, the Cardinals current star is less than thrilled with his season so far.

Pujols recorded his 37th career multihomer game with a pair of two-run shots, tying the Hall of Famer who’s honored with two statues outside Busch Stadium in the St. Louis Cardinals’ 8-0 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday night.

“It’s pretty special,” said Pujols, who had a season-best five RBIs. “I’m blessed to have the opportunity to be compared sometimes with him.”

Dontrelle Willis (1-1) had another wild outing for the Diamondbacks, walking six, hitting a batter and getting lucky on a really wild pitch thrown behind a batter that caromed back to catcher Miguel Montero for a tag play at the plate in the fourth. The Cardinals had 14 baserunners in 23 at-bats against the 28-year-old lefty, who retired none of four batters to start the fifth and has walked 13 in 7 1-3 innings his last two starts.

“It’s been tough, because I feel like I’ve been one pitch away from getting out of some jams,” Willis said. “It’s almost like I feel I’d rather give up 12 runs and get out early than be in battling.

“But that’s the beauty of it, you have to battle and kind of make your own breaks.”

Adam Wainwright (11-5) handcuffed the Diamondbacks into the seventh for his major league-record 23rd consecutive quality start at home, four more than any other pitcher in history, and improved to 8-0 with a 1.49 ERA at home. Wainwright, who scored the winning run on a throwing error on Monday, rebounded smartly from a season-low four-inning outing in his last start, and added an RBI single and two walks off Willis.

“Really, I just tried to go out there and not let my last outing affect me,” Wainwright said. “Just go out and pitch a good quality game and do what I do, throw strikes, get ahead in the count and put them away with my stuff.”

Pujols hasn’t matched his start from last season, when he had 32 homers and 87 RBIs at the All-Star break. He had eight extra-base hits in June until Tuesday. But he’s tied for the NL lead with 18 homers after getting three the last three games, and among the leaders with 57 RBIs and a .312 average. His four multihomer games ties for the major’s most.

“I can say I’m not happy with the way things have gone this season,” Pujols said. “But at the same time, if you look at it, it’s kind of being greedy if you look at my numbers.”

Felipe Lopez had four hits to match his career best and scored three times. Matt Holliday had two hits and two walks, although he missed out on a two-double game when he was tagged out after oversliding second in the third.

Willis’ wildness didn’t cost him early, with the Cardinals leaving the bases loaded and stranding two in the second. Lopez got a leadoff single ahead of both of Pujols two-run homers, the first on a drive over the visitors’ bullpen in left-center in the third and the second to straightaway center in the fifth to make it 4-0.

“Good teams, they exploit your weaknesses, whether it’s keeping the line moving with some rallies when they put together a couple hits, or getting enough walks to where the lineup turns over,” Diamondbacks manager A.J. Hinch said. “It seems like every time (Willis) got into a jam he was going go through that little pocket of Lopez, Pujols and Holliday.”

The Diamondbacks have lost 18 of 21 on the road and Arizona pitchers have given up 44 homers in the last 39 games.

NOTES: The Cardinals are the first team since the 1974 Pirates to have two pitchers score in the same inning, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Jaime Garcia scored the tying run and Wainwright slid home with the winning run in a three-run ninth Monday. Ken Brett and Dock Ellis were the Pirates pitchers. … Wainwright worked 6 1-3 innings and was taken out in mid-inning for the first time in 27 starts dating to Aug. 8 at Pittsburgh, when he went 6 2-3 innings. … Diamondbacks SS Stephen Drew missed his fourth start in five games with a sore left knee. … Willis has 56 walks in 65 2-3 innings overall this year with the Tigers and Diamondbacks.

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St. Louis (38-31) at Toronto (38-32)

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June 26, 2010

St. Louis Cardinals starter Jaime Garcia has shown an uncanny ability to keep the ball in the park, but he has yet to face a lineup as daunting as the Toronto Blue Jays’.

The impressive young left-hander takes on the majors’ top power-hitting team as the Cardinals open a three-game series with the Blue Jays on Tuesday night.
In his first full season, Garcia is emerging as one of the majors’ top pitchers, surrendering two earned runs or fewer in each of his 13 starts.

The 23-year-old Garcia (6-3, 1.59 ERA) suffered his first defeat in seven starts Wednesday night, surrendering two runs and striking out seven in seven innings as St. Louis lost 2-1 to Seattle.

Once again, Garcia didn’t allow a home run. Opponents have hit two in 79 1-3 innings against him this season.

