GAME THREAD: GAME THREAD: NL: ST LOUIS (42-47) at FLORIDA (44-49)

NL: ST LOUIS at FLORIDA

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

BATTERIES: STL - BRAD THOMPSON, RUSS SPRINGER (7TH), TROY CATE (7TH), ANDY
CAVAZOS (8TH) AND YADIER MOLINA

FLA - RICK VANDEN HURK, JUSTIN MILLER (6TH), MATT
LINDSTROM (7TH), ARMANDO BENITEZ (8TH), LEE GARDNER (9TH),
TAYLOR TANKERSLEY (9TH) AND MIGUEL OLIVO

HOME RUNS: STL - NONE

FLA - HANLEY RAMIREZ (15) OFF BRAD THOMPSON IN THE 5TH, 1 ON</div>

 

NL: ST LOUIS at FLORIDA

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

BATTERIES: STL - BRAD THOMPSON, RUSS SPRINGER (7TH), TROY CATE (7TH), ANDY
CAVAZOS (8TH) AND YADIER MOLINA

FLA - RICK VANDEN HURK, JUSTIN MILLER (6TH), MATT
LINDSTROM (7TH), ARMANDO BENITEZ (8TH), LEE GARDNER (9TH),
TAYLOR TANKERSLEY (9TH) AND MIGUEL OLIVO


WP - RICK VANDEN HURK (3-2)
LP - BRAD THOMPSON (6-4)
SAVE - NONE

HOME RUNS: STL - NONE

FLA - HANLEY RAMIREZ (15) OFF BRAD THOMPSON IN THE 5TH, 1 ON


TIME: 2:39 ATT: 12,475

PROBABLES: STL - KIP WELLS (3-12, 6.25)
FLA - DONTRELLE WILLIS (7-8, 4.81)</div>

 

NL: ST LOUIS at FLORIDA

<div class="pre">ST LOUIS (0) VS FLORIDA (4) - FINAL

ST LOUIS ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
A Kennedy 2b 5 0 1 0 0 0 2 .226
S Schumaker cf 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 .300
A Pujols 1b 3 0 1 0 1 0 2 .315
C Duncan lf 3 0 0 0 1 2 2 .291
S Rolen 3b 4 0 1 0 0 3 4 .262
J Encarnacion rf 3 0 0 0 1 0 5 .267
Y Molina c 3 0 1 0 1 1 0 .263
A Miles ss 4 0 1 0 0 1 1 .280
B Thompson p 2 0 1 0 0 1 2 .176
a-D Eckstein ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .304
R Springer p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
T Cate p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
A Cavazos p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
b-R Ludwick ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 .260

Totals 33 0 7 0 4 10 19

a-struck out swinging for B Thompson in the 7th; b-struck out swinging for A
Cavazos in the 9th.

BATTING: 2B - S Schumaker (6, R Vanden Hurk). Runners left in scoring position,
2 out - J Encarnacion 2, B Thompson 2. GIDP - J Encarnacion. Team LOB - 10.

BASERUNNING: CS - J Encarnacion (1, 2nd base by R Vanden Hurk/M Olivo).

FIELDING: Outfield assists - J Encarnacion (M Jacobs at 2nd base). DP: 3 (S
Rolen-A Kennedy-A Pujols 3).


FLORIDA ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
H Ramirez ss 3 1 2 3 1 0 0 .332
D Uggla 2b 3 0 1 1 1 0 1 .242
M Cabrera 3b 2 0 1 0 1 0 2 .326
M Jacobs 1b 3 0 1 0 1 1 2 .282
J Willingham lf 3 0 0 0 0 3 3 .256
J Hermida rf 4 0 1 0 0 0 1 .246
M Olivo c 4 0 0 0 0 1 2 .243
A Amezaga cf 4 1 2 0 0 1 0 .278
R Vanden Hurk p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .143
a-J Borchard ph 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 .201
J Miller p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
M Lindstrom p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
b-T Linden ph 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 .229
A Benitez p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
L Gardner p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
T Tankersley p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

Totals 28 4 10 4 4 6 11

a-singled to left for R Vanden Hurk in the 5th; b-doubled to left for M
Lindstrom in the 7th.

