Recap: St. Louis vs. Cincinnati
Sports Network | September 26, 2008
St. Louis, MO (Sports Network) - Troy Glaus' sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth gave the St. Louis Cardinals a dramatic 7-6 win over the Cincinnati Reds, in the opener of both clubs' final series of the season, a three-game set at Busch Stadium.
After Javier Valentin tied the game with a two-run homer in the top half, Bill Bray (2-2) struck out Brian Barton to start the home ninth. Felipe Lopez followed with a single through the left side and Mike Lincoln entered to face Albert Pujols, who drew a walk. Lincoln then plunked Ryan Ludwick to load the bases and Glaus hit a sac fly to deep center to plate the game-winning run in Lopez.
Pujols was 3-for-3 with a pair of RBI, runs scored and walks, including a two- run home run for the Cardinals, who own a four-game winning streak. Lopez and Adam Kennedy each had three hits with Lopez scoring three runs and Kennedy accounting for two runs scored on a pair of triples. Glaus had two RBI.
Ryan Franklin (6-6) got the win despite allowing Valentin's game-tying home run, and starter Braden Looper went seven innings, giving up four runs on seven hits and one walk while striking out six.
Joey Votto hit a two-run homer, while Jeff Keppinger was 2-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI for the Reds, who have lost three straight.
Starter Bronson Arroyo was roughed up for six runs on 13 hits and a pair of walks in his seven-plus innings. The right-hander struck out five.
The Cards took an early 2-0 lead in the opening frame. Lopez walked and Pujols singled with one away before Ludwick stroked an opposite-field RBI single followed by a run-scoring base-knock by Glaus.
Votto tied things up 2-2 in the fourth by smacking his 23rd home run of the season out to right field. Keppinger reached base with a single prior to Votto's at-bat.
The Reds took a 4-2 lead the very next inning with run-scoring hits from Keppinger and Edwin Encarnacion, but Pujols struck for a two-run homer in the bottom half to knot things at 4-4.
Kennedy led off the sixth with a triple down the left field line and scored when Looper bounced an unsuspecting triple of his own down the left field line for a 5-4 lead.
Kennedy turned the trick again in the eighth, going the other way with a triple down the left field line to almost exactly the same spot, just beyond the reach of Jerry Hairston Jr. Jared Burton came on for Arroyo and Cesar Izturis lofted a sac fly to right-center for a 6-4 Cardinals' lead.
Ron Villone started the ninth and got Jay Bruce to ground out to first and Franklin came on to face pinch-hitter Danny Richar, who singled through the right side. Richar swiped second and moved to third on a groundout before pinch-hitter Valentin crushed a game-tying home run over the right field wall.
St. Louis has won eight of the 13 matchups between these NL Central foes this season. The Cardinals took two of three tests from Cincy in the Reds' other visit to Busch Stadium this year...Cincinnati closer Francisco Cordero will miss the final three games of the season after he had arthroscopic surgery on Friday to remove a bone spur from his right foot...Reds outfielder Chris Dickerson also had surgery on Friday to remove a small piece of bone from his left ankle...Reds pitcher Edinson Volquez was scratched from his scheduled start Sunday in the team's season finale due to left knee tendinitis. Volquez was sent back to Cincinnati for further examination while left-hander Adam Pettyjohn will make his lone start of the season in place of Volquez... Saturday's scheduled starters are Todd Wellemeyer (12-9) for St. Louis and Aaron Harang (6-16) for Cincinnati...Looper's triple was the first of his career...Pujols upped his batting average to .357 in the chase for the NL batting title. Pujols trails only the Braves' Chipper Jones, who continues to miss time with tendinitis in his right shoulder but still holds the lead with a .365 mark...Pujols' home run was his 36th of the season.
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