NL: ST LOUIS at HOUSTON <div class="pre">NL AT HOUSTON - MID INNING UPDATE PLAY: B Ryan at third base. SITUATION: 0 RUNS IN, NONE ON, 0 OUTS CURRENT SCORE: ST LOUIS 7 HOUSTON 0 BOTTOM, 9TH DUE UP FOR HOUSTON: L Berkman (.273, 1-FOR-3)</div>
NL: ST LOUIS at HOUSTON <div class="pre">NL AT HOUSTON - PITCHING CHANGE STL: TROY PERCIVAL (3-0, 2.49) STARTING THE 9TH CURRENT SCORE: ST LOUIS 7, HOUSTON 0 DUE UP FOR HOUSTON: L BERKMAN (.273, 1-FOR-3)</div>
NL: ST LOUIS at HOUSTON <div class="pre">NL AT HOUSTON - MID INNING UPDATE PLAY: T Percival relieved R Springer. SITUATION: 0 RUNS IN, NONE ON, 0 OUTS CURRENT SCORE: ST LOUIS 7 HOUSTON 0 BOTTOM, 9TH DUE UP FOR HOUSTON: L Berkman (.273, 1-FOR-3)</div>
NL: ST LOUIS at HOUSTON <div class="pre">NL FINAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E - - - - - - - - - - - - ST LOUIS 3 1 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 7 16 0 HOUSTON 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 (FINAL) BATTERIES: STL - BRADEN LOOPER, RUSS SPRINGER (8TH), TROY PERCIVAL (9TH) AND YADIER MOLINA HOU - WOODY WILLIAMS, MARK MCLEMORE (5TH), TRAVIS DRISKILL (6TH), BRIAN MOEHLER (9TH) AND BRAD AUSMUS HOME RUNS: STL - CHRIS DUNCAN (21) OFF WOODY WILLIAMS IN THE 1ST, 2 ON HOU - NONE</div>
NL: ST LOUIS at HOUSTON <div class="pre">NL FINAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E - - - - - - - - - - - - ST LOUIS 3 1 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 7 16 0 HOUSTON 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 (FINAL) BATTERIES: STL - BRADEN LOOPER, RUSS SPRINGER (8TH), TROY PERCIVAL (9TH) AND YADIER MOLINA HOU - WOODY WILLIAMS, MARK MCLEMORE (5TH), TRAVIS DRISKILL (6TH), BRIAN MOEHLER (9TH) AND BRAD AUSMUS WP - BRADEN LOOPER (11-10) LP - WOODY WILLIAMS (8-13) SAVE - NONE HOME RUNS: STL - CHRIS DUNCAN (21) OFF WOODY WILLIAMS IN THE 1ST, 2 ON HOU - NONE TIME: 2:56 ATT: 37,915 PROBABLES: STL - KIP WELLS (6-14, 5.41) HOU - ROY OSWALT (13-6, 3.33)</div>
NL: ST LOUIS at HOUSTON <div class="pre">ST LOUIS (7) VS HOUSTON (0) - FINAL ST LOUIS ab r h rbi bb so lob avg D Eckstein ss 5 0 1 0 0 1 1 .294 R Ankiel rf-cf 5 2 3 1 0 1 2 .306 A Pujols 1b 5 1 3 0 0 0 2 .322 S Taguchi pr-lf 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .295 J Edmonds cf 4 1 1 0 1 1 3 .254 R Springer p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 T Percival p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 C Duncan lf-1b 5 1 3 4 0 1 1 .273 S Rolen 3b 4 0 1 1 0 0 1 .265 a-B Ryan ph-3b 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .327 Y Molina c 5 1 2 0 0 1 4 .282 B Looper p 3 0 0 0 0 1 4 .186 R Ludwick rf 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .250 A Miles 2b 4 1 2 1 0 0 0 .298 Totals 41 7 16 7 1 6 19 a-popped out to shortstop for S Rolen in the 9th. BATTING: 2B - A Miles 2 (13, T Driskill, W Williams); R Ankiel (3, T Driskill). HR - C Duncan (21, 1st inning off W Williams 2 on, 2 Out). S - B Looper. RBI - C Duncan 4 (66), A Miles (24), S Rolen (58), R Ankiel (10). 2-out RBI - C Duncan 3. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - J Edmonds 2, S Rolen 1, R Ankiel 1, B Looper 2. GIDP - Y Molina. Team LOB - 9. FIELDING: DP: 1 (A Pujols-D Eckstein-A Pujols). HOUSTON ab r h rbi bb so lob avg C Biggio 2b 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 .252 H Pence cf 3 0 1 0 1 1 0 .321 L Berkman 1b 4 0 2 0 0 1 2 .274 C Lee lf 4 0 0 0 0 1 5 .305 T Wigginton 3b 3 0 1 0 0 1 2 .269 L Scott rf 4 0 0 0 0 2 4 .254 M Loretta ss 4 0 1 0 0 0 2 .279 B Ausmus c 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 .231 W Williams p 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .075 M McLemore p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 a-O Palmeiro ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .237 T Driskill p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 b-C Burke ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .225 B Moehler p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .200 Totals 32 0 6 0 1 7 16 a-lined out to center for M Mclemore in the 5th; b-struck out swinging for T Driskill in the 8th. BATTING: 2B - M Loretta (20, B Looper). