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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
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| Kile |
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- The St. Louis Cardinals are quickly becoming
strong supporters of the NL's new unbalanced schedule -- after all,
it matches them 17 times against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Darryl Kile pitched a seven-hit shutout against the NL's
worst-hitting team and the St. Louis Cardinals ran their winning
streak to nine, beating the Pirates 3-0 Wednesday night.
J.D. Drew had an RBI triple in a three-run fifth inning and Kile
(6-2) did the rest, getting big outs when he needed them to help
the Pirates to their fifth consecutive loss and ninth in 10 games.
The defending NL Central champion Cardinals are back in the
division lead despite a slow start, mostly because of the Pirates.
The Cardinals are 6-0 against them over the last 10 days and have
beaten them 10 consecutive times dating to Aug. 22.
"When a team is on a roll, you don't want to be the guy who
ends it," said Kile, who retired the final 13 batters. "Everyone
is pushing themselves to be ready when it's their turn."
Kile's 5.29 ERA against Pittsburgh was his third-highest against
any opponent, and the Pirates had multiple scoring chances against
him by putting nine runners on base in the first six innings.
"He gave up some hits and they had some hard outs," catcher Mike Matheny said. "But he made pitches when he needed to, and
that's pitching."
The Pirates also helped by twice running themselves out of
scoring threats, allowing Kile to settle down and win his fifth
consecutive decision. He has 39 strikeouts and 12 walks in his last
seven starts.
"When it's my turn I try to be ready," said Kile, one of two
NL 20-game winners last season. "The offense is swinging the bats
well, the defense is playing awesome and now it's up to us as a
pitching staff to give those two things a chance to win us
ballgames."
The Cardinals got all the runs they needed in the fourth against
Jason Schmidt (1-1), ending his streak of 8 2/3 scoreless innings
since coming off the disabled list to beat Milwaukee on Friday -- the only victory by a Pirates' starter since May 5.
Placido Polanco and Jim Edmonds had consecutive one-out singles
and Albert Pujols followed with a broken-bat roller that third
baseman Aramis Ramirez threw into right field for his ninth error
in 37 games, scoring Polanco and Edmonds. Pujols was credited with
an infield single and an RBI, with the second run scoring on the
error.
Drew then tripled for the Cardinals' fourth consecutive hit -- they had only five in the game -- to make it 3-0.
The Cardinals had only one base runner after the fourth as
Schmidt, Terry Mulholland and Joe Beimel struck out 12, but Kile
didn't need much help.
"Sometimes you'll look back and wish you could take this pitch
back, or that pitch, but the only pitch I would take back is the
one to Drew," said Schmidt, who struck out eight and walked two in
five innings. "That's a good pitcher (Kile) over there who had a
great game."
The Pirates threatened in their half of the fourth by putting
runners on first and second with one out. But manager Lloyd
McClendon gambled by sending his runners on a full-count pitch to
Pat Meares, and Kevin Young was thrown out by 30 feet trying to
steal third as Meares struck out swinging.
"I'd still do the same thing," McClendon said. "If he hits a
grounder and we're not running, everybody will ask why we didn't
send the runners. I told the players that we're going to stay
aggressive and there will be no second guessing, and no finger
pointing."
An inning later, Emil Brown was thrown out at the plate trying
to leg out an inside-the-park homer on a ball down the line briefly
eluded left fielder Ray Lankford. But Lankford recovered to make a
strong throw to shortstop Polanco, whose throw to the plate just
beat a sliding Brown.
"It was a very close play, and if he's safe, it really picks us
up," McClendon said. "They had to make two perfect throws, and
they made them."
Game notes
Kile struck out four and walked one in his ninth career
shutout. ... The Pirates are hitting .228. ... Cardinals 2B Fernando Vina sat out the game with a bruised left ankle. He was
hit by Omar Olivares' pitch Tuesday night and is day-to-day. ...
Edgar Renteria could return to the Cardinals' lineup Thursday after
missing eight starts with a strained left quadriceps and a bruised
knee.
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RECAPS
Baltimore 3
Detroit 2
Cleveland 4
Texas 3
Kansas City 9
Tampa Bay 5
Minnesota 4
Boston 3
Anaheim 3
Toronto 1
Oakland 4
NY Yankees 3
Seattle 7
Chi. White Sox 2
Atlanta 6
Colorado 4
Arizona 2
Cincinnati 1
Florida 4
San Francisco 3
Los Angeles 7
Montreal 2
Milwaukee 6
Philadelphia 1
St. Louis 3
Pittsburgh 0
San Diego 5
NY Mets 2
Houston 6
Chicago Cubs 2
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