GAME THREAD: NL: WASHINGTON (20-29) at ST LOUIS (19-26)

NL: WASHINGTON at ST LOUIS

<div class="pre">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WASHINGTON (6) AT ST LOUIS (8) - EVENT LOG
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Washington Starting Lineups -- F Lopez 2B, C Guzman SS, R Zimmerman 3B,
R Church LF, A Kearns RF, D Young 1B, B Schneider C, N Logan CF, L Speigner RHP.

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

Umpires -- Charlie Reliford (HP), Tom Hallion (1B), Greg Gibson (2B),
Tony Randazzo (3B).

Gametime Weather: 81 degrees, Clear, wind out to left at 8 mph.


WASHINGTON 1ST: F Lopez grounded out to shortstop. C Guzman reached on
infield single to shortstop. R Zimmerman singled to left, C Guzman to second.
R Church singled to shallow center, C Guzman scored, R Zimmerman to second.
A Kearns flied out to center, R Zimmerman to third. D Young walked, R Church to
second. B Schneider flied out to right. (1 Run, 3 Hits, 0 Errors) WASHINGTON 1,
ST LOUIS 0.

ST LOUIS 1ST: D Eckstein grounded out to second. C Duncan grounded out to
first. A Pujols singled to right. S Spiezio singled to right, A Pujols to
third. S Rolen walked, S Spiezio to second. J Edmonds singled to right
center, A Pujols and S Spiezio scored, S Rolen to third. Y Molina grounded out
to third. (2 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors) WASHINGTON 1, ST LOUIS 2.

WASHINGTON 2ND: N Logan grounded out to first. L Speigner struck out
swinging, L Speigner safe at first on wild pitch by B Thompson, L Speigner to
second on throwing error by catcher Y Molina. F Lopez grounded out to third.
C Guzman grounded out to second. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 1 Error) WASHINGTON 1,
ST LOUIS 2.

ST LOUIS 2ND: A Kennedy singled to center. B Thompson sacrificed to
pitcher, A Kennedy to second. D Eckstein grounded out to shortstop, A Kennedy
to third. C Duncan struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) WASHINGTON 1,
ST LOUIS 2.

WASHINGTON 3RD: R Zimmerman grounded out to shortstop. R Church grounded
out to second. A Kearns singled to center. D Young struck out looking.
(0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) WASHINGTON 1, ST LOUIS 2.

ST LOUIS 3RD: A Pujols singled to left. S Spiezio flied out to right,
A Pujols to second. S Rolen flied out to center, A Pujols to third. J Edmonds
singled to left, A Pujols scored. Y Molina lined out to third. (1 Run, 2 Hits,
0 Errors) WASHINGTON 1, ST LOUIS 3.

WASHINGTON 4TH: B Schneider grounded out to second. N Logan singled to
left. L Speigner sacrificed to first, N Logan to second. F Lopez flied out to
left. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) WASHINGTON 1, ST LOUIS 3.

ST LOUIS 4TH: A Kennedy singled to center. B Thompson sacrificed to
pitcher, A Kennedy to second. D Eckstein singled to left, A Kennedy scored.
C Duncan walked, D Eckstein to second. D Eckstein to third, C Duncan to second
on passed ball by B Schneider. A Pujols walked. S Spiezio grounded into
fielder's choice to first, D Eckstein scored, C Duncan to third, A Pujols to
second. B Traber relieved L Speigner. S Rolen doubled to right, C Duncan and
A Pujols scored, S Spiezio to third. J Edmonds flied out to center. Y Molina
walked. A Kennedy walked, S Spiezio scored, S Rolen to third, Y Molina to
second. B Thompson grounded out to catcher. (5 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors)
WASHINGTON 1, ST LOUIS 8.

WASHINGTON 5TH: C Guzman singled to left. R Zimmerman grounded into double
play, third to second to first, C Guzman out at second. R Church grounded out
to first. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) WASHINGTON 1, ST LOUIS 8.

ST LOUIS 5TH: D Eckstein singled to left. C Duncan grounded into fielder's
choice to first, D Eckstein out at second. A Pujols grounded into double play,
shortstop to second to first, C Duncan out at second.(0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors)
WASHINGTON 1, ST LOUIS 8.