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - T Wigginton 1, M Loretta 1, B Ausmus 1, C Lee 1. GIDP - L Scott. Team LOB - 7. FIELDING: DP: 1 (M Loretta-C Biggio-L Berkman). ---------------------------------------------------- ST LOUIS - 310 021 000 -- 7 HOUSTON - 000 000 000 -- 0 ---------------------------------------------------- ST LOUIS ip h r er bb so hr era B Looper (W, 11-10) 7 4 0 0 1 4 0 4.66 R Springer 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 2.63 T Percival 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 2.39 HOUSTON ip h r er bb so hr era W Williams (L, 8-13) 4 1/3 8 6 6 1 2 1 5.04 M McLemore 2/3 2 0 0 0 2 0 3.16 T Driskill 3 5 1 1 0 2 0 4.50 B Moehler 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 4.53 HBP - T Wigginton (by B Looper). Pitches-strikes: B Looper 100-66; R Springer 17-11; T Percival 20-12; W Williams 95-69; M McLemore 15-10; T Driskill 54-39; B Moehler 5-4. Ground balls-fly balls: B Looper 8-9; R Springer 0-1; T Percival 2-0; W Williams 8-3; M McLemore 0-0; T Driskill 1-6; B Moehler 2-1. Batters faced: B Looper 26; R Springer 3; T Percival 5; W Williams 22; M McLemore 4; T Driskill 14; B Moehler 3. UMPIRES: HP--James Hoye. 1B--Tim Tschida. 2B--Jim Joyce. 3B--Jim Wolf. T--2:56. Att--37,915. Weather: INDOORS</div>
NL: ST LOUIS at HOUSTON <div class="pre">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ST LOUIS (7) AT HOUSTON (0) - HOW THEY SCORED ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ST LOUIS 1ST: D Eckstein struck out swinging. R Ankiel reached on infield single to second. A Pujols lined out to right. J Edmonds singled to right, R Ankiel to second. C Duncan homered to right, R Ankiel and J Edmonds scored. S Rolen grounded out to third. (3 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors) ST LOUIS 3, HOUSTON 0. ST LOUIS 2ND: Y Molina singled to center. B Looper sacrificed to catcher, Y Molina to second. A Miles doubled to right, Y Molina scored. D Eckstein flied out to center. R Ankiel struck out looking. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) ST LOUIS 4, HOUSTON 0. ST LOUIS 5TH: D Eckstein grounded out to second. R Ankiel singled to right. A Pujols singled to left, R Ankiel to second. J Edmonds walked, R Ankiel to third, A Pujols to second. M McLemore relieved W Williams. C Duncan singled to right, R Ankiel scored, A Pujols to third, J Edmonds to second. S Rolen singled to center, A Pujols scored, J Edmonds to third, C Duncan to second. Y Molina struck out looking. B Looper struck out swinging. (2 Runs, 4 Hits, 0 Errors) ST LOUIS 6, HOUSTON 0. ST LOUIS 6TH: T Driskill relieved M McLemore. A Miles doubled to center. D Eckstein grounded out to shortstop, A Miles to third. R Ankiel doubled to right, A Miles scored. A Pujols flied out to center. J Edmonds flied out to center. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) ST LOUIS 7, HOUSTON 0.</div>
Streaking Cardinals spoil Cooper's managerial debut <h3>ST LOUIS 7, HOUSTON 0</h3>By Andrew Ferraro PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer HOUSTON (Ticker) -- Cecil Cooper's first game as interimmanager of the Houston Astros did not turn out as he had planned. Chris Duncan homered, had a pair of singles and drove in fourruns Tuesday as the St. Louis Cardinals trounced the slumpingAstros 7-0, a day after Houston fired manager Phil Garner andgeneral manager Tim Pupura. Albert Pujols went 3-for-5 and Aaron Miles hit two doubles andscored a run for the Cardinals (64-64) who are a .500 team forthe first time since they were 6-6 on April 16. Braden Looper (11-10) extended his lifetime success against theAstros by pitching a career-high tying seven innings. Looper gave up just four hits in his longest outing sincetossing seven scoreless innings at San Diego on May 12. Afterallowing his first two runners to reach base to start the game,Looper allowed just three more hits and did not give up an extrabase hit until Mark Loretta doubled in the seventh inning. Looper, who struck out four and walked just one on Tuesday, isnow 6-2 in his career against the Astros. With the win, the Cardinals moved past the Milwaukee Brewers(65-66) into second in the National League Central and gavemanager Tony La Russa his 1,041st win as manager in St. Louis. La Russa is now tied with Red Schoendienst on the team'sall-time list and can break the team record in Houston with awin on Wednesday or Thursday. With Looper on his game, the Astros (58-74) didn't have a chanceafter the first inning as the Cardinals put three quick runs onthe board against Woody Williams (8-13) as Duncan launched his21st homer of the season. Rick Ankiel hit a one-out single and Jim Edmonds did the sameafter Williams got