GAME THREAD: NL: CHICAGO CUBS (53-46) at ST LOUIS (45-52)

NL: CHICAGO CUBS at ST LOUIS

<div class="pre">NL AT ST LOUIS - MID INNING UPDATE
PLAY: M Wuertz relieved W Ohman.
SITUATION: 0 RUNS IN, NONE ON, 0 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: CHICAGO CUBS 1
ST LOUIS 10 BOTTOM, 8TH

DUE UP FOR ST LOUIS: D Eckstein (.303, 2-FOR-3)</div>

 

NL: CHICAGO CUBS at ST LOUIS

<div class="pre">NL AT ST LOUIS - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY ALBERT PUJOLS SCORED SO TAGUCHI.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, A PUJOLS ON FIRST, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: CHICAGO CUBS 1
ST LOUIS 11 BOTTOM, 8TH

DUE UP FOR ST LOUIS: S SCHUMAKER (.312, 2 HR, 10 RBI)</div>

 

NL: CHICAGO CUBS at ST LOUIS

<div class="pre">NL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
CHICAGO CUBS 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 7 1
ST LOUIS 0 0 0 1 5 4 0 1 11 10 0 (TOP 9)

CURRENT PITCHERS: CHN - MIKE WUERTZ
STL - JASON ISRINGHAUSEN

DUE UP FOR CHICAGO CUBS: J JONES (.249, 0-FOR-2, BB)
J KENDALL (.167, 2-FOR-3)
R CEDENO (.143, 1-FOR-1)</div>

 

NL: CHICAGO CUBS at ST LOUIS

<div class="pre">CHICAGO CUBS (1) VS ST LOUIS (11) - END 8TH - IN PROGRESS

CHICAGO CUBS ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
A Soriano lf 3 0 0 0 0 0 2 .297
a-A Pagan ph-lf 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 .279
R Theriot ss 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 .276
D Lee 1b 3 1 1 1 0 1 1 .335
J Fox 1b 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
A Ramirez 3b 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 .320
B Petrick p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
W Ohman p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
b-K Hill ph-rf 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 .173
C Floyd rf 4 0 2 0 0 0 0 .294
M Wuertz p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
M Fontenot 2b 4 0 0 0 0 1 4 .321
J Jones cf 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 .249
J Kendall c 3 0 2 0 0 0 1 .167
J Marquis p 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 .152
R Cedeno 3b 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 .143

Totals 31 1 7 1 2 3 12

a-popped out to second for A Soriano in the 7th; b-singled to right center for
W Ohman in the 8th.

BATTING: 2B - J Kendall (1, B Looper). HR - D Lee (9, 6th inning off B Looper 0
on, 1 Out). RBI - D Lee (50). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - A
Soriano 1, M Fontenot 2, A Pagan 1. Team LOB - 8.

FIELDING: E - R Theriot (5, throw). DP: 3 (R Theriot-M Fontenot-D Lee, R
Cedeno-J Fox, M Fontenot-R Theriot-J Fox).


ST LOUIS ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
D Eckstein ss 4 0 2 0 0 0 0 .302
J Edmonds cf 2 2 0 0 2 0 1 .230
S Taguchi cf 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 .296
A Pujols 1b 4 2 2 5 0 0 3 .316
C Duncan lf 2 1 1 4 2 0 1 .294
S Schumaker lf 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .309
J Encarnacion rf 4 0 0 0 0 0 2 .288
J Isringhausen p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
S Rolen 3b 3 1 1 1 0 0 0 .262
a-B Ryan ph-3b 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .339
Y Molina c 3 1 1 0 1 1 0 .246
A Miles 2b 4 1 2 0 0 0 1 .275
B Looper p 2 2 1 1 1 0 0 .167
b-R Ludwick ph-rf 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .250

Totals 31 11 10 11 7 1 10

a-walked for S Rolen in the 7th; b-lined out to center for B Looper in the
7th.

