GAME THREAD: GAME THREAD: NL: ATLANTA (67-63) at ST LOUIS (62-64)

NL: ATLANTA at ST LOUIS

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ATLANTA (1) AT ST LOUIS (4) - EVENT LOG
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Atlanta Starting Lineups -- W Harris CF, Y Escobar SS, K Johnson 2B, M Teixeira 1B,
B McCann C, J Francoeur RF, M Diaz LF, C Woodward 3B, J Reyes LHP.

St Louis Starting Lineups -- B Ryan SS, S Taguchi CF, A Pujols 1B,
J Encarnacion RF, S Rolen 3B, R Ludwick LF, Y Molina C, A Miles 2B, A Wainwright RHP.

Umpires -- Jim Reynolds (HP), Tim Welke (1B), Gary Cederstrom (2B), Lance Barksdale (3B).

Gametime Weather: 83 degrees, Sunny, wind in from right at 6 mph.


ATLANTA 1ST: W Harris grounded out to first. Y Escobar grounded out to
shortstop. K Johnson grounded out to first. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)
ATLANTA 0, ST LOUIS 0.

ST LOUIS 1ST: B Ryan singled to center. S Taguchi grounded into double
play, second to first, B Ryan out at second. A Pujols struck out looking.
(0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) ATLANTA 0, ST LOUIS 0.

ATLANTA 2ND: M Teixeira singled to center. B McCann struck out swinging.
J Francoeur singled to center, M Teixeira to second. M Diaz flied out to
right. C Woodward lined out to shortstop. (0 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) ATLANTA 0,
ST LOUIS 0.

ST LOUIS 2ND: J Encarnacion grounded out to second. S Rolen grounded out
to shortstop. R Ludwick doubled to left. Y Molina popped out to second.
(0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) ATLANTA 0, ST LOUIS 0.

ATLANTA 3RD: J Reyes grounded out to first. W Harris struck out looking.
Y Escobar grounded out to shortstop. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) ATLANTA 0,
ST LOUIS 0.

ST LOUIS 3RD: A Wainwright struck out looking. A Miles grounded out to
shortstop. B Ryan flied out to right. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) ATLANTA 0,
ST LOUIS 0.

ATLANTA 4TH: K Johnson grounded out to first. M Teixeira flied out to
left. B McCann flied out to center. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) ATLANTA 0, ST LOUIS 0.

ST LOUIS 4TH: S Taguchi grounded out to first. A Pujols singled to left.
J Encarnacion flied out to right. S Rolen struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 1 Hit,
0 Errors) ATLANTA 0, ST LOUIS 0.

ATLANTA 5TH: J Francoeur walked. M Diaz singled to left, J Francoeur to
second. C Woodward struck out swinging. J Reyes struck out swinging.
W Harris grounded out to first. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) ATLANTA 0,
ST LOUIS 0.

ST LOUIS 5TH: R Ludwick singled to left center. Y Molina doubled to deep
left, R Ludwick scored. A Wainwright sacrificed to first, Y Molina to third.
A Miles flied out to right. B Ryan safe at second on error by third baseman
C Woodward, Y Molina scored. S Taguchi singled to center, B Ryan scored.
A Pujols struck out swinging. (3 Runs, 3 Hits, 1 Error) ATLANTA 0, ST LOUIS 3.

ATLANTA 6TH: Y Escobar grounded out to shortstop. K Johnson grounded out
to second. M Teixeira doubled to deep right center. B McCann singled to
center, M Teixeira scored. J Francoeur fouled out to first. (1 Run, 2 Hits,
0 Errors) ATLANTA 1, ST LOUIS 3.

ST LOUIS 6TH: J Encarnacion homered to left. S Rolen flied out to center.
R Ludwick struck out swinging. Y Molina struck out swinging. (1 Run, 1 Hit,
0 Errors) ATLANTA 1, ST LOUIS 4.

ATLANTA 7TH: M Diaz singled to shallow left. C Woodward flied out to
center. S Thorman hit for J Reyes. S Thorman struck out looking. W Harris
flied out to center. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) ATLANTA 1, ST LOUIS 4.

ST LOUIS 7TH: J Ascanio relieved J Reyes. C Duncan hit for A Wainwright.
C Duncan walked. A Miles sacrificed to pitcher, C Duncan to second. B Ryan
lined out to first. J Edmonds hit for S Taguchi. J Edmonds grounded out to
first. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) ATLANTA 1, ST LOUIS 4.

