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| Lohse, Pujols lead Cardinals past Astros ST LOUIS 5, HOUSTON 1 |
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ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- Another day, another solid pitching performance by the St. Louis Cardinals. Kyle Lohse tossed six solid innings and Albert Pujols homered to lead the Cardinals to a 5-1 victory over the Houston Astros on Sunday. Ryan Ludwick doubled in a pair of runs and Troy Glaus homered in a four-run fifth inning that proved to be the difference for St. Louis, which has won three of its past four games to keep pressure on the Chicago Cubs at the top of the National League Central. The Cardinals have been buoyed all season by a surprisingly strong pitching staff, especially a patchwork rotation that includes four converted relievers and Lohse (3-0), who was not brought on board until late in spring training. "For the most part, I stayed out of the middle of the plate and made some good pitches," Lohse said. "I felt like I had good control. Early on, my pitch count got pretty high, pretty quick. But I was able to get some quicker outs later on as the game went on." "They've pitched well every game that we've played against them," Astros manager Cecil Cooper said. "You have to give them credit for that." After Lohse's effort Sunday, St. Louis ranks second in the league with a 3.51 team ERA and has combined to allow nine runs in the past four games. The righthanded Lohse allowed one run and four hits while walking one and striking out three Sunday before yielding to Kyle McClellan, who tossed three perfect innings to earn his first save of the season. "That's what the team needed today was three innings," McClellan said. "Whether it's three innings or one inning, I try to treat it the same. That's what I try to do. I go one hitter at a time, one inning at a time. It's a good feeling and I'm glad I could get it done." Trailing 1-0 entering in the fifth, Astros starter Brandon Backe (1-3) retired Skip Schumaker before walking Rick Ankiel and Pujols. Ludwick plated both runners with a double to right-center field before Glaus' two-run blast made in 4-1. "It was a good feeling, but more importantly, we had a good win today and we were able to take the series," Glaus said. "The home runs are great, but as long as you're driving in runs and scoring runs and doing things like that, the home run total doesn't matter." It was the first homer of the season for Glaus, who was acquired from the Toronto Blue Jays in the offseason in part to provide a power bat behind Pujols. Pujols capped the scoring with a solo blast in the seventh, his fifth of the season. Backe allowed four runs and five hits in five frames while walking five and striking out four. "I'm out here to win games and compete," Backe said. "To get these guys out and to win a ball game. It just sucks that I was on the losing end today." |
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