WASHINGTON 6TH: A Kearns singled to center. D Young singled to left,
A Kearns to second. B Schneider singled to left, A Kearns to third, D Young to
second. N Logan grounded into fielder's choice to first, A Kearns out at home,
D Young to third, B Schneider to second. R Langerhans hit for B Traber.
R Langerhans singled to right, D Young scored, B Schneider to third, N Logan to
second. T Wellemeyer relieved B Thompson. F Lopez hit sacrifice fly to left,
B Schneider scored. C Guzman grounded out to third. (2 Runs, 4 Hits, 0 Errors)
WASHINGTON 3, ST LOUIS 8.

ST LOUIS 6TH: W Abreu relieved B Traber. S Spiezio grounded out to first.
S Rolen struck out swinging. J Edmonds struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits,
0 Errors) WASHINGTON 3, ST LOUIS 8.

WASHINGTON 7TH: R Zimmerman singled to left. R Church struck out swinging.
A Kearns grounded into double play, third to second to first, R Zimmerman out
at second.(0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) WASHINGTON 3, ST LOUIS 8.

ST LOUIS 7TH: Y Molina struck out swinging. A Kennedy flied out to left.
R Ludwick hit for T Wellemeyer. R Ludwick struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits,
0 Errors) WASHINGTON 3, ST LOUIS 8.

WASHINGTON 8TH: T Johnson relieved T Wellemeyer. D Young walked. J Flores
hit for B Schneider. J Flores grounded into fielder's choice to third, D Young
out at second. N Logan grounded into fielder's choice to shortstop, J Flores
safe at third on throwing error by shortstop D Eckstein. T Batista hit for
W Abreu. R Franklin relieved T Johnson. T Batista hit sacrifice fly to left,
J Flores scored. F Lopez grounded into fielder's choice to shortstop, N Logan
out at second. (1 Run, 0 Hits, 1 Error) WASHINGTON 4, ST LOUIS 8.

ST LOUIS 8TH: J Flores catching. R King relieved W Abreu. D Eckstein
singled to left. C Duncan flied out to center. A Pujols grounded into double
play, shortstop to second to first, D Eckstein out at second.(0 Runs, 1 Hit,
0 Errors) WASHINGTON 4, ST LOUIS 8.

WASHINGTON 9TH: K Jimenez relieved R Franklin. C Guzman grounded out to
shortstop. R Zimmerman struck out swinging. R Church doubled to deep right
center. A Kearns doubled to right, R Church scored. S Taguchi in right field.
J Isringhausen relieved K Jimenez. D Young singled to center, A Kearns scored.
R Fick ran for D Young. J Flores fouled out to second. (2 Runs, 3 Hits,
0 Errors) WASHINGTON 6, ST LOUIS 8.</div>

 

Pujols, Edmonds spark Cardinals past Nationals

<h3>ST LOUIS 8, WASHINGTON 6</h3>ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- After winning the World Series lastseason, the St. Louis Cardinals have had their troubles in thescoring department. They can only hope Saturday marks theiroffensive resurgence.

Jim Edmonds had three RBI and Albert Pujols scored three timesas the Cardinals posted an 8-6 victory over the WashingtonNationals.

St. Louis, which has suffered from an inconsistent offense allseason and is the lowest-scoring team in the majors, receivedlarge contributions from two of their longtime stars.

With the Cardinals trailing, 1-0, in the bottom of the first,Edmonds hit a two-run single to right-center off Nationalsstarter Levale Speigner (1-1), scoring Pujols and Scott Spiezio.In the third, Edmonds singled to left to score Pujols onceagain and increase the Cardinals' advantage to 3-1.

Pujols scored his third run in the fourth as Scott Rolen roped adouble - the Cardinals' only extra-base hit of the contest -down the right field line. It was the first time in over amonth that Pujols scored three times in a game.

Pujols, who led the majors in runs scored for three straightseason from 2003-2005, has scored no fewer than 112 runs in anyof his previous six major league seasons. After crossing theplate three times Saturday, he has scored 25 runs through 46games. David Eckstein finished with three hits for theCardinals, who won for the fourth time in five contests.

St. Louis starter Brad Thompson (3-1) yielded three runs and 10hits with a walk and two strikeouts over 5 1/3 innings. Threerelievers yielded a run and a hit over the next 2 2/3 inningsgoing into the ninth before turning it an 8-4 lead over toreliever Kelvin Jimenez in an 8-4 contest.

Jimenez, who had two scoreless outings since his seven-runimplosion in one-third of an inning against the Detroit Tigerson May 18, could get just two outs as he surrendered two moreruns, narrowing the lead to 8-6.

