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Cards hold on vs. Brewers after Freese's grand slam
(MLB.com)
David Freese entered Friday night's contest against the Milwaukee Brewers in a slump.
The Cardinals' third baseman was batting .209 with no home runs and just four RBIs. But in his first at-bat, he ripped off a 419-foot grand slam to center field, breaking a 112 at-bat homer drought that dated back to September 2012 while doubling his season RBI total.
Freese's grand slam highlighted a five-run first inning start as St. Louis continued its season dominance of the Milwaukee Brewers with a 7-6 victory in front of an announced 39,426 fans at Busch Stadium.
The Cardinals' bats troubled Wily Peralta throughout, totaling 11 hits and six earned runs in five innings against the Brewers' starter.
Jaime Garcia recorded the victory for St. Louis and shut out the Milwaukee offense for three innings until Aramis Ramirez took him deep in the fourth and sixth for three runs apiece to cut the Cardinals lead to one.
Ramirez, a familiar thorn in the Cardinals' side, entered the game hitting .305 with 112 RBIs and 30 home runs in his career against St. Louis.
Seth Maness relieved Garcia soon after Ramirez's second homer and escaped the sixth without further damage. Maness pitched 1 2/3 innings with one hit and one strikeout before Trevor Rosenthal took over in the eighth and maintained the lead.
Garcia allowed six hits, six earned runs and five strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings of work.
With the victory, the Cardinals extended their season series record to 7-1 against the Brewers and bolstered their National League-best 13-3 record in May.
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Scar tissue delays Westbrook's recovery
(MLB.com) Initially hopeful that elbow discomfort would sideline him for only two starts, Jake Westbrook is now bracing for a slightly longer-than-expected stay on the disabled list. Additional tests on Westbrook's right elbow this week revealed a build up of scar tissue, which required a second cortisone shot in the elbow.
The shot, which Westbrook had on Thursday, precludes him from throwing for two days. That meant Westbrook could not resume his throwing program on Friday as had been originally scheduled. Even if he can begin playing catch again on Sunday, the setback is likely enough to cost Westbrook a third start.
"The fact that I haven't thrown yet, it would probably be tough to gather enough arm strength up to make that ... [ More ]
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Cards continue to struggle against lefty starters
(MLB.com) Before a pitch was thrown on Thursday, the matchup hinted at an unbalanced affair. There was Adam Wainwright, on the heels of a two-hit shutout, set to face a Mets club that had won just twice in its past 10 games. Opposing him would be a pitcher who had been knocked around for 15 runs in his past two starts.
But things aren't always as they seem, and Jon Niese provided that reminder as he delivered one of his strongest starts of his season. It helped the Mets escape Busch Stadium with a 5-2 victory, foiling the Cardinals' attempt to sweep a four-game series for the second time this month.
"Anytime you head into a big league game, it's hard enough to win on its own, but to take four of them in a row is extremely ... [ More ]
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FS-M 
FS-M - Lohse @ Gast
