GAME THREAD: NL: PITTSBURGH (19-25) at ST LOUIS (17-25)

NL: PITTSBURGH at ST LOUIS

<div class="pre">NL AT ST LOUIS - MID INNING UPDATE
PLAY: J Castillo hit for M Capps.
SITUATION: 0 RUNS IN, NONE ON, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: PITTSBURGH 3
ST LOUIS 5 TOP, 9TH

DUE UP FOR PITTSBURGH: J Castillo (.259, 0 HR, 6 RBI)</div>

 

NL: PITTSBURGH at ST LOUIS

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

BATTERIES: PIT - IAN SNELL, DAMASO MARTE (7TH), JONAH BAYLISS (7TH), MATT CAPPS
(8TH) AND RYAN DOUMIT

STL - KIP WELLS, RANDY FLORES (8TH), JASON ISRINGHAUSEN
(8TH) AND GARY BENNETT, YADIER MOLINA (9TH)

HOME RUNS: PIT - NONE

STL - DAVID ECKSTEIN (1) OFF IAN SNELL IN THE 1ST, 0 ON
JIM EDMONDS (2) OFF IAN SNELL IN THE 2ND, 0 ON
CHRIS DUNCAN (9) OFF IAN SNELL IN THE 5TH, 1 ON</div>

 

NL: PITTSBURGH at ST LOUIS

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

BATTERIES: PIT - IAN SNELL, DAMASO MARTE (7TH), JONAH BAYLISS (7TH), MATT CAPPS
(8TH) AND RYAN DOUMIT

STL - KIP WELLS, RANDY FLORES (8TH), JASON ISRINGHAUSEN
(8TH) AND GARY BENNETT, YADIER MOLINA (9TH)


WP - KIP WELLS (2-8)
LP - IAN SNELL (4-3)
SAVE - JASON ISRINGHAUSEN (11)

HOME RUNS: PIT - NONE

STL - DAVID ECKSTEIN (1) OFF IAN SNELL IN THE 1ST, 0 ON
JIM EDMONDS (2) OFF IAN SNELL IN THE 2ND, 0 ON
CHRIS DUNCAN (9) OFF IAN SNELL IN THE 5TH, 1 ON


TIME: 2:45 ATT: 42,245

PROBABLES: PIT - TOM GORZELANNY (5-2, 2.43)
STL - BRADEN LOOPER (5-3, 3.27)</div>

 

Cards back strong performance by Wells with three homers

<h3>ST LOUIS 5, PITTSBURGH 3</h3>ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- Ian Snell entered having allowed two homeruns in his first nine starts. The St. Louis Cardinals toppedthat number by the fifth inning to help former Pittsburgh PirateKip Wells snap a long skid.

Wells snapped a career-high seven-game losing streak and DavidEckstein and Jim Edmonds homered in the opening two frames asthe Cardinals posted a 5-3 victory over the Pirates onWednesday.

Chris Duncan homered for the third straight game for St. Louis,which has hit four home runs in the last two home contests aftergoing homerless at Busch Stadium since April 28 - a stretch ofseven games.

Wells (2-8) leads the league with eight losses and 43 runsallowed, but pitched more like the pitcher who yielded just fiveearned runs over 20 innings in his first three starts. Therighthander allowed just five hits and a walk and was chargedwith two runs - one earned.

Pittsburgh reached him for two runs in the sixth, which was madepossible by a misplay by Duncan in left field and an error bysecond baseman Adam Kennedy.

Duncan played a long fly ball by Jose Bautista into a leadoffdouble. A one-out single by Freddy Sanchez put runners on thecorner before Kennedy misplayed a grounder by Adam LaRoche foran error, allowing Bautista to score and Sanchez to race aroundto third base. Jason Bay followed with a sacrifice fly.

Pittsburgh center fielder Chris Duffy led off the eighth with atriple off Randy Flores and scored on a one-out double down theleft field line by LaRoche.

But Jason Isringhausen struck out Ryan Doumit and Xavier Nadywith runners on first and second to escape before Scott Spieziodelivered an insurance run-scoring single in the bottom half.

Isringhausen logged a perfect ninth for his 11th save in 12chances.

Although Wells has not pitched well, he has received littlesupport. The Cardinals had been outscored, 42-8, in his lastfive starts but that all changed Wednesday.