BATTING: HR - S Rolen (6, 4th inning off J Marquis 0 on, 2 Out), C Duncan (20,
5th inning off J Marquis 3 on, 1 Out), A Pujols (23, 6th inning off B Petrick 2
on, 2 Out). S - D Eckstein. RBI - S Rolen (43), A Pujols 5 (65), C Duncan 4
(59), B Looper (5). 2-out RBI - S Rolen, A Pujols 3. Runners left in scoring
position, 2 out - R Ludwick 1, C Duncan 1, A Pujols 1. GIDP - J Encarnacion, A
Miles, S Schumaker. Team LOB - 5.

BASERUNNING: SB - D Eckstein (3, 2nd base off J Marquis/J Kendall), Y Molina
(1, 3rd base off B Petrick/J Kendall).


----------------------------------------------------
CHICAGO CUBS - 000 001 00 -- 1
ST LOUIS - 000 154 01 -- 11
----------------------------------------------------

CHICAGO CUBS ip h r er bb so hr era
J Marquis 5 5 6 6 4 1 2 4.20
B Petrick 1 4 4 4 3 0 1 7.45
W Ohman 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 4.13
M Wuertz 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 3.91

ST LOUIS ip h r er bb so hr era
B Looper 7 5 1 1 2 3 1 4.85
J Isringhausen 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 1.52

B Petrick pitched to 2 batters in the 7th.

HBP - A Pujols (by J Marquis). Pitches-strikes: J Marquis 86-53; B Petrick
35-15; W Ohman 8-5; M Wuertz 10-7; B Looper 107-66; J Isringhausen 17-11.
Ground balls-fly balls: J Marquis 9-5; B Petrick 2-1; W Ohman 2-1; M Wuertz
3-0; B Looper 7-11; J Isringhausen 1-2. Batters faced: J Marquis 24; B Petrick
10; W Ohman 2; M Wuertz 4; B Looper 28; J Isringhausen 5.

UMPIRES: HP--Scott Barry. 1B--Gary Darling. 2B--Larry Poncino. 3B--Jerry
Meals.

Weather: 89 degrees, clear. Wind: 5 mph, out to right.</div>

 

NL: CHICAGO CUBS at ST LOUIS

<div class="pre">NL AT ST LOUIS - PITCHING CHANGE
STL: RANDY FLORES (1-0, 4.63) STARTING THE 9TH
CURRENT SCORE: CHICAGO CUBS 1, ST LOUIS 11

DUE UP FOR CHCUBS: J JONES (.249, 0-FOR-2)</div>

 

NL: CHICAGO CUBS at ST LOUIS

<div class="pre">NL AT ST LOUIS - MID INNING UPDATE
PLAY: R Flores relieved J Isringhausen.
SITUATION: 0 RUNS IN, NONE ON, 0 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: CHICAGO CUBS 1
ST LOUIS 11 TOP, 9TH

DUE UP FOR CHICAGO CUBS: J Jones (.249, 0-FOR-2)</div>

 

NL: CHICAGO CUBS at ST LOUIS

<div class="pre">NL FINAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
CHICAGO CUBS 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 7 1
ST LOUIS 0 0 0 1 5 4 0 1 x 11 10 0 (FINAL)

BATTERIES: CHN - JASON MARQUIS, BILLY PETRICK (6TH), WILL OHMAN (7TH), MIKE
WUERTZ (8TH) AND JASON KENDALL

STL - BRADEN LOOPER, JASON ISRINGHAUSEN (8TH), RANDY
FLORES (9TH) AND YADIER MOLINA

HOME RUNS: CHN - DERREK LEE (9) OFF BRADEN LOOPER IN THE 6TH, 0 ON

STL - SCOTT ROLEN (6) OFF JASON MARQUIS IN THE 4TH, 0 ON
CHRIS DUNCAN (20) OFF JASON MARQUIS IN THE 5TH, 3 ON
ALBERT PUJOLS (23) OFF BILLY PETRICK IN THE 6TH, 2 ON</div>

 

NL: CHICAGO CUBS at ST LOUIS

<div class="pre">NL FINAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
CHICAGO CUBS 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 7 1
ST LOUIS 0 0 0 1 5 4 0 1 x 11 10 0 (FINAL)