Toronto (38-32) could prove to be tougher to contain. The Blue Jays have connected in 17 of their last 18 home games and lead the majors with 106 homers overall.

Toronto has five players with at least 10 homers, led by Jose Bautista’s 18 – one shy of Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera for the major league lead.

Garcia, facing the Blue Jays for the first time, may need much more run support than he has received of late from the NL Central-leading Cardinals (38-31). He has gotten two runs or fewer to work with in five of his last six starts.

St. Louis was limited to five hits in a 3-2 loss to Oakland on Sunday.

Cardinals left fielder Matt Holliday, however, was a bright spot again with two home runs. He went 8 for 12 with four homers and eight RBIs in the three-game set.

“You feel more confident when you get results,” Holliday said. “It’s a day-to-day battle. You keep grinding it out.”

Holliday has not homered in 12 games against the Blue Jays, hitting .240 with 17 strikeouts. He’s 0 for 3 against Brett Cecil (7-3, 3.58), who takes the mound for Toronto.

Cecil had a personal five-game winning streak snapped in his last start, surrendering five runs in six innings of an 8-2 loss to San Diego on Tuesday night.

The left-hander has won two straight at Rogers Centre and has allowed two runs or fewer in three of his four outings there this season.

Cecil is facing the Cardinals for the first time.

Toronto had a three-game winning streak snapped Sunday with a 9-6 loss to San Francisco.

Cleanup hitter Vernon Wells remains in a rut for Toronto, going 4 for 41 in his last 12 games. The veteran center fielder is hitting .135 with one homer and two RBIs in 11 interleague games this year.

Toronto hasn’t faced St. Louis since winning two of three games at home in June 2005.

The Cardinals have won two of three games in each of their three interleague series, but they all came at home. They’ve lost five of six on the road, getting held to 19 runs.

The Blue Jays are 13-5 at home since May 1.

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Ryan’s 3-run homer lifts Cards over D-backs 5-2

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June 23, 2010

PHOENIX (AP)—Arizona’s Rodrigo Lopez retired 16 straight batter at one point and still lost the game.

Brendan Ryan hit a three-run home run in the seventh inning and the St. Louis Cardinals snapped a four-game losing streak with a 5-2 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night.
Ryan’s drive ruined an otherwise good pitching performance from Lopez, who was cruising until he allowed back-to-back singles in the seventh. Ryan homered on the first pitch he saw from Lopez with two outs in the inning.

Ryan was mired in an 0-for-16 slump before his blast.

“It’s just incredibly frustrating,” Ryan said. “That at-bat … I was really just saying I would rather be late than roll over something. I was going to be aggressive with runners in scoring position, so I was just hoping he’d make a mistake and he ended up throwing a hanging slider. I was just glad I hit it.”

St. Louis scored twice in the second inning off Lopez (2-5) with doubles from Matt Holliday and Skip Schumaker. Schumaker took third on the first of three Diamondbacks errors in the game, an errant pick-off attempt by Lopez that caught second baseman Kelly Johnson off guard and bounced into center field.

Yadier Molina singled to drive in Schumaker for the Cardinals’ second run.

That was all starter Jaime Garcia (6-2) and the Cardinals needed. The rookie left-hander allowed one run on four hits in five innings, lowering his ERA to 1.49.

Garcia got into a bases-loaded jam in the fourth thanks to an error and two walks, but he got Lopez to ground out to end the threat.

In the fifth, after a Conor Jackson double and with two out, manager Tony LaRussa elected to intentionally walk Arizona’s Mark Reynolds to put runners on first and second. Reynolds entered the game batting .212 and was second on the team in strikeouts.

The next batter, Adam LaRoche, made the Cardinals pay when he laced a double to right field to drive in Jackson.

“He actually didn’t get strike one a lot,” LaRussa said of Garcia. “But he made a lot of good pitches deep in the count, which is the whole key to him surviving … the score is very misleading. It was just a weird game and fortunately we had enough things go right for us.”

The Diamondbacks loaded the bases with two outs in the ninth, but could not cash in. Arizona stranded 16 runners on base, a season high, compared to just one for the Cardinals.

“They took advantage of every oppurtunity they had, and that’s the difference in the game,” Diamondbacks manager A.J. Hinch said. “We had a plenty of guys on base and plenty of opportunities for a key hit, and put some nice swings on some balls.”