Pujols to line out to right field. Duncanthen worked Williams to the tune of seven pitches before hittingthe last one into the second deck in right field. Yadier Molina led off the second with a single and later scoredon a double by Aaron Miles. The Cardinals tacked on two more runs in the fifth after chasingWilliams. Mark McLemore came on and allowed a pair of RBIsingles to Duncan and Scott Rolen before striking out Molina andLooper to end the inning, officially closing the book onWilliams who had his first poor start in almost a month. Williams, who gave up six earned runs in four-plus innings, waslooking to extend his season-long winning streak to five games.He had been 3-0 with a 2.05 ERA in his previous three starts,all wins for the Astros.
NL: ST LOUIS at HOUSTON <div class="pre">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ST LOUIS (7) AT HOUSTON (0) - EVENT LOG ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ St Louis Starting Lineups -- D Eckstein SS, R Ankiel RF, A Pujols 1B, J Edmonds CF, C Duncan LF, S Rolen 3B, Y Molina C, A Miles 2B, B Looper RHP. Houston Starting Lineups -- C Biggio 2B, H Pence CF, L Berkman 1B, C Lee LF, T Wigginton 3B, L Scott RF, M Loretta SS, B Ausmus C, W Williams RHP. Umpires -- James Hoye (HP), Tim Tschida (1B), Jim Joyce (2B), Jim Wolf (3B). Gametime Weather: INDOORS. ST LOUIS 1ST: D Eckstein struck out swinging. R Ankiel reached on infield single to second. A Pujols lined out to right. J Edmonds singled to right, R Ankiel to second. C Duncan homered to right, R Ankiel and J Edmonds scored. S Rolen grounded out to third. (3 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors) ST LOUIS 3, HOUSTON 0. HOUSTON 1ST: C Biggio reached on infield single to pitcher. H Pence walked, C Biggio to second. L Berkman struck out swinging. C Lee struck out swinging. T Wigginton lined out to left. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) ST LOUIS 3, HOUSTON 0. ST LOUIS 2ND: Y Molina singled to center. B Looper sacrificed to catcher, Y Molina to second. A Miles doubled to right, Y Molina scored. D Eckstein flied out to center. R Ankiel struck out looking. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) ST LOUIS 4, HOUSTON 0. HOUSTON 2ND: L Scott struck out swinging. M Loretta flied out to right. B Ausmus grounded out to third. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) ST LOUIS 4, HOUSTON 0. ST LOUIS 3RD: A Pujols singled to center. J Edmonds grounded out to pitcher, A Pujols to second. C Duncan grounded out to pitcher. S Rolen grounded out to third. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) ST LOUIS 4, HOUSTON 0. HOUSTON 3RD: W Williams popped out to second. C Biggio grounded out to first. H Pence grounded out to shortstop. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) ST LOUIS 4, HOUSTON 0. ST LOUIS 4TH: Y Molina grounded out to shortstop. B Looper grounded out to third. A Miles popped out to second. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) ST LOUIS 4, HOUSTON 0. HOUSTON 4TH: L Berkman singled to left. C Lee flied out to right. T Wigginton hit by pitch, L Berkman to second. L Scott grounded into double play, first to shortstop to first, T Wigginton out at second.(0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) ST LOUIS 4, HOUSTON 0. ST LOUIS 5TH: D Eckstein grounded out to second. R Ankiel singled to right. A Pujols singled to left, R Ankiel to second. J Edmonds walked, R Ankiel to third, A Pujols to second. M McLemore relieved W Williams. C Duncan singled to right, R Ankiel scored, A Pujols to third, J Edmonds to second. S Rolen singled to center, A Pujols scored, J Edmonds to third, C Duncan to second. Y Molina struck out looking. B Looper struck out swinging. (2 Runs, 4 Hits, 0 Errors) ST LOUIS 6, HOUSTON 0. HOUSTON 5TH: M Loretta grounded out to third. B Ausmus flied out to right. O Palmeiro hit for M McLemore. O Palmeiro lined out to center. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) ST LOUIS 6, HOUSTON 0. ST LOUIS 6TH: T Driskill relieved M McLemore. A Miles doubled to center. D Eckstein grounded out to shortstop, A Miles to third. R Ankiel doubled to right, A Miles scored. A Pujols flied out to center. J Edmonds flied out to center. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) ST LOUIS 7, HOUSTON 0. HOUSTON 6TH: C Biggio grounded out to shortstop. H Pence singled to left. L Berkman grounded out to shortstop, H Pence to second. C Lee flied out to right. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) ST LOUIS 7, HOUSTON 0. ST LOUIS 7TH: C Duncan struck out looking. S Rolen flied out to right. Y Molina singled to center. B Looper flied out to center. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) ST LOUIS 7, HOUSTON 0. HOUSTON 7TH: T Wigginton struck out swinging. L Scott flied out to center. M Loretta doubled to left. B Ausmus popped out to second. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) ST LOUIS 7, HOUSTON 0. ST LOUIS 8TH: A Miles lined out to left. D Eckstein singled to right. R Ankiel flied out to left. A Pujols singled to right, D Eckstein to second. S Taguchi ran for A Pujols. J Edmonds struck out looking. (0 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) ST LOUIS 7, HOUSTON 0. HOUSTON 8TH: R Ankiel in center field. S Taguchi in left field. R Springer relieved B Looper. C Duncan at first base. R Ludwick in right field. C Burke hit for T Driskill. C Burke struck out swinging. C Biggio popped out to second. H Pence struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) ST LOUIS 7, HOUSTON 0. ST LOUIS 9TH: B Moehler relieved T Driskill. C Duncan singled to left center. B Ryan hit for S Rolen. B Ryan popped out to shortstop. Y Molina grounded into double play, shortstop to second to first, C Duncan out at second.(0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) ST LOUIS 7, HOUSTON 0. HOUSTON 9TH: B Ryan at third base. T Percival relieved R Springer. L Berkman singled to center. C Lee grounded into fielder's choice to shortstop, L Berkman out at second. T Wigginton singled to left, C Lee to second. L Scott struck out swinging. M Loretta grounded into fielder's choice to third, T Wigginton out at second. (0 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) ST LOUIS 7, HOUSTON 0.</div>
Streaking Cardinals spoil Cooper's managerial debut <h3>ST LOUIS 7, HOUSTON 0</h3>By Andrew Ferraro PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer HOUSTON (Ticker) -- Cecil Cooper's first game as interimmanager of the Houston Astros did not turn out as he had planned. Chris Duncan homered, had a pair of singles and drove in fourruns Tuesday as the St. Louis Cardinals trounced the slumpingAstros 7-0, a day after Houston fired manager Phil Garner andgeneral manager Tim Purpura. Albert Pujols went 3-for-5 and Aaron Miles hit two doubles andscored a run for the Cardinals (64-64) who are a .500 team forthe first time since they were 6-6 on April 16. Braden Looper (11-10) extended his lifetime success against theAstros by pitching a career-high tying seven innings. Looper gave up just four hits in his longest outing sincetossing seven scoreless innings at San Diego on May 12. Afterallowing his first two runners to reach base to start the game,Looper allowed just three more hits and did not give up an extrabase hit until Mark Loretta doubled in the seventh inning. Looper, who struck out four and walked just one on Tuesday, isnow 6-2 in his career against the Astros. With the win, the Cardinals moved past the Milwaukee Brewers(65-66) into second in the National League Central and gavemanager Tony La Russa his 1,041st win as manager in St. Louis. La Russa is now tied with Red Schoendienst on the team'sall-time list and can break the team record in Houston with awin on Wednesday or Thursday. With Looper on his game, the Astros (58-74) didn't have a chanceafter the first inning as the Cardinals put three quick runs onthe board against Woody Williams (8-13) as Duncan launched his21st homer of the season. Rick Ankiel hit a one-out single and Jim Edmonds did the sameafter Williams got Pujols to line out to right field. Duncanthen worked Williams to the tune of seven pitches before hittingthe last one into the second deck in right field. Yadier Molina led off the second with a single and later scoredon a double by Aaron Miles. The Cardinals tacked on two more runs in the fifth after chasingWilliams. Mark McLemore came on and allowed a pair of RBIsingles to Duncan and Scott Rolen before striking out Molina andLooper to end the inning, officially closing the book onWilliams who had his first poor start in almost a month. Williams, who gave up six earned runs in four-plus innings, waslooking to extend his season-long winning streak to five games.He had been 3-0 with a 2.05 ERA in his previous three starts,all wins for the Astros.