BATTERIES: CHN - JASON MARQUIS, BILLY PETRICK (6TH), WILL OHMAN (7TH), MIKE
WUERTZ (8TH) AND JASON KENDALL

STL - BRADEN LOOPER, JASON ISRINGHAUSEN (8TH), RANDY
FLORES (9TH) AND YADIER MOLINA


WP - BRADEN LOOPER (8-8)
LP - JASON MARQUIS (7-6)
SAVE - NONE

HOME RUNS: CHN - DERREK LEE (9) OFF BRADEN LOOPER IN THE 6TH, 0 ON

STL - SCOTT ROLEN (6) OFF JASON MARQUIS IN THE 4TH, 0 ON
CHRIS DUNCAN (20) OFF JASON MARQUIS IN THE 5TH, 3 ON
ALBERT PUJOLS (23) OFF BILLY PETRICK IN THE 6TH, 2 ON


TIME: 2:40 ATT: 45,308

PROBABLES: MIL - CLAUDIO VARGAS (8-2, 4.47)
STL - MIKE MAROTH (0-3, 8.17)

PROBABLES: CHN - RICH HILL (6-6, 3.58)
CIN - BRONSON ARROYO (4-11, 4.58)</div>

 

NL: CHICAGO CUBS at ST LOUIS

<div class="pre">CHICAGO CUBS (1) VS ST LOUIS (11) - FINAL

CHICAGO CUBS ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
A Soriano lf 3 0 0 0 0 0 2 .297
a-A Pagan ph-lf 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 .279
R Theriot ss 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 .276
D Lee 1b 3 1 1 1 0 1 1 .335
J Fox 1b 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
A Ramirez 3b 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 .320
B Petrick p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
W Ohman p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
b-K Hill ph-rf 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 .173
C Floyd rf 4 0 2 0 0 0 0 .294
M Wuertz p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
M Fontenot 2b 4 0 0 0 0 1 4 .321
J Jones cf 3 0 0 0 1 1 0 .248
J Kendall c 4 0 2 0 0 0 1 .158
J Marquis p 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 .152
R Cedeno 3b 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 .139

Totals 34 1 7 1 2 4 12

a-popped out to second for A Soriano in the 7th; b-singled to right center for
W Ohman in the 8th.

BATTING: 2B - J Kendall (1, B Looper). HR - D Lee (9, 6th inning off B Looper 0
on, 1 Out). RBI - D Lee (50). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - A
Soriano 1, M Fontenot 2, A Pagan 1. Team LOB - 8.

FIELDING: E - R Theriot (5, throw). DP: 3 (R Theriot-M Fontenot-D Lee, R
Cedeno-J Fox, M Fontenot-R Theriot-J Fox).


ST LOUIS ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
D Eckstein ss 4 0 2 0 0 0 0 .302
J Edmonds cf 2 2 0 0 2 0 1 .230
S Taguchi cf 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 .296
A Pujols 1b 4 2 2 5 0 0 3 .316
C Duncan lf 2 1 1 4 2 0 1 .294
S Schumaker lf 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .309
J Encarnacion rf 4 0 0 0 0 0 2 .288
J Isringhausen p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
R Flores p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
S Rolen 3b 3 1 1 1 0 0 0 .262
a-B Ryan ph-3b 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .339
Y Molina c 3 1 1 0 1 1 0 .246
A Miles 2b 4 1 2 0 0 0 1 .275
B Looper p 2 2 1 1 1 0 0 .167
b-R Ludwick ph-rf 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .250

Totals 31 11 10 11 7 1 10

a-walked for S Rolen in the 7th; b-lined out to center for B Looper in the
7th.