NOTES: LaRussa said veteran right-hander Jeff Suppan, recently released by the Milwaukee Brewers, was to join St. Louis in Arizona late Friday night. Suppan, who helped the Cardinals win the 2006 World Series, will likely join the team’s battered starting rotation. … Diamondbacks pitcher Kris Benson, on the 15-day disabled list with a right shoulder injury, is with the team and will throw bullpen sessions next weekend. … C Miguel Montero, who has missed 57 games with a knee injury, caught a full minor-league game Thursday. … INF Tony Abreu, who has a left wrist injury and is also on the 15-day DL, was to start a rehabilitation assignment at Triple-A Reno on Friday.

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Liriano outduels Hudson in Twins victory

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June 23, 2010

MINNEAPOLIS (AP)—Francisco Liriano struck out a season-high 11 batters to edge Tim Hudson in a dazzling pitchers’ duel as the Minnesota Twins beat the Atlanta Braves 2-1 on Friday.

Liriano (6-3) allowed five hits in eight innings and Delmon Young’s pinch-hit single in the seventh inning gave the Dominican lefty just enough run support. Jon Rauch struck out Jason Heyward, Chipper Jones and Troy Glaus in the ninth for his 16th save.

Hudson (6-2) went the distance for the Braves, allowing two runs on seven hits. Five of those came in the Twins’ two-run seventh inning.
The game served as a ringing endorsement for Tommy John surgery, the ligament replacement procedure that once spelled the end of a pitcher’s career. Both Hudson and Liriano had the surgery.

Red Sox 12, Phillies 2
At Boston, David Ortiz drove in four runs, Boston led 12-0 after three innings as the Red Sox beat up Philadelphia in the worst start of Jamie Moyer’s 24 seasons.

The 47-year-old left-hander allowed nine runs on nine hits, including six doubles and Mike Lowell’s two-run homer, and left after failing to retire any of the first four batters in the second inning. Boston added three runs in the third off David Herndon.

John Lackey (7-3) won his third straight decision, giving up two runs and six hits in seven innings.

Yankees 4, Astros 3
At New York, Andy Pettitte threw 7 1-3 sharp innings as New York beat Houston.

Francisco Cervelli hit a two-run single in New York’s three-run first inning, and Mark Teixeira added an RBI single in the fifth.

Pettitte allowed two earned runs and four hits against his former team to improve to 3-0 with a 2.10 ERA in his last four starts.

Marlins 14, Rays 9
At St. Petersburg, Anibal Sanchez pitched seven solid innings and Gaby Sanchez homered twice as Florida beat Tampa Bay.

The Marlins beat their intrastate rivals for just the third time in 13 tries over the past three seasons, handing Rays starter James Shields (5-5) his fourth consecutive loss while Anibal Sanchez (6-3) won for the fifth time in six starts.

Gaby Sanchez had four hits, including a three-run homer off Shields, who matched a career high by allowing 10 runs over 3 1-3 innings. The Marlins first baseman also had a sacrifice fly in the fifth and two-run homer in the seventh.

Angels 10, Dodgers 1
At Los Angeles, Joel Pineiro pitched a five-hitter for his second complete game win of the season as the Angels blew out the Dodgers.

Hideki Matsui and Torii Hunter had three-run doubles, helping the Angels win for the eighth time in 10 games and snapping the Dodgers’ four-game winning streak.

Pineiro (5-6) struck out seven, walked one and retired his final 14 batters to earn his second straight win. He also helped the team on offense, becoming the first Angels pitcher to score three runs in a game since 1962.

Giants 6, Athletics 2
At San Francisco, Pat Burrell hit a go-ahead two-run homer in his San Francisco home debut back in his native Bay Area, helping Tim Lincecum end a four-start winless streak.

Bengie Molina added a two-run shot of his own in the sixth off Gio Gonzalez (6-4), ending a 98 at-bat homerless streak.

Lincecum (6-2), the two-time reigning NL Cy Young Award winner, won for the first time since May 15. He allowed two runs on seven hits, struck out seven and walked one in eight innings.

Brewers 6, Rangers 2
At Milwaukee, Corey Hart hit his National-League leading 17th home run, Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun and Casey McGehee also went deep in a victory over Texas.

Braun’s two-run blast in the first set the tone, McGehee drove in his 46th run with his solo homer in the fourth and Hart and Fielder hit consecutive shots in the fifth off Rangers starter Rich Harden (3-3).

Milwaukee starter Chris Narveson (5-3) pitched a career-best seven innings and throttled the AL West-leading Rangers, who had won three straight by a combined score of 31-6 over Seattle.

Mets 5, Orioles 1
At Baltimore, Knuckleballer R.A. Dickey baffled Baltimore for seven innings and Chris Carter hit his first major league homer in New York’s victory.