Eckstein led off the bottom of the first by drilling a fastballfrom Snell over the left field fence for his first homer of theseason and fifth career leadoff blast. Duffy prevented a two-runhomer later in the frame when he brought back a blast over theleft-center wall from Juan Encarnacion.

But Edmonds led off the second with his second blast of thecampaign, a prodigious 425-foot blast well over the right fieldwall. In the fifth, Duncan belted a two-run blast - his thirdhomer in three games - two batters after Wells singled.

Snell (4-3) left after six innings, yielding four runs and sevenhits with a walk and two strikeouts.

Duffy had two hits for the Pirates, who have lost four straight.

 

NL: PITTSBURGH at ST LOUIS

<div class="pre">PITTSBURGH (3) VS ST LOUIS (5) - FINAL

PITTSBURGH ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
J Bautista 3b 5 1 1 0 0 0 1 .265
C Duffy cf 4 1 2 0 0 1 1 .227
F Sanchez 2b 4 1 1 0 0 0 2 .286
A LaRoche 1b 4 0 1 2 0 1 1 .195
J Bay lf 2 0 1 1 1 1 2 .283
R Doumit c 4 0 0 0 0 1 4 .341
X Nady rf 3 0 1 0 1 1 3 .280
J Wilson ss 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 .250
I Snell p 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 .167
a-N McLouth ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .244
D Marte p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
J Bayliss p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
M Capps p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000
b-J Castillo ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .254

Totals 33 3 7 3 2 6 16

a-grounded to first for I Snell in the 7th; b-grounded to second for M Capps
in the 9th.

BATTING: 2B - J Bay (10, K Wells); J Bautista (13, K Wells); A LaRoche (9, R
Flores). 3B - C Duffy (2, R Flores). S - J Wilson. SF - J Bay. RBI - A LaRoche
2 (22), J Bay (29). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - X Nady 2, J Bay
1, J Bautista 1. Team LOB - 7.

BASERUNNING: SB - C Duffy (9, 2nd base off K Wells/G Bennett).

FIELDING: Outfield assists - J Bay (J Edmonds at Home). DP: 1 (J Bay-R
Doumit).


ST LOUIS ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
D Eckstein ss 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 .270
C Duncan lf 4 1 1 2 0 1 1 .295
R Flores p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
J Isringhausen p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
A Pujols 1b 4 0 2 0 0 0 1 .276
J Encarnacion rf 4 1 2 0 0 0 1 .310
S Rolen 3b 3 0 0 0 1 1 4 .215
J Edmonds cf 3 1 1 1 1 0 1 .222
G Bennett c 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 .231
b-S Spiezio ph 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 .286
Y Molina c 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .295
A Kennedy 2b 4 0 0 0 0 0 2 .231
K Wells p 2 1 1 0 0 1 0 .294
a-S Taguchi ph-lf 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .224

Totals 32 5 9 5 3 4 12

a-grounded to third for K Wells in the 7th; b-singled to right center for G
Bennett in the 8th.

BATTING: 2B - A Pujols (8, I Snell); J Encarnacion (1, M Capps). HR - D
Eckstein (1, 1st inning off I Snell 0 on, 0 Out), J Edmonds (2, 2nd inning off
I Snell 0 on, 0 Out), C Duncan (9, 5th inning off I Snell 1 on, 2 Out). RBI - D
Eckstein (7), J Edmonds (12), C Duncan 2 (20), S Spiezio (13). 2-out RBI - C
Duncan 2. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - S Rolen 2. Team LOB - 6.

FIELDING: E - A Kennedy (3, ground ball).


----------------------------------------------------
PITTSBURGH - 000 002 010 -- 3
ST LOUIS - 110 020 01x -- 5
----------------------------------------------------

PITTSBURGH ip h r er bb so hr era
I Snell (L, 4-3) 6 7 4 4 1 2 3 3.06
D Marte 2/3 0 0 0 1 1 0 0.59
J Bayliss 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 5.76
M Capps 1 2 1 1 1 1 0 3.24

ST LOUIS ip h r er bb so hr era
K Wells (W, 2-8) 7 5 2 1 1 4 0 6.10
R Flores (H, 4) 1/3 2 1 1 0 0 0 2.81
J Isringhausen (S, 11) 1 2/3 0 0 0 1 2 0 1.53

IBB - J Edmonds (by M Capps). Pitches-strikes: I Snell 88-59; D Marte 12-5; J
Bayliss 2-1; M Capps 17-9; K Wells 103-65; R Flores 12-7; J Isringhausen 24-13.
Ground balls-fly balls: I Snell 7-9; D Marte 1-0; J Bayliss 0-1; M Capps 0-1; K
Wells 6-12; R Flores 1-0; J Isringhausen 2-1. Batters faced: I Snell 26; D
Marte 3; J Bayliss 1; M Capps 5; K Wells 28; R Flores 3; J Isringhausen 6.