BATTING: 2B - H Ramirez (25, B Thompson); T Linden (3, R Springer). HR - H
Ramirez (15, 5th inning off B Thompson 1 on, 1 Out). S - R Vanden Hurk. RBI - H
Ramirez 3 (39), D Uggla (54). 2-out RBI - D Uggla. Runners left in scoring
position, 2 out - J Willingham 2. GIDP - D Uggla, M Olivo, M Cabrera. Team LOB
- 7.

BASERUNNING: CS - A Amezaga (5, 2nd base by R Springer/Y Molina).

FIELDING: E - J Hermida (6, bobble); M Jacobs (3, ground ball). DP: 1 (M
Cabrera-D Uggla-M Jacobs).


----------------------------------------------------
ST LOUIS - 000 000 000 -- 0
FLORIDA - 001 020 10x -- 4
----------------------------------------------------

ST LOUIS ip h r er bb so hr era
B Thompson (L, 6-4) 6 7 3 3 2 3 1 5.06
R Springer 2/3 3 1 1 1 0 0 3.03
T Cate 1/3 0 0 0 1 1 0 1.23
A Cavazos 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 6.28

FLORIDA ip h r er bb so hr era
R Vanden Hurk (W, 3-2) 5 5 0 0 3 6 0 7.15
J Miller (H, 7) 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 2.12
M Lindstrom (H, 15) 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 3.76
A Benitez 1 1 0 0 0 2 0 4.37
L Gardner 2/3 0 0 0 0 1 0 3.21
T Tankersley 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.46

IBB - C Duncan (by R Vanden Hurk). HBP - M Cabrera (by B Thompson); J
Willingham (by B Thompson). Pitches-strikes: B Thompson 93-58; R Springer
21-10; T Cate 11-6; A Cavazos 13-9; R Vanden Hurk 98-64; J Miller 18-11; M
Lindstrom 7-5; A Benitez 19-14; L Gardner 14-9; T Tankersley 5-5. Ground
balls-fly balls: B Thompson 9-5; R Springer 1-0; T Cate 0-0; A Cavazos 0-1; R
Vanden Hurk 5-3; J Miller 2-1; M Lindstrom 1-1; A Benitez 0-1; L Gardner 0-1; T
Tankersley 1-0. Batters faced: B Thompson 25; R Springer 5; T Cate 2; A Cavazos
3; R Vanden Hurk 22; J Miller 4; M Lindstrom 3; A Benitez 4; L Gardner 3; T
Tankersley 1.

UMPIRES: HP--Ed Rapuano. 1B--Ed Hickox. 2B--C.B. Bucknor. 3B--Joe West.

T--2:39. Att--12,475.
Weather: 87 degrees, partly cloudy. Wind: 9 mph, in
from right.</div>

 

NL: ST LOUIS at FLORIDA

<div class="pre">** CONFIRMED **
NL
ST LOUIS 0
FLORIDA 4 FINAL</div>

 

Ramirez, Vanden Hurk lead Marlins past Cards

<h3>FLORIDA 4, ST LOUIS 0</h3>MIAMI (Ticker) -- Hanley Ramirez made sure Rick Vanden Hurk'sthird stint with the Florida Marlins would be yet anothersuccessful one.


Ramirez extended his hitting streak to nine games with a two-runhome run and an RBI double to support Vanden Hurk's fiveinnings of scoreless ball in a 4-0 victory over the St. LouisCardinals on Tuesday.


Just called up from Class AAA Albuquerque, the righthanderescaped several early jams before finishing with six strikeoutsand three walks for his first win at Dolphin Stadium.

Vanden Hurk (3-2) also won games the previous two times he wasbrought up from the minors. He was the pitcher of record in winsat Atlanta on June 5, and at Kansas City on June 16.

St. Louis helped out Vanden Hurk, stranding six runners over thefirst three innings. The Cardinals squandered their bestopportunity to score with runners on second and third and noouts in the third inning, and also left runners on second andthird with two outs in the second.