BATTING: HR - S Rolen (6, 4th inning off J Marquis 0 on, 2 Out), C Duncan (20,
5th inning off J Marquis 3 on, 1 Out), A Pujols (23, 6th inning off B Petrick 2
on, 2 Out). S - D Eckstein. RBI - S Rolen (43), A Pujols 5 (65), C Duncan 4
(59), B Looper (5). 2-out RBI - S Rolen, A Pujols 3. Runners left in scoring
position, 2 out - R Ludwick 1, C Duncan 1, A Pujols 1. GIDP - J Encarnacion, A
Miles, S Schumaker. Team LOB - 5.

BASERUNNING: SB - D Eckstein (3, 2nd base off J Marquis/J Kendall), Y Molina
(1, 3rd base off B Petrick/J Kendall).


----------------------------------------------------
CHICAGO CUBS - 000 001 000 -- 1
ST LOUIS - 000 154 01x -- 11
----------------------------------------------------

CHICAGO CUBS ip h r er bb so hr era
J Marquis (L, 7-6) 5 5 6 6 4 1 2 4.20
B Petrick 1 4 4 4 3 0 1 7.45
W Ohman 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 4.13
M Wuertz 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 3.72

ST LOUIS ip h r er bb so hr era
B Looper (W, 8-8) 7 5 1 1 2 3 1 4.85
J Isringhausen 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 1.52
R Flores 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 4.50

B Petrick pitched to 2 batters in the 7th.

HBP - A Pujols (by J Marquis). Pitches-strikes: J Marquis 86-53; B Petrick
35-15; W Ohman 8-5; M Wuertz 10-7; B Looper 107-66; J Isringhausen 17-11; R
Flores 13-10. Ground balls-fly balls: J Marquis 9-5; B Petrick 2-1; W Ohman
2-1; M Wuertz 3-0; B Looper 7-11; J Isringhausen 1-2; R Flores 1-1. Batters
faced: J Marquis 24; B Petrick 10; W Ohman 2; M Wuertz 4; B Looper 28; J
Isringhausen 5; R Flores 3.

UMPIRES: HP--Scott Barry. 1B--Gary Darling. 2B--Larry Poncino. 3B--Jerry
Meals.

T--2:40. Att--45,308.
Weather: 89 degrees, clear. Wind: 5 mph, out to
right.</div>

 

NL: CHICAGO CUBS at ST LOUIS

<div class="pre">** CONFIRMED **
NL
CHICAGO CUBS 1
ST LOUIS 11 FINAL</div>

 

NL: CHICAGO CUBS at ST LOUIS

<div class="pre">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CHICAGO CUBS (1) AT ST LOUIS (11) - HOW THEY SCORED
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ST LOUIS 4TH: C Duncan walked. J Encarnacion grounded into double play,
shortstop to second to first, C Duncan out at second. S Rolen homered to left.
Y Molina struck out swinging. (1 Run, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) CHICAGO CUBS 0, ST LOUIS 1.

ST LOUIS 5TH: A Miles singled to left. B Looper walked, A Miles to second.
D Eckstein sacrificed to third, A Miles to third, B Looper to second.
J Edmonds walked. A Pujols hit by pitch, A Miles scored, B Looper to third,
J Edmonds to second. C Duncan homered to right, B Looper, J Edmonds and A Pujols
scored. J Encarnacion grounded out to third. S Rolen flied out to center.
(5 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) CHICAGO CUBS 0, ST LOUIS 6.

CHICAGO CUBS 6TH: R Theriot fouled out to first. D Lee homered to right.
A Ramirez popped out to second. C Floyd grounded out to second. (1 Run, 1 Hit,
0 Errors) CHICAGO CUBS 1, ST LOUIS 6.

ST LOUIS 6TH: B Petrick relieved J Marquis. R Cedeno at third base.
Y Molina singled to center. A Miles singled to right, Y Molina to second.
Y Molina stole third. B Looper singled to left, Y Molina scored, A Miles to
second. D Eckstein grounded out to first, A Miles to third, B Looper to
second. J Edmonds grounded into fielder's choice to first, A Miles out at
home, B Looper to third. A Pujols homered to right center, B Looper and
J Edmonds scored. C Duncan walked. J Encarnacion flied out to left. (4 Runs,
4 Hits, 0 Errors) CHICAGO CUBS 1, ST LOUIS 10.