UMPIRES: HP--Ron Kulpa. 1B--Dale Scott. 2B--Paul Emmel. 3B--Adam Dowdy.

T--2:45. Att--42,245.
Weather: 83 degrees, partly cloudy. Wind: 14 mph, right
to left.</div>

 

NL: PITTSBURGH at ST LOUIS

<div class="pre">** CONFIRMED **
NL
PITTSBURGH 3
ST LOUIS 5 FINAL</div>

 

NL: PITTSBURGH at ST LOUIS

<div class="pre">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PITTSBURGH (3) AT ST LOUIS (5) - HOW THEY SCORED
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ST LOUIS 1ST: D Eckstein homered to left. C Duncan grounded out to first.
A Pujols doubled to deep right center. J Encarnacion flied out to center.
S Rolen popped out to shortstop. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) PITTSBURGH 0,
ST LOUIS 1.

ST LOUIS 2ND: J Edmonds homered to right. G Bennett flied out to center.
A Kennedy flied out to left. K Wells struck out looking. (1 Run, 1 Hit,
0 Errors) PITTSBURGH 0, ST LOUIS 2.

ST LOUIS 5TH: A Kennedy grounded out to shortstop. K Wells singled to
right. D Eckstein fouled out to first. C Duncan homered to right, K Wells
scored. A Pujols reached on infield single to third. J Encarnacion singled to
center, A Pujols to second. S Rolen flied out to left. (2 Runs, 4 Hits,
0 Errors) PITTSBURGH 0, ST LOUIS 4.

PITTSBURGH 6TH: J Bautista hit a ground rule double to deep left. C Duffy
fouled out to shortstop. F Sanchez singled to left, J Bautista to third.
A LaRoche grounded into fielder's choice to second, J Bautista scored, F Sanchez
safe at third on error by second baseman A Kennedy. J Bay hit sacrifice fly to
left, F Sanchez scored. R Doumit flied out to center. (2 Runs, 2 Hits,
1 Error) PITTSBURGH 2, ST LOUIS 4.

PITTSBURGH 8TH: R Flores relieved K Wells. S Taguchi in left field. C Duffy
tripled to deep left center. F Sanchez grounded out to third. A LaRoche
doubled to left, C Duffy scored. J Isringhausen relieved R Flores. J Bay
walked. R Doumit struck out looking. X Nady struck out swinging. (1 Run,
2 Hits, 0 Errors) PITTSBURGH 3, ST LOUIS 4.

ST LOUIS 8TH: M Capps relieved J Bayliss. J Encarnacion doubled to right.
S Rolen struck out swinging. J Edmonds intentionally walked. S Spiezio hit
for G Bennett. S Spiezio singled to right center, J Encarnacion scored,
J Edmonds to third. A Kennedy flied out to left, J Edmonds thrown out at home.
(1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) PITTSBURGH 3, ST LOUIS 5.</div>

 

NL: PITTSBURGH at ST LOUIS

<div class="pre">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PITTSBURGH (3) AT ST LOUIS (5) - EVENT LOG
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pittsburgh Starting Lineups -- J Bautista 3B, C Duffy CF, F Sanchez 2B,
A LaRoche 1B, J Bay LF, R Doumit C, X Nady RF, J Wilson SS, I Snell RHP.

St Louis Starting Lineups -- D Eckstein SS, C Duncan LF, A Pujols 1B,
J Encarnacion RF, S Rolen 3B, J Edmonds CF, G Bennett C, A Kennedy 2B, K Wells RHP.

Umpires -- Ron Kulpa (HP), Dale Scott (1B), Paul Emmel (2B), Adam Dowdy (3B).


Gametime Weather: 83 degrees, Partly Cloudy, wind right to left at 14 mph.