Ramirez, named the National League Player of the Week earlierthis month, staked Florida to a l-0 advantage with a double toright driving in Alfredo Amezaga, who singled and reached secondbase on a sacrifice bunt by Vanden Hurk.


A native of Eindhoven, Netherlands, the Marlins' starter threw98 pitches in his five innings of work before being pinch-hitfor by Joe Borchard, whose single to left preceded Ramirez'417-foot blast into a tunnel above the left-field scoreboard.

Vanden Hurk had lost his last two decisions in South Florida.

St. Louis starter Brad Thompson (6-4), making his first careerstart against Florida, allowed three runs on seven hits. TheCardinals had won eight of the previous 10 games in which therighthander started.


The Marlins, who have won three of their last four games athome, increased their lead to 4-0 in the seventh when Dan Ugglasingled home Todd Linden, who ripped a pinch-hit double to left.

Uggla was 1-for-14 in the second half with one RBI prior to hissingle in the seventh.


Justin Miller, Matt Lindstrom, Armando Benitez, Lee Gardner andTaylor Tankersley combined to allow two hits over the final fourinnings to complete the shutout.

 

NL: ST LOUIS at FLORIDA

<div class="pre">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ST LOUIS (0) AT FLORIDA (4) - HOW THEY SCORED
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

FLORIDA 3RD: A Amezaga singled to right. R Vanden Hurk sacrificed to
first, A Amezaga to second. H Ramirez doubled to deep right, A Amezaga scored.
D Uggla walked. M Cabrera grounded into double play, third to second to
first, D Uggla out at second.(1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) ST LOUIS 0, FLORIDA 1.

FLORIDA 5TH: A Amezaga flied out to left. J Borchard hit for R Vanden
Hurk. J Borchard singled to left. H Ramirez homered to left, J Borchard
scored. D Uggla grounded out to third. M Cabrera singled to left. M Jacobs
lined out to pitcher. (2 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors) ST LOUIS 0, FLORIDA 3.

FLORIDA 7TH: R Springer relieved B Thompson. A Amezaga singled to right.
T Linden hit for M Lindstrom. A Amezaga caught stealing second, catcher to
shortstop. T Linden doubled to left. H Ramirez grounded out to pitcher,
T Linden to third. D Uggla singled to left, T Linden scored. M Cabrera walked,
D Uggla to second. T Cate relieved R Springer. M Jacobs walked, D Uggla to
third, M Cabrera to second. J Willingham struck out swinging. (1 Run, 3 Hits,
0 Errors) ST LOUIS 0, FLORIDA 4.</div>

 

NL: ST LOUIS at FLORIDA

<div class="pre">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ST LOUIS (0) AT FLORIDA (4) - EVENT LOG
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

St Louis Starting Lineups -- A Kennedy 2B, S Schumaker CF, A Pujols 1B,
C Duncan LF, S Rolen 3B, J Encarnacion RF, Y Molina C, A Miles SS,
B Thompson RHP.

Florida Starting Lineups -- H Ramirez SS, D Uggla 2B, M Cabrera 3B,
M Jacobs 1B, J Willingham LF, J Hermida RF, M Olivo C, A Amezaga CF,
R Vanden Hurk RHP.

Umpires -- Ed Rapuano (HP), Ed Hickox (1B), C.B. Bucknor (2B), Joe West (3B).


Gametime Weather: 87 degrees, Partly Cloudy, wind in from right at 9 mph.


ST LOUIS 1ST: A Kennedy grounded out to shortstop. S Schumaker flied out
to center. A Pujols walked. C Duncan struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits,
0 Errors) ST LOUIS 0, FLORIDA 0.

FLORIDA 1ST: H Ramirez walked. D Uggla grounded into double play, third to
second to first, H Ramirez out at second. M Cabrera hit by pitch. M Jacobs
struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) ST LOUIS 0, FLORIDA 0.