ST LOUIS 8TH: K Hill in right field. M Wuertz relieved W Ohman. D Eckstein
grounded out to third. S Taguchi safe at second on throwing error by shortstop
R Theriot. A Pujols singled to left, S Taguchi scored. S Schumaker grounded
into double play, second to shortstop to first, A Pujols out at second.(1 Run,
1 Hit, 1 Error) CHICAGO CUBS 1, ST LOUIS 11.</div>

 

Duncan, Pujols power Cardinals' rout of Cubs

<h3>ST LOUIS 11, CHICAGO CUBS 1</h3>ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- The St. Louis Cardinals used the home runball to avoid a sweep.


Chris Duncan hit a grand slam and Albert Pujols belted athree-run homer as the Cardinals rolled to a 11-1 victory overthe Chicago Cubs.


Scott Rolen added a solo blast for St. Louis, which salvaged thefinale of a three-game series against its National LeagueCentral Division rival.


Cardinals starter Braden Looper (8-8) was the beneficiary of therun support as he won for only the third time in his last 11starts.


Looper allowed one run and five hits in bouncing back from adreadful performance in his last outing, when he was hammeredfor seven runs and 10 hits in just 2 2/3 innings. He struck outthree and walked two.


Cubs starter Jason Marquis (7-6) was battered for six runs andfive hits in five innings by his former teammates. He allowedfour walks and had just one strikeout.


Marquis, who came in 2-0 with a 1.98 ERA in his previous twostarts against St. Louis this season, yielded Rolen's blast inthe fourth before running into trouble in the fifth.

After allowing a single to Aaron Miles, Marquis walked Looper.David Eckstein sacrificed the runners and Marquis followed bywalking Jim Edmonds to load the bases.


Marquis hit Pujols to plate Eckstein and keep the bases loadedfor the hot-hitting Chris Duncan, who homered into the Cardinalsbullpen for a 6-0 lead.


It was his 20th home run and second grand slam of the season forDuncan, who is batting .393 (22-for-56) in July. His lastgrand slam came at Oakland on June 16.


Derrek Lee homered for the Cubs to cut the deficit to 6-1, butthe Cardinals responded with four runs in the bottom of theframe against reliever Billy Petrick.


Looper helped himself with an RBI single and Pujols drilled athree-run shot, his 23 of the season, to turn it into a 10-1laugher.


Pujols had two hits and drove in five runs for the Cardinals,who snapped a two-game skid.

 

NL: CHICAGO CUBS at ST LOUIS

<div class="pre">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CHICAGO CUBS (1) AT ST LOUIS (11) - EVENT LOG
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chicago Cubs Starting Lineups -- A Soriano LF, R Theriot SS, D Lee 1B,
A Ramirez 3B, C Floyd RF, M Fontenot 2B, J Jones CF, J Kendall C, J Marquis RHP.

St Louis Starting Lineups -- D Eckstein SS, J Edmonds CF, A Pujols 1B, C Duncan LF,
J Encarnacion RF, S Rolen 3B, Y Molina C, A Miles 2B, B Looper RHP.

Umpires -- Scott Barry (HP), Gary Darling (1B), Larry Poncino (2B), Jerry Meals (3B).

Gametime Weather: 89 degrees, Clear, wind out to right at 5 mph.


CHICAGO CUBS 1ST: A Soriano lined out to third. R Theriot grounded out to
third. D Lee struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) CHICAGO CUBS 0,
ST LOUIS 0.

ST LOUIS 1ST: D Eckstein singled to center. D Eckstein stole second.
J Edmonds flied out to center, D Eckstein to third. A Pujols fouled out to
first. C Duncan grounded out to shortstop. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors)
CHICAGO CUBS 0, ST LOUIS 0.

CHICAGO CUBS 2ND: A Ramirez grounded out to shortstop. C Floyd grounded
out to shortstop. M Fontenot struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)
CHICAGO CUBS 0, ST LOUIS 0.