Streaking Cardinals spoil Cooper's managerial debut <h3>ST LOUIS 7, HOUSTON 0</h3>By Andrew Ferraro PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer HOUSTON (Ticker) - Cecil Cooper's first game as interim managerof the Houston Astros did not turn out as he had planned. Chris Duncan homered, had a pair of singles and drove in fourruns Tuesday as the St. Louis Cardinals trounced the slumpingAstros 7-0, a day after Houston fired manager Phil Garner andgeneral manager Tim Purpura. "This isn't what I planned," Cooper said. "But I got all of thejitters out now and I am ready to go get some wins." Albert Pujols went 3-for-5 and Aaron Miles hit two doubles andscored a run for the Cardinals (64-64) who are a .500 team forthe first time since they were 6-6 on April 16. "The last three of four games, Chris has really looked likehimself," said Cardinals manager Tony La Russa. "But as a wholetonight, I thought everyone really worked the at-bats like theyneeded to. And then it was Chris again who had a big hit laterin the game to keep the momentum on our side." Braden Looper (11-10) extended his lifetime success against theAstros by pitching a career-high tying seven innings. Looper gave up just four hits in his longest outing sincetossing seven scoreless innings at San Diego on May 12. Afterallowing his first two runners to reach base to start the game,Looper allowed just three more hits and did not give up an extrabase hit until Mark Loretta doubled in the seventh inning. "We score three runs in the first and I just wanted to try tominimize the damage there in the first inning," Looper said."Tonight, I just felt like I had real good control of my pitchesand it didn't hurt that we got a pretty good lead to begin with. "I was able to come out and just try to throw strike one and ifthey put in in play, we'll see what happens." Looper, who struck out four and walked just one on Tuesday, isnow 6-2 in his career against the Astros. With the win, the Cardinals moved past the Milwaukee Brewers(65-66) into second in the National League Central and gave LaRussa his 1,041st win as manager in St. Louis. "It was real important to get the first game of the three gameseries," La Russa said. "It's big in this series with (Roy)Oswalt going tomorrow for them." La Russa is now tied with Red Schoendienst on the team'sall-time list and can break the team record in Houston with awin on Wednesday or Thursday. "You guys know how I feel about that," La Russa said. "I've saidit before and I will say it again, Red deserves to be first." With Looper on his game, the Astros (58-74) didn't have a chanceafter the first inning as the Cardinals put three quick runs onthe board against Woody Williams (8-13) as Duncan launched his21st homer of the season. Rick Ankiel hit a one-out single and Jim Edmonds did the sameafter Williams got Pujols to line out to right field. Duncanthen worked Williams to the tune of seven pitches before hittingthe last one into the second deck in right field. Yadier Molina led off the second with a single and later scoredon a double by Aaron Miles. The Cardinals tacked on two more runs in the fifth after chasingWilliams. Mark McLemore came on and allowed a pair of RBIsingles to Duncan and Scott Rolen before striking out Molina andLooper to end the inning, officially closing the book onWilliams who had his first poor start in almost a month. Williams, who gave up six earned runs in four-plus innings, waslooking to extend his season-long winning streak to five games.He had been 3-0 with a 2.05 ERA in his previous three starts,all wins for the Astros. "I thought I was doing OK to begin with, but that home run (toDuncan in the first) was a big mistake," Williams said. "Iwanted to go down and away with the pitch, but my hand came overand then the ball came back over the plate. "I threw the ball pretty good to the first three hitters, but Iam disappointed I was not able to get out of that first inning."