ST LOUIS 2ND: S Rolen struck out swinging. J Encarnacion walked.
J Encarnacion caught stealing second, catcher to second. Y Molina singled to
right. A Miles singled to right, Y Molina to third, A Miles to second on error
by right fielder J Hermida. B Thompson struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 2 Hits,
1 Error) ST LOUIS 0, FLORIDA 0.

FLORIDA 2ND: J Willingham hit by pitch. J Hermida flied out to center.
M Olivo grounded into double play, third to second to first, J Willingham out at
second.(0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) ST LOUIS 0, FLORIDA 0.

ST LOUIS 3RD: A Kennedy singled to right. S Schumaker doubled to deep left
center, A Kennedy to third. A Pujols grounded out to shortstop. C Duncan
intentionally walked. S Rolen struck out swinging. J Encarnacion flied out to
right. (0 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) ST LOUIS 0, FLORIDA 0.

FLORIDA 3RD: A Amezaga singled to right. R Vanden Hurk sacrificed to
first, A Amezaga to second. H Ramirez doubled to deep right, A Amezaga scored.
D Uggla walked. M Cabrera grounded into double play, third to second to
first, D Uggla out at second.(1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) ST LOUIS 0, FLORIDA 1.

ST LOUIS 4TH: Y Molina struck out swinging. A Miles struck out looking.
B Thompson singled to left. A Kennedy grounded out to first. (0 Runs, 1 Hit,
0 Errors) ST LOUIS 0, FLORIDA 1.

FLORIDA 4TH: M Jacobs singled to deep right, M Jacobs out stretching at
second. J Willingham struck out swinging. J Hermida singled to shallow
center. M Olivo grounded into fielder's choice to shortstop, J Hermida out at
second. (0 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) ST LOUIS 0, FLORIDA 1.

ST LOUIS 5TH: S Schumaker grounded out to second. A Pujols flied out to
center. C Duncan grounded out to third. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) ST LOUIS 0,
FLORIDA 1.

FLORIDA 5TH: A Amezaga flied out to left. J Borchard hit for R Vanden
Hurk. J Borchard singled to left. H Ramirez homered to left, J Borchard
scored. D Uggla grounded out to third. M Cabrera singled to left. M Jacobs
lined out to pitcher. (2 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors) ST LOUIS 0, FLORIDA 3.

ST LOUIS 6TH: J Miller relieved R Vanden Hurk. S Rolen singled to center.
J Encarnacion grounded into double play, third to second to first, S Rolen out
at second. Y Molina walked. A Miles flied out to left. (0 Runs, 1 Hit,
0 Errors) ST LOUIS 0, FLORIDA 3.

FLORIDA 6TH: J Willingham struck out swinging. J Hermida flied out to
left. M Olivo flied out to center. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) ST LOUIS 0,
FLORIDA 3.

ST LOUIS 7TH: M Lindstrom relieved J Miller. D Eckstein hit for B Thompson.
D Eckstein struck out swinging. A Kennedy popped out to second. S Schumaker
grounded out to pitcher. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) ST LOUIS 0, FLORIDA 3.

FLORIDA 7TH: R Springer relieved B Thompson. A Amezaga singled to right.
T Linden hit for M Lindstrom. A Amezaga caught stealing second, catcher to
shortstop. T Linden doubled to left. H Ramirez grounded out to pitcher,
T Linden to third. D Uggla singled to left, T Linden scored. M Cabrera walked,
D Uggla to second. T Cate relieved R Springer. M Jacobs walked, D Uggla to
third, M Cabrera to second. J Willingham struck out swinging. (1 Run, 3 Hits,
0 Errors) ST LOUIS 0, FLORIDA 4.

ST LOUIS 8TH: A Benitez relieved M Lindstrom. A Pujols singled to left.
C Duncan struck out swinging. S Rolen struck out swinging. J Encarnacion flied
out to center. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) ST LOUIS 0, FLORIDA 4.

FLORIDA 8TH: A Cavazos relieved T Cate. J Hermida flied out to center.
M Olivo struck out swinging. A Amezaga struck out looking. (0 Runs, 0 Hits,
0 Errors) ST LOUIS 0, FLORIDA 4.