ST LOUIS 2ND: J Encarnacion grounded out to pitcher. S Rolen flied out to
right. Y Molina grounded out to third. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)
CHICAGO CUBS 0, ST LOUIS 0.

CHICAGO CUBS 3RD: J Jones flied out to center. J Kendall singled to left.
J Marquis struck out swinging. A Soriano flied out to left. (0 Runs, 1 Hit,
0 Errors) CHICAGO CUBS 0, ST LOUIS 0.

ST LOUIS 3RD: A Miles grounded out to second. B Looper grounded out to
pitcher. D Eckstein singled to left. J Edmonds walked, D Eckstein to second.
A Pujols popped out to first. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) CHICAGO CUBS 0,
ST LOUIS 0.

CHICAGO CUBS 4TH: R Theriot walked. D Lee flied out to right. A Ramirez
popped out to shortstop. C Floyd singled to center, R Theriot to third.
M Fontenot flied out to center. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) CHICAGO CUBS 0,
ST LOUIS 0.

ST LOUIS 4TH: C Duncan walked. J Encarnacion grounded into double play,
shortstop to second to first, C Duncan out at second. S Rolen homered to left.
Y Molina struck out swinging. (1 Run, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) CHICAGO CUBS 0,
ST LOUIS 1.

CHICAGO CUBS 5TH: J Jones grounded out to second. J Kendall doubled to
left. J Marquis grounded out to first, J Kendall to third. A Soriano flied
out to left. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) CHICAGO CUBS 0, ST LOUIS 1.

ST LOUIS 5TH: A Miles singled to left. B Looper walked, A Miles to second.
D Eckstein sacrificed to third, A Miles to third, B Looper to second.
J Edmonds walked. A Pujols hit by pitch, A Miles scored, B Looper to third,
J Edmonds to second. C Duncan homered to right, B Looper, J Edmonds and A Pujols
scored. J Encarnacion grounded out to third. S Rolen flied out to center.
(5 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) CHICAGO CUBS 0, ST LOUIS 6.

CHICAGO CUBS 6TH: R Theriot fouled out to first. D Lee homered to right.
A Ramirez popped out to second. C Floyd grounded out to second. (1 Run, 1 Hit,
0 Errors) CHICAGO CUBS 1, ST LOUIS 6.

ST LOUIS 6TH: B Petrick relieved J Marquis. R Cedeno at third base.
Y Molina singled to center. A Miles singled to right, Y Molina to second.
Y Molina stole third. B Looper singled to left, Y Molina scored, A Miles to
second. D Eckstein grounded out to first, A Miles to third, B Looper to
second. J Edmonds grounded into fielder's choice to first, A Miles out at
home, B Looper to third. A Pujols homered to right center, B Looper and
J Edmonds scored. C Duncan walked. J Encarnacion flied out to left. (4 Runs,
4 Hits, 0 Errors) CHICAGO CUBS 1, ST LOUIS 10.

CHICAGO CUBS 7TH: S Schumaker in left field. M Fontenot grounded out to
first. J Jones walked. J Kendall flied out to left. R Cedeno singled to
right, J Jones to second. A Pagan hit for A Soriano. A Pagan popped out to
second. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) CHICAGO CUBS 1, ST LOUIS 10.

ST LOUIS 7TH: A Pagan in left field. J Fox at first base. B Ryan hit for
S Rolen. B Ryan walked. Y Molina walked, B Ryan to second. W Ohman relieved
B Petrick. A Miles grounded into double play, third to first, B Ryan out at
third, Y Molina to second. R Ludwick hit for B Looper. R Ludwick lined out to
center. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) CHICAGO CUBS 1, ST LOUIS 10.

CHICAGO CUBS 8TH: S Taguchi in center field. J Isringhausen relieved
B Looper. B Ryan at third base. R Ludwick in right field. R Theriot flied out to
right. J Fox popped out to second. K Hill hit for W Ohman. K Hill singled to
right center. C Floyd singled to center, K Hill to third. M Fontenot grounded
out to second. (0 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) CHICAGO CUBS 1, ST LOUIS 10.