PITTSBURGH 1ST: J Bautista grounded out to third. C Duffy struck out
swinging. F Sanchez popped out to shortstop. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)
PITTSBURGH 0, ST LOUIS 0.

ST LOUIS 1ST: D Eckstein homered to left. C Duncan grounded out to first.
A Pujols doubled to deep right center. J Encarnacion flied out to center.
S Rolen popped out to shortstop. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) PITTSBURGH 0,
ST LOUIS 1.

PITTSBURGH 2ND: A LaRoche flied out to left. J Bay doubled to deep left
center. R Doumit flied out to center. X Nady popped out to second. (0 Runs,
1 Hit, 0 Errors) PITTSBURGH 0, ST LOUIS 1.

ST LOUIS 2ND: J Edmonds homered to right. G Bennett flied out to center.
A Kennedy flied out to left. K Wells struck out looking. (1 Run, 1 Hit,
0 Errors) PITTSBURGH 0, ST LOUIS 2.

PITTSBURGH 3RD: J Wilson grounded out to shortstop. I Snell struck out
swinging. J Bautista flied out to center. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)
PITTSBURGH 0, ST LOUIS 2.

ST LOUIS 3RD: D Eckstein struck out swinging. C Duncan grounded out to
second. A Pujols grounded out to shortstop. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)
PITTSBURGH 0, ST LOUIS 2.

PITTSBURGH 4TH: C Duffy singled to center. F Sanchez lined out to right.
A LaRoche struck out looking, C Duffy stole second. J Bay struck out swinging.
(0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) PITTSBURGH 0, ST LOUIS 2.

ST LOUIS 4TH: J Encarnacion grounded out to third. S Rolen walked.
J Edmonds flied out to center. G Bennett grounded out to third. (0 Runs, 0 Hits,
0 Errors) PITTSBURGH 0, ST LOUIS 2.

PITTSBURGH 5TH: R Doumit flied out to right. X Nady walked. J Wilson
flied out to center. I Snell flied out to center. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)
PITTSBURGH 0, ST LOUIS 2.

ST LOUIS 5TH: A Kennedy grounded out to shortstop. K Wells singled to
right. D Eckstein fouled out to first. C Duncan homered to right, K Wells
scored. A Pujols reached on infield single to third. J Encarnacion singled to
center, A Pujols to second. S Rolen flied out to left. (2 Runs, 4 Hits,
0 Errors) PITTSBURGH 0, ST LOUIS 4.

PITTSBURGH 6TH: J Bautista hit a ground rule double to deep left. C Duffy
fouled out to shortstop. F Sanchez singled to left, J Bautista to third.
A LaRoche grounded into fielder's choice to second, J Bautista scored, F Sanchez
safe at third on error by second baseman A Kennedy. J Bay hit sacrifice fly to
left, F Sanchez scored. R Doumit flied out to center. (2 Runs, 2 Hits,
1 Error) PITTSBURGH 2, ST LOUIS 4.

ST LOUIS 6TH: J Edmonds flied out to left. G Bennett flied out to center.
A Kennedy grounded out to first. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) PITTSBURGH 2,
ST LOUIS 4.

PITTSBURGH 7TH: X Nady singled to left. J Wilson sacrificed to pitcher,
X Nady to second. N McLouth hit for I Snell. N McLouth grounded out to first,
X Nady to third. J Bautista grounded out to second. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors)
PITTSBURGH 2, ST LOUIS 4.

ST LOUIS 7TH: D Marte relieved I Snell. S Taguchi hit for K Wells.
S Taguchi grounded out to third. D Eckstein walked. C Duncan struck out
looking. J Bayliss relieved D Marte. A Pujols fouled out to first. (0 Runs,
0 Hits, 0 Errors) PITTSBURGH 2, ST LOUIS 4.

PITTSBURGH 8TH: R Flores relieved K Wells. S Taguchi in left field. C Duffy
tripled to deep left center. F Sanchez grounded out to third. A LaRoche
doubled to left, C Duffy scored. J Isringhausen relieved R Flores. J Bay
walked. R Doumit struck out looking. X Nady struck out swinging. (1 Run,
2 Hits, 0 Errors) PITTSBURGH 3, ST LOUIS 4.