That prompted St. Louis manager Tony La Russa to call on closerJason Isringhausen, who yielded a single to Dmitri Young beforethe game was delayed one hour and 41 minutes by rain showersthat had been lingering throughout the contest.

Isringhausen came back after the delay to retire Jesus Floresand notch his 13th save in 14 chances.

Speigner allowed eight runs and eight hits with three walks anda strikeout over 3 1/3 innings. The 26-year-old righthander hasfailed to last more than four frames in any of his three startssince joining the rotation and has surrendered 17 runs in thattime.

Austin Kearns had three hits and Ryan Zimmerman added two morefor the Nationals, who lost for only the fifth time in the last16 games.

 

Pujols, Edmonds spark Cardinals past Nationals

<h3>ST LOUIS 8, WASHINGTON 6</h3>ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- After winning the World Series lastseason, the St. Louis Cardinals have had their troubles in thescoring department. They can only hope Saturday marks theiroffensive resurgence.

Jim Edmonds had three RBI and Albert Pujols scored three timesas the Cardinals posted an 8-6 victory over the WashingtonNationals.

St. Louis, which has suffered from an inconsistent offense allseason and is the lowest-scoring team in the majors, receivedlarge contributions from two of their longtime stars.

"The guys in the middle with clutch hits, that's how you geteight runs," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. "I thinkwe're going to be fine."

With the Cardinals trailing, 1-0, in the bottom of the first,Edmonds hit a two-run single to right-center off Nationalsstarter Levale Speigner (1-1), scoring Pujols and Scott Spiezio.In the third, Edmonds singled to left to score Pujols onceagain and increase the Cardinals' advantage to 3-1.

"(Edmonds) has been swinging better," La Russa said. "He's aquality guy and he should be fine as we go through the season."

Pujols scored his third run in the fourth as Scott Rolen roped adouble - the Cardinals' only extra-base hit of the contest -down the right field line. It was the first time in over amonth that Pujols scored three times in a game.

Pujols, who led the majors in runs scored for three straightseason from 2003-2005, has scored no fewer than 112 runs in anyof his previous six major league seasons. After crossing theplate three times Saturday, he has scored 25 runs through 46games. David Eckstein finished with three hits for theCardinals, who won for the fourth time in five contests.

"It's fun to see," said Cardinals starter Brad Thompson of theoffensive output. "Seeing the guys swinging the bats, the guysare coming around (and) hitting the ball hard. It's a step inthe right direction."

"We've been playing good," Cardinals outfielder Chris Duncansaid. "We just have to keep going. We just need to focus onplaying hard everyday and win every game."

St. Louis starter Brad Thompson (3-1) yielded three runs and 10hits with a walk and two strikeouts over 5 1/3 innings. Threerelievers yielded a run and a hit over the next 2 2/3 inningsgoing into the ninth before turning it an 8-4 lead over toreliever Kelvin Jimenez in an 8-4 contest.

"I didn't have my best stuff today but I got through a fewinnings," Thompson said. "I'd like to do a lot more with 100pitches than five and a third, but we'll take it. It's a win."

Jimenez, who had two scoreless outings since his seven-runimplosion in one-third of an inning against the Detroit Tigerson May 18, could get just two outs as he surrendered two moreruns, narrowing the lead to 8-6.

That prompted St. Louis manager Tony La Russa to call on closerJason Isringhausen, who yielded a single to Dmitri Young beforethe game was delayed one hour and 41 minutes by rain showersthat had been lingering throughout the contest.

"It was our fault (not finishing the game before the raindelay)," La Russa said. "We had a couple of relievers thatneeded relief. We should have closed those innings out soonerand we wouldn't have had to worry about it."

Isringhausen came back after the delay to retire Jesus Floresand notch his 13th save in 14 chances.

Speigner allowed eight runs and eight hits with three walks anda strikeout over 3 1/3 innings. The 26-year-old righthander hasfailed to last more than four frames in any of his three startssince joining the rotation and has surrendered 17 runs in thattime.

"It wasn't a very good outing (for Speigner)," Nationals managerManny Acta said. "It put a lot of stress on our bullpen. Wehave five days. We're going to have to evaluate the situationand see what the alternatives will be."

Austin Kearns had three hits and Ryan Zimmerman added two morefor the Nationals, who lost for only the fifth time in the last16 games.

"We felt like we should have gotten some runs early," Kearnssaid. "We had our chances to score runs and open it up for ouroffense and we just didn't get it done, but we made a run thereat the end."