Dickey (4-0) gave up one run and seven hits to win his fourth straight start. The right-hander had a career-high eight strikeouts.

Carter hit a three-run shot in the fourth inning to stake the Mets to a 4-0 lead against Jeremy Guthrie (3-7) and David Wright had three hits and two RBIs for the Mets.

Royals 6, Reds 5, 11 innings.
At Cincinnati, Kansas City’s Yuniesky Betancourt completed his big game with a run-scoring single in the 11th inning in a victory over Cincinnati.

Betancourt also had an RBI double and a two-run homer. His two-out single off Micah Owings (3-2) gave the Royals their first set of consecutive wins in June.

Victor Marte (1-0) escaped a two-on threat in the 10th. Joakim Soria retired Scott Rolen on a fly ball with runners on first and third to end it, getting his 15th save in 17 tries.

The Reds, who lead the majors with 12 wins in their final at-bat, stranded runners in scoring position in each of the last three innings.

White Sox 10, Cubs 5
At Chicago, Alex Rios and A.J. Pierzynski each had four hits and homered, and Carlos Quentin also went deep as Chicago beat its crosstown rivals.

Pierzynski drove in three runs and Paul Konerko knocked in two runs and scored twice to back a strong outing by Jake Peavy (5-5), who allowed two runs on six hits over seven innings.

Indians 7, Nationals 2
At Cleveland, Austin Kearns drove in four runs with two homers against his former team as Cleveland beat Washington.

Travis Hafner also homered for Cleveland as manager Manny Acta won his first game against the team that fired him last July 13.

Jake Westbrook (4-3) gave up two runs over 7 1-3 innings and Chris Perez got his sixth save as Cleveland won for the fourth time in five games, depriving Washington of its first four-game winning streak.

Kearns hit a three-run shot off Luis Atilano (5-3) in the first inning. He hit the first pitch of the fourth for a 5-1 lead and his fourth multiple homer game, his first since June 4, 2006, at Houston.

Tigers 6, Pirates 2
At Detroit, Brennan Boesch hit a solo shot in a three-run fourth inning and Ramon Santiago had a two-run homer in a three-run sixth as Detroit cruised past Pittsburgh.

Justin Verlander (7-4) gave up two runs on four hits and matched a season high with four walks in seven-plus innings.

Ross Ohlendorf (0-4) allowed six runs—all with two outs—and 10 hits in six innings.

Padres 4, Mariners 3
At San Diego, Nick Hundley hit a sacrifice fly to cap two-run ninth inning and give the San Diego Padres a 4-3 win over the Seattle Mariners.

Will Venable led off the ninth with a single off David Aardsma (0-4) and advanced to second on a sacrifice fly. Aardsma then hit Chase Headley to bring up Gonzalez, who doubled into the right-field corner to score Venable and tie the game 3-3.

Scott Hairston was walked intentionally to load the bases before Hundley lifted a fly ball to right field. Ichiro Suzuki’s throw was not in time to catch Headley, who scored standing up.

Joe Thatcher (1-0) pitched a perfect ninth for the win. Aardsma blew his fourth save.

Rockies 5, Blue Jays 3
At Denver, Ubaldo Jimenez pitched through rain and problems with his command to become baseball’s first 12-game winner as the Colorado Rockies beat the Toronto Blue Jays.

The game was twice stalled by bad weather before being called after six innings.

Jimenez (12-1) allowed a season-high three runs and five hits in six innings, and his major league-low ERA edged up to 1.16 from 0.93 in a game.

Ricky Romero (5-3) allowed four runs and seven hits in five innings, including a tie-breaking home run by Carlos Gonzalez in the fifth inning.

National League

Cardinals 5, Diamondbacks 2
At Phoenix, Brendan Ryan hit a three-run home run in the seventh inning and the St. Louis Cardinals snapped a four-game losing streak with a victory over Arizona.

Ryan’s drive ruined an otherwise good pitching performance from Arizona’s Rodrigo Lopez, who retired 16 straight batters until he allowed back-to-back singles in the seventh. Ryan homered on the first pitch he saw from Lopez with two outs in the inning.

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St. Louis (34-27) at Arizona (24-38)

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June 23, 2010

After ending a four-game losing streak, the next task for the St. Louis Cardinals is to try to beat a former teammate.

