Recap: St. Louis vs. Arizona
Sports Network | September 24, 2008
St. Louis, MO (Sports Network) - Adam Wainwright held Arizona to a pair of runs in six-plus innings and the St. Louis Cardinals dealt a big blow to the playoff-hopeful Diamondbacks with a 4-2 victory, in the third installment of a four-game series from Busch Stadium.
Wainwright (11-3) gave up seven hits with five walks and two strikeouts in the win while Adam Kennedy had a pair of hits and knocked in a run for the Cards, who were officially eliminated from postseason contention Tuesday and won for just the fourth time in 14 games.
Stephen Drew and Conor Jackson had three hits apiece while Chris Young had an RBI for the D-Backs, who had split the first two games of this set, and now sit 3 1/2 games back of the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers. LA will look to make it two in a row over San Diego later Wednesday after lowering its magic number for clinching the division to two with Arizona's loss.
Max Scherzer (0-4) is still searching for his first career win after a five- inning start in which he yielded four runs -- two earned -- on seven hits and a pair of walks while striking out four.
After a single and a walk to start the second frame, St. Louis took a 2-0 lead when Scherzer threw away a sacrifice attempt by Wainwright, allowing both runners to score. A Skip Schumaker single moved Wainwright to third with one away, but Aaron Miles grounded into an inning-ending double play.
Arizona responded by tying things up 2-2 in the third. Scherzer walked leading off and Drew made it second and third with a double. Young brought Scherzer home with a single to left and Drew scored on a Jackson double-play ball.
The Cardinals jumped back on top, 4-2, with a run in both the fourth and fifth innings. Josh Phelps scored on a Cesar Izturis sacrifice fly in the fourth, and Miles singled leading off the fifth, moved up two bases on a groundout and fly out, then trotted home on a Kennedy single to center.
The D-Backs failed to bring home a run after loading the bases with two out in the fifth and then again in the sixth with two down. Each frame ended with a groundout from Chad Tracy and Young, respectively.
Ron Villone and Russ Springer combined on a scoreless seventh and Jason Motte tossed a perfect eighth. Ryan Franklin allowed a ground-rule double to Drew in the ninth but settled down to get the next three batters and notch his 17th save of the season.
The D-Backs left 11 men on base while St. Louis stranded six...The Cardinals' eight hits were all singles...Arizona third baseman Mark Reynolds recorded his 34th error of the season in the fourth.
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