ST LOUIS 9TH: L Gardner relieved A Benitez. Y Molina flied out to center.
A Miles safe at first on error by first baseman M Jacobs. R Ludwick hit for
A Cavazos. R Ludwick struck out swinging. T Tankersley relieved L Gardner.
A Kennedy grounded out to second. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 1 Error) ST LOUIS 0,
FLORIDA 4.</div>

 

Ramirez, Vanden Hurk lead Marlins past Cards

<h3>FLORIDA 4, ST LOUIS 0</h3>MIAMI (Ticker) -- Hanley Ramirez made sure Rick Vanden Hurk'sthird stint with the Florida Marlins would be yet anothersuccessful one.


Ramirez extended his hitting streak to nine games with a two-runhome run and an RBI double and Vanden Hurk tossed fivescoreless innings to lead Florida to a 4-0 victory over the St.Louis Cardinals on Tuesday.


Just called up from Class AAA Albuquerque, the righthanderescaped several early jams before finishing with six strikeoutsand three walks for his first win at Dolphin Stadium.

"It's just been awesome," Vanden Hurk said of his good fortunesin the majors. "I'm feeling more and more comfortable each timeI come up, and I feel I have a lot more experience."

Vanden Hurk (3-2) also won games the previous two times he wasbrought up from the minors. He was the pitcher of record in winsat Atlanta on June 5, and at Kansas City on June 16.

"I know what I have to do, I'm here to help the team win,'Vanden Hurk said. "I take the attitude that I have a job to doand I just have to execute each pitch."


St. Louis helped out Vanden Hurk, stranding six runners over thefirst three innings. The Cardinals squandered their bestopportunity to score with runners on second and third and noouts in the third inning, and also left runners on second andthird with two outs in the second.


"He (Vanden Hurk) had a couple of tough innings, but to hiscredit he worked his way out of them," Florida manager FrediGonzalez said. "That's why we keep bringing him up because hetakes the right approach to the game."


Ramirez, named the National League Player of the Week earlierthis month, staked Florida to a l-0 advantage with a double toright driving in Alfredo Amezaga, who singled and reached secondbase on a sacrifice bunt by Vanden Hurk.


A native of Eindhoven, Netherlands, the Marlins' starter threw98 pitches in his five innings of work before being pinch-hitfor by Joe Borchard, whose single to left preceded Ramirez'417-foot blast into a tunnel above the left-field scoreboard.

"I want to motivate the team to be successful. He threw me asinker and I got it," Ramirez said. "We need to win now, and Iwant to help us do that every chance I get."


Vanden Hurk had lost his last two decisions in South Florida.

"I'm very happy to get one here (in Miami)," Vanden Hurk said."I was keeping the fastball down in the zone, but location ingeneral I've been working on (down in the minors) and it'spaying off."


St. Louis starter Brad Thompson (6-4), making his first careerstart against Florida, allowed three runs on seven hits. TheCardinals had won eight of the previous 10 games in which therighthander started.


"I'm just mad at myself for making a few mistakes," Thompsonsaid. "I was just a pitch or two away. It's just frustrating, afrustrating day."


The Marlins, who have won three of their last four games athome, increased their lead to 4-0 in the seventh when Dan Ugglasingled home Todd Linden, who ripped a pinch-hit double to left.

Uggla was 1-for-14 in the second half with one RBI prior to hissingle in the seventh.


"It's been pretty ugly for me. I'll take any (hit) I can getright now," Uggla said. "Those hits have been few and farbetween. They pay me to produce and it's nice to do that for achange."


Justin Miller, Matt Lindstrom, Armando Benitez, Lee Gardner andTaylor Tankersley combined to allow two hits over the final fourinnings to complete the shutout.


"I'll tell you, the pen has been getting it done for us moreoften that not," Gonzalez said. "We get five out of Vandy andthey come in and finish it off. You can't ask for anythingmore."


For St. Louis manager Tony La Russa, the reason for the loss wasclear-cut.


"We didn't have any offense. We let a few opportunities slipaway but basically the bats were not there," La Russa said.(Thompson) left a few pitches up and there's three runs."