Dan Haren looks to improve to 4-0 in his career against the Cardinals on Saturday night when the Arizona Diamondbacks continue a three-game home series.
The right-hander is 3-0 with a 4.29 ERA versus the Cardinals, with whom he began his career from 2003-04. He got credit for a 9-7 victory over St. Louis on April 20, when he gave up seven runs over six innings but went 4 for 4 at the plate.

“It was hard to go out there with that lineup having given up seven runs,” Haren said after that game. “I’d be lying if I told you that didn’t creep into my head, am I going to give up 12 runs? But I did what I could.”

Haren (6-4, 4.83 ERA) pitched well enough to win Monday, giving up three runs over 5 2-3 innings in a 7-4 victory over Atlanta.

St. Louis (34-27) managed only six hits in Friday’s series-opening 5-2 win, but one of them was Brendan Ryan’s three-run home run in the seventh inning. Ryan had been mired in an 0-for-16 slump before his blast.

“It’s just incredibly frustrating,” Ryan said. “That at-bat … I was really just saying I would rather be late than roll over something. I was going to be aggressive with runners in scoring position, so I was just hoping he’d make a mistake and he ended up throwing a hanging slider. I was just glad I hit it.”

The Cardinals are batting .192 with a total of 15 runs over their last five games. Albert Pujols is 2 for 18 with a solo homer in that span, while Matt Holliday is 3 for 19 with no RBIs.

Pujols is 2 for 16 with a solo homer against Arizona (24-37) this season.

Center fielder Colby Rasmus returned after missing three games with a sore left calf and went 0 for 4 for St. Louis. Infielder David Freese, who has been limited to pinch-hitting duties the last five games due to a right ankle problem, is still a day or two away from returning.

The last-place Diamondbacks have split eight games heading into the final two of this homestand. Friday’s loss was especially frustrating as they stranded a season-high 16 runners.

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St. Louis (33-25) at Los Angeles (34-24)

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June 23, 2010

After continuing his dominance of one opponent, St. Louis Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter gets to face another club he has enjoyed great success against – although not the last time he opposed them.

Carpenter will try to improve to 6-0 in the regular season against the Los Angeles Dodgers when the teams continue a three-game set Tuesday night at Chavez Ravine.
The St. Louis right-hander won his second straight outing overall Wednesday and defeated Cincinnati for the eight consecutive time, allowing one run over eight innings of a 4-1 victory.

“If you look at his record, he’s been really special and tough against a lot of clubs,” manager Tony La Russa said.

Carpenter (7-1, 2.76 ERA) has been quite tough on the Dodgers (34-24), going 5-0 with a 2.20 ERA in six career regular-season meetings, including 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA in two starts versus Los Angeles last year.

However, he gave up four runs over five innings of a 5-3 loss to the Dodgers in Game 1 of an NL division series last October. The series ended with the Cardinals (33-25) getting swept in three games.

Carpenter is 9-0 with a 2.42 ERA in his last 14 regular-season road starts.

La Russa opted to give Carpenter an extra day of rest but that may not be so wise – the pitcher is 5-0 with a 1.91 ERA in eight outings with regular rest and 1-1 with a 5.21 ERA in three when he’s had five days or more between starts.

The manager’s decision didn’t pay off Monday as Blake Hawksworth endured a difficult first major league start, allowing six runs in four innings of a 12-4 loss.

“It was a just a rough night,” La Russa said.

Blake DeWitt hit his first home run of the year and drove in a career-high five runs as Los Angeles enjoyed a rare rout. The Dodgers’ previous six victories were all by one run.

“It was a great night all around,” DeWitt said. “We put pressure on them and had great pitching.”

Ryan Ludwick homered twice and Brendan Ryan drove in the other two runs for the Cardinals, who were missing two regulars.

Third baseman David Freese sat out his second straight game because of a sprained right ankle and isn’t expected to return to the starting lineup until Friday. Center fielder Colby Rasmus was out of the lineup because of tightness in his left calf a day after he left early against Milwaukee.

“I get the feeling that Colby has the chance to play (Tuesday) or Wednesday,” La Russa told the Cardinals’ official website.

Dodgers manager Joe Torre rested slumping Russell Martin for the second straight game. The catcher, mired in a 4-for-21 slump, could be back in the lineup Tuesday.

Los Angeles starter Hiroki Kuroda (5-4, 3.63) has dropped three straight starts for the first time in his career, posting a 6.19 ERA in that span. The right-hander yielded four runs over six innings Thursday in a 4-3 loss to Atlanta.

Kuroda has faced the Cardinals once, allowing two runs in six innings of the Dodgers’ 5-3, 10-inning victory July 30, 2009, in St. Louis.

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