ATLANTA 8TH: J Edmonds in center field. R Franklin relieved A Wainwright.
Y Escobar singled to center. K Johnson grounded out to second, Y Escobar to
second. M Teixeira grounded out to third, Y Escobar to third. B McCann struck
out looking. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) ATLANTA 1, ST LOUIS 4.

ST LOUIS 8TH: J Devine relieved J Ascanio. A Pujols walked. J Encarnacion
singled to left, A Pujols to second. S Rolen struck out swinging. R Ludwick
struck out swinging. Y Molina flied out to right. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors)
ATLANTA 1, ST LOUIS 4.

ATLANTA 9TH: J Isringhausen relieved R Franklin. J Francoeur grounded out
to second. M Diaz flied out to center. C Woodward grounded out to shortstop.
(0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) ATLANTA 1, ST LOUIS 4.</div>

 

Wainwright pitches Cardinals past Braves

<h3>ST LOUIS 4, ATLANTA 1</h3>By Jim Walsh
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer


ST. LOUIS (Ticker) - Adam Wainwright and two relievers kept theSt. Louis Cardinals winning and the Atlanta Braves in a slump.

Cementing his role as the team's ace, Wainwright pitched sevenstrong innings to lead the Cardinals to a 4-1 victory in thedeciding game of the weekend series.


Wainwright (12-9) improved to 2-1 with a 1.55 ERA over his lastfour starts. The 6-7 righthander surrendered only six hits overhis seven innings, allowing only one run and one walk with fivestrikeouts.


"I've told myself I'm going to try to get better every timeout," said Wainwright, who threw 69 of 109 pitches for strikes."There are a lot of factors that go into that. You can't justsay it, you have to go out there and believe you are improving."

Ryan Franklin pitched a scoreless eighth and Jason Isringhausenclosed out the ninth for his 13th consecutive save and 27th in29 chances this season. It was the 200th save of Isringhausen'scareer.


"Look at (Isringhausen's) numbers this year, they're crazy,"Wainwright said. "He's one of the best in the game without adoubt, we all know that, and we are supremely confident whengoes to the mound at the end of the game."


Wainwright kept the Braves off-balance with his moving fastballand curveball. Atlanta's only run came in the sixth, when BrianMcCann's two-out RBI single followed Mark Teixeira's double.

"We just couldn't capitalize when we got guys on base," saidAtlanta outfielder Matt Diaz, who had two of the Braves' hits."(Wainwright) did a good job of unbelievable damage controltoday. Every time we threatened he made a pitch."

St. Louis broke open a scoreless game in the bottom of the fifthinning, scoring three times off Atlanta starter Jo-Jo Reyes,including two unearned runs.


Ryan Ludwick started the inning with a line single to right. Twopitches later, Yadier Molina put the Cardinals on top with adouble down the left field line.


"When you see a (pitcher) the second or third time you have abetter feel," Ludwick said. "It worked out in the fifth for ustoday and we jumped on top first and we rolled with it."

Reyes (0-2) could have escaped without further damage but atwo-out ground ball by Brendan Ryan got under the glove of ChrisWoodward at third for a two-base error to score Molina.

"The ball was hit well and I think it skipped by Woody's glovejust a little bit," Atlanta manager Bobby Cox said. "It wasn'tan easy play."


So Taguchi capped the inning, plating Ryan with a single up themiddle.


Although the loss left Reyes still searching for his first majorleague win, the 22-year-old rookie had his strongest outingyet. The lefthander, who entered the game with a 9.62 ERA,pitched six innings, allowing four runs - two earned - withseven hits, six strikeouts and no walks.


"I think this is my best outing," Reyes said. "I can't worryabout the win or loss, just worry about making sure you makeevery pitch count. I feel I was more aggressive, I wascommanding all my pitches so I felt real good today."

Juan Encarnacion added a solo home run in the sixth for St.Louis who have won five of their last seven games and moved only2 1/2 games behind the Chicago Cubs for the lead in theNational League Central Division.


"Right down we have more pluses than problems," Cardinalsmanager Tony La Russa said. "That hasn't been true for quite abit of the year, so we're having some fun."


Atlanta lost for the eighth time in their last 11 games and fella season-high 7 1/2 games behind first-place New York in the NLEast.