ST LOUIS 8TH: K Hill in right field. M Wuertz relieved W Ohman. D Eckstein
grounded out to third. S Taguchi safe at second on throwing error by shortstop
R Theriot. A Pujols singled to left, S Taguchi scored. S Schumaker grounded
into double play, second to shortstop to first, A Pujols out at second.
(1 Run, 1 Hit, 1 Error) CHICAGO CUBS 1, ST LOUIS 11.

CHICAGO CUBS 9TH: R Flores relieved J Isringhausen. J Jones struck out
swinging. J Kendall grounded out to shortstop. R Cedeno lined out to third.
(0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) CHICAGO CUBS 1, ST LOUIS 11.</div>

 

Duncan, Pujols power Cardinals' rout of Cubs

<h3>ST LOUIS 11, CHICAGO CUBS 1</h3>ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- The St. Louis Cardinals used the home runball to avoid a sweep.


Chris Duncan hit a grand slam and Albert Pujols belted athree-run homer as the Cardinals rolled to a 11-1 victory overthe Chicago Cubs.


Scott Rolen added a solo blast for St. Louis, which salvaged thefinale of a three-game series against its National LeagueCentral Division rival.


"It was a big win especially after losing those first two,"Duncan said. "I think it was important that we came out and hada good game today and then we can get rolling for Milwaukee."

Cardinals starter Braden Looper (8-8) was the beneficiary of therun support as he won for only the third time in his last 11starts.


Looper allowed one run and five hits in bouncing back from adreadful performance in his last outing, when he was hammeredfor seven runs and 10 hits in just 2 2/3 innings. He struck outthree and walked two.


"Definitely after how lousy I felt the last one was, I felt goodtoday," Looper said. "I felt like I was in control of mydelivery the whole time. I felt like I made a lot of goodpitches. Fortunately in the fifth inning when Duncan hit thathome run, I think that's the first time I've ever gotten a grandslam when I'm pitching. Pretty quickly it goes from 1-0 to 5-0so that's pretty nice as a starting pitcher."


"He's a very tough guy, tough competitor," Cardinals managerTony La Russa said. "He was ready today. He's an aggressiveguy. He's going to end up with double- figure wins."

Cubs starter Jason Marquis (7-6) was battered for six runs andfive hits in five innings by his former teammates. He allowedfour walks and had just one strikeout.


"I got myself behind the eight-ball by walking a few guys andnot getting outs when I needed to," Marquis said. "I tried tobear down and make perfect pitches and I wasn't able to. Theyjust hit the mistakes and that's what it comes down to."

Marquis, who came in 2-0 with a 1.98 ERA in his previous twostarts against St. Louis this season, yielded Rolen's blast inthe fourth before running into trouble in the fifth.

After allowing a single to Aaron Miles, Marquis walked Looper.David Eckstein sacrificed the runners and Marquis followed bywalking Jim Edmonds to load the bases.


Marquis hit Pujols to plate Eckstein and keep the bases loadedfor the hot-hitting Chris Duncan, who homered into the Cardinalsbullpen for a 6-0 lead.


It was his 20th home run and second grand slam of the season forDuncan, who is batting .393 (22-for-56) in July. His lastgrand slam came at Oakland on June 16.


"He made some good pitches on me early and then after that Ijust tried to battle," Duncan said. "I fought off some pitchesin and I was just waiting for something out over the plate. Ijust wanted to put the ball in play and give myself a shot at ahit."


Derrek Lee homered for the Cubs to cut the deficit to 6-1, butthe Cardinals responded with four runs in the bottom of theframe against reliever Billy Petrick.


Looper helped himself with an RBI single and Pujols drilled athree-run shot, his 23 of the season, to turn it into a 10-1laugher.


Pujols had two hits and drove in five runs for the Cardinals,who snapped a four-game losing streak vs. Chicago and avoided athree-game sweep which would have been the first by vs. the Cubssince 1988.


"We won two out of three here and let's go to Cincinnati and tryto do the same," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said.