(10-5) at Pittsburgh
(6-8)April 22, 2012
1:35 PM ET, 12:35 PM CT, 11:35 AM MT, 10:35 AM PT
PNC Park, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
TV: FSMW, ROOT
RADIO: KMOX 1120
K. Lohse (2-0, 0.89) E. Bedard (0-3, 2.65)
Link for entire article: http://sports.yahoo.com/news/cardinals- ... --mlb.html
The St. Louis Cardinals' offense has sputtered a bit recently, but their starting pitchers generally haven't needed much support to walk away victorious.
That's especially been true for Kyle Lohse.
Lohse won his first two outings and was even better in his third despite not getting a victory, a hot start he'll hope to continue Sunday afternoon as the visiting Cardinals decide their series with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
St. Louis (10-5) averaged an NL-best 5.83 runs while winning nine of its first 12 games, but has totaled only seven while dropping two of its last three.
None of those runs came Saturday, even after the Cardinals loaded the bases with no outs in the first inning. A.J. Burnett escaped that jam in his Pittsburgh debut and made it through seven strong innings while Pedro Alvarez - off to a 2 for 30 start - drove in both runs in the Pirates' 2-0 win.
"(Burnett) kept rolling,'' St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said. "He had a good day. Times we had opportunities to capitalize we didn't get it done.''
St. Louis fell to 9-1 when allowing three runs or fewer, and Lohse (2-0, 0.89 ERA) has taken the ball to start three of those victories. He allowed a run apiece in two road wins to open the season, then held the Reds to four hits in seven scoreless innings Tuesday.
The bullpen couldn't hold Lohse's 1-0 lead, but the Cardinals won 2-1 in 10 innings.
"It's just a shame we couldn't get him a 'W' out of that,'' Matheny said of Lohse. "He was terrific. That's as good as you can ask for anybody.''
Lohse was 2-1 with a 3.90 ERA in five starts against Pittsburgh (6-8) last season, but the top of the Pirates' lineup has historically had some success off the right-hander. Alex Presley, Jose Tabata, Andrew McCutchen and Neil Walker - Pittsburgh's Nos. 1-4 hitters Saturday - are hitting a combined .424 (25 for 59) against Lohse.
The Series:The Cardinals are one of six teams Bedard has never faced, but Matt Holliday has had some good looks against the left-hander. He's 5 for 8 off Bedard, though all of those hits were singles.
Holliday, who's off to a .194 start, is batting .132 (5 for 38) in his last 10 games at PNC Park.
season season series tied 1-1
April 20, 2012-St. Louis 4, Pittsburgh 1
April 21, 2012-Pittsburgh 2, St. Louis 0
April 22, 2012-STL (Lohse) @ PIT (Bedard)-12:35 PM CDT
PNC Park, 115 Federal Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15212
Baseball Reference 2012 Cardinals Statistics
2012 Current MLB Standings
2012 Current MLB Wild Card Standings
2012 Current MLB vs. Division Standings
2012 Current MLB vs. Expanded Standings
Last Game:
Pittsburgh 2, St. Louis 0
WP: A.J. Burnett (1-0) S: J. Hanrahan (2)
LP: J. Westbrook (2-1)
Link for Complete Article: http://sports.yahoo.com/news/burnett-sp ... --mlb.html
Burnett sparkles as Pirates trip Cardinals 2-0
By WILL GRAVES | The Associated Pres
St. Louis starter Jake Westbrook (2-1) gave up a pair of RBI singles to Pedro Alvarez, walking two and striking out six as his ERA moved from 0.64 to 1.31.
''I felt like I made some decent pitches,'' Westbrook said. ''I think they hit a couple balls hard. I still feel good about the way I performed.''
Westbrook was solid but Burnett was spectacular, throwing 53 of his 76 pitches for strikes and looking like the No. 1 starter the Pirates envisioned when they traded for him in February.
''I think Pittsburgh got him for the reason he showed tonight,'' St. Louis third baseman David Freese said. ''He was spot-on.''
Burnett's his only real excitement during his last six innings came when he stepped into the batter's box.
Rod Barajas singled with one out in the third, bringing Burnett to the plate in a bunting situation. The crowd roared ''no'' when Burnett squared up to lay one down, wary Burnett would make himself vulnerable to another ill-fated attempt.
''I thought they were yelling for Rod to 'Go','' Burnett said with a laugh. ''That's good. It shows they're into it.''
Not to worry. Burnett walked on four pitches, getting a relieved round of applause as he trotted to first.
The Cardinals are off to their best start since 2008 thanks to the National League's best offense. St. Louis came in leading the NL in batting average (.287), home runs (20) and hits (142).
Yet the Cardinals mustered little after Burnett settled down. Their best chance to score came in the eighth when they put runners on second and third with one out.
Pittsburgh reliever Tony Watson struck out Carpenter and was replaced by Jason Grilli, who got Holliday to whiff and end the threat.
''Times we had opportunities to capitalize we didn't get it done,'' Matheny said.
Hanrahan, who hadn't pitched since Sunday due to tightness in his hamstring, issued one-out walks to Freese and Molina in the ninth but struck out Eric Komatsu and Shane Robinson grounded out to third to end it and make Burnett a winner as an NL pitcher for the first time since Aug. 19, 2005.