ST LOUIS 8TH: M Capps relieved J Bayliss. J Encarnacion doubled to right.
S Rolen struck out swinging. J Edmonds intentionally walked. S Spiezio hit
for G Bennett. S Spiezio singled to right center, J Encarnacion scored,
J Edmonds to third. A Kennedy flied out to left, J Edmonds thrown out at home.
(1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) PITTSBURGH 3, ST LOUIS 5.

PITTSBURGH 9TH: Y Molina catching. J Wilson flied out to right. J Castillo
hit for M Capps. J Castillo grounded out to second. J Bautista grounded out to
shortstop. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) PITTSBURGH 3, ST LOUIS 5.</div>

 

Cards back strong performance by Wells with three homers

<h3>ST LOUIS 5, PITTSBURGH 3</h3>ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- Ian Snell entered having allowed twohome runs in his first nine starts. The St. Louis Cardinalstopped that number by the fifth inning to help former PittsburghPirate Kip Wells snap a long skid.

Wells snapped a career-high seven-game losing streak and DavidEckstein and Jim Edmonds homered in the opening two frames asthe Cardinals posted a 5-3 victory over the Pirates onWednesday.

Chris Duncan homered for the third straight game for St. Louis,which has hit four home runs in the last two home contests aftergoing homerless at Busch Stadium since April 28 - a stretch ofseven games.

"They got their groove back," said Snell, who had allowed onlytwo earned runs in two previous starts against the Cardinalsthis year. "I made mistake pitches and they hit them out of thepark."

Wells (2-8) leads the league with eight losses and 43 runsallowed, but pitched more like the pitcher who yielded just fiveearned runs over 20 innings in his first three starts. Therighthander allowed just five hits and a walk and was chargedwith two runs - one earned.

"He threw a lot of strikes," Pirate shortstop Jack Wilson said."He had a difference in his motion from what I've seen in thepast. He kept it down, threw some good two-seamers inside, andlet the ball do the work for him."

"(Wells) did everything you're supposed to do," St. Louismanager Tony La Russa said. "When they had opportunities hemade nasty pitches, the key at-bats he made pitches and got keyouts."

Pittsburgh reached him for two runs in the sixth, which was madepossible by a misplay by Duncan in left field and an error bysecond baseman Adam Kennedy.

Duncan played a long fly ball by Jose Bautista into a leadoffdouble. A one-out single by Freddy Sanchez put runners on thecorner before Kennedy misplayed a grounder by Adam LaRoche foran error, allowing Bautista to score and Sanchez to race aroundto third base. Jason Bay followed with a sacrifice fly.

Pittsburgh center fielder Chris Duffy led off the eighth with atriple off Randy Flores and scored on a one-out double down theleft field line by LaRoche.

But Jason Isringhausen struck out Ryan Doumit and Xavier Nadywith runners on first and second to escape before Scott Spieziodelivered an insurance run-scoring single in the bottom half.

Isringhausen logged a perfect ninth for his 11th save in 12chances.

Although Wells has not pitched well, he has received littlesupport. The Cardinals had been outscored, 42-8, in his lastfive starts but that all changed Wednesday.

"It's not that you pitch any different once you get a lead,"Wells said. "But, you can get some momentum and have them ontheir heels a little bit, thinking they have to overcomesomething now that they have a deficit."

Eckstein led off the bottom of the first by drilling a fastballfrom Snell over the left field fence for his first homer of theseason and fifth career leadoff blast. Duffy prevented atwo-run homer later in the frame when he brought back a blastover the left-center wall from Juan Encarnacion.

But Edmonds led off the second with his second blast of thecampaign, a prodigious 425-foot blast well over the right fieldwall.

"That was vintage there," La Russa said. "When you start seeing(Edmonds)getting aggressive, that's when he's seeing the ball well."

In the fifth, Duncan belted a two-run blast - his third homer inthree games - two batters after Wells singled.

"I think you can say the club is in a better place offensively,"Eckstein said. "We've done a better job of getting a pitch andhitting it a lot harder."

Snell (4-3) left after six innings, yielding four runs and sevenhits with a walk and two strikeouts.

"They hit three balls out of the ballpark," Pirate manager JimTracy said. "(Snell) hung in there, like he always does, and gotthrough six innings, because of that he gave us anopportunity."

Duffy had two hits for the Pirates, who have lost four straight.