ESPN.com Pittsburgh/St. Louis recap

MLB

  Scores
  Schedule
  Standings
  Statistics
  Transactions
  Injuries
  Players
  Message Board
  Minor Leagues
  MLB en español

The Roster

  Peter Gammons
  Joe Morgan
  Rob Neyer
  Jayson Stark

Fantasy

Player News
Correspondents

Broadcast

  ESPN Radio
  Video Highlights
  Audio Highlights

SportsMall

  Shop@ESPN.com
  NikeTown
  TeamStore

Wednesday, May 9 8:10pm ET
Bad pizza doesn't stop Hermanson

RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME LOG

ST. LOUIS (AP) – Dustin Hermanson got over a case of food poisoning, then took care of the Pittsburgh Pirates.


	Hermanson

Hermanson pitched six strong innings as the St. Louis Cardinals handled Pirates batters for the third straight game in a 6-2 victory Wednesday night. He did it after dragging himself home Tuesday afternoon on doctor's orders.

"Last night, I really didn't think I could have pitched," Hermanson said. "But I know my time comes around, it's all about strapping it on and giving it everything you have."

Hermanson (3-1) allowed two runs on five hits, with five strikeouts and a walk for his 50th career victory. In his last two starts, he's allowed three runs in 12 innings, and he's 5-2 lifetime against the Pirates.

Hermanson said he lost six to seven pounds Tuesday. He believes the culprit was pizza he ate Monday night.

"I don't want to get any businesses in trouble," Hermanson said. "All I had was the pizza and then I came here and had some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and I know they didn't do that to me.

"I'm not going to eat pizza for a while."

The Cardinals have outscored the Pirates 21-4 and held them to 13 hits the first three games of a four-game series. They'll go for a sweep on Thursday with troubled left-hander Rick Ankiel pitching.

"That's so much fun to watch guys deal like that," manager Tony La Russa said. "I keep saying they're a very dangerous club, and you don't really get too comfortable out there, but we're really pitching well."

Ray Lankford homered and drove in three runs for the Cardinals, who are two games above .500 for only the second time this season.

Brian Giles and Pat Meares homered, and Aramis Ramirez hit two doubles for the Pirates, who are 4-11 against the Cardinals the last two seasons. Pittsburgh, in last place in the NL Central, has dropped eight of 11.

"Hopefully, we can come out of this soon," manager Lloyd McClendon said. "We've got to get better situational-type hitting."

The Pirates' fifth error of the series -- they had four on Monday -- contributed to two unearned runs in the Cardinals' three-run second. Lankford singled off Bronson Arroyo (2-4) for a run, and he went all the way to third and Bobby Bonilla scored from first when the ball rolled between the legs of right fielder John Vander Wal.

Lankford hit a two-run homer in the eighth.

Arroyo, who has a 6.04 earned-run average, lasted 3 2/3 innings and gave up four runs -- two earned -- on six hits. In his last three starts, he's allowed 11 earned runs in 10 1/3 innings.

"I made some mistakes and they capitalized on them," Arroyo said. "But I also made some good pitches that they hit."

Game notes
Bonilla has two straight two-hit games and is 7-for-11 the last four games. ... St. Louis Blues forwards Reid Simpson and Reed Low took batting practice several hours before the game, and Simpson homered twice. ... The Pirates are 7-13 against the NL Central. ... Arroyo has a 4-10 career record. ... All six of Giles' homers have come against right-handers. ... The Cardinals made two good defensive plays in the fifth. Shortstop Placido Polanco made a diving stop in the hole on Jason Kendall's grounder and flipped the ball while still in the glove for a force, and Edmonds made a diving catch in shallow center on Tike Redman's fly ball to end the inning. ... The Pirates have had more than one hit in an inning only twice the first three games of the series. ... Shortstop Edgar Renteria missed his second straight start with a strained left quadriceps, but entered as a pinch-runner in the sixth. In the eighth, he fouled a ball off his left knee and needed medical attention before continuing. He was taken out after the inning. "He took that ball right on the bone, so he's going to be a sore puppy tomorrow," La Russa said. "That's why we got him out early, to get him on ice."