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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Thursday, August 20, 2009

Holliday cheer for Cardinals, 3-2


Associated Press

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

St. Louis starter Adam Wainwright pitched four perfect innings before giving up two runs in the seventh against the Dodgers. The Cardinals rallied in the ninth for a 3-2 victory.

MARK J. TERRILL | Associated Press

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LOS ANGELES — Two mistakes ended Adam Wainwright's no-hit bid. Luckily for the St. Louis Cardinals, they still won the game.

Matt Holliday's sacrifice fly snapped a ninth-inning tie for a 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers last night in the series finale between the two first-place teams. It was the Cardinals' fifth consecutive series win over the Dodgers.

"I would've liked to got the win, but it's still a big win for the team," said Wainwright, who was perfect through four innings.

The Cardinals took two out of three from the Dodgers to maintain their NL Central lead of 5 1/2 games over the Chicago Cubs, who beat San Diego.

"These guys compete and they're very gritty," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said.

The loss reduced the Dodgers' lead in the NL West to 3 1/2 games over Colorado, their smallest margin since May 12.

"We've got to go out and put a little bit of a streak together," Los Angeles manager Joe Torre said. "You've got to fight for what you want and fight your way through these things."

Kyle McClellan (4-2) got the victory with one hitless inning, while striking out one and walking one. Ryan Franklin pitched the ninth for his 31st save in 33 chances.

Jonathan Broxton (7-1) took the loss, allowing one run in the ninth. He gave up a leadoff walk to Albert Pujols, who stole second and continued to third on catcher Russell Martin's throwing error.

Holliday then flied out to center to score Pujols.

Wainwright was unhittable through five innings. Things fell apart when he gave up home runs to Andre Ethier and Casey Blake in the seventh.

Wainwright walked Manny Ramirez to lead off the fifth, giving the Dodgers their first base runner of the game. The right-hander yielded his first hit in the sixth, a one-out single to Orlando Hudson.

PHILLIES 8, DIAMONDBACKS 1:

Cliff Lee (4-0) pitched a two-hitter, carrying a no-hit bid into the sixth inning, as host Philadelphia beat Arizona. Jayson Werth hit two solo homers, Ryan Howard hit a three-run shot and Chase Utley also connected for the Phillies.

ROCKIES 5, NATIONALS 4:

Carlos Gonzalez homered for the fourth straight game and Clint Barmes connected in his third consecutive game for visiting Colorado. The NL wild card-leading Rockies (67-53) improved to a season-high 14 games over .500.

GIANTS 1, REDS 0:

Nate Schierholtz's eighth-inning double drove in Edgar Renteria to lift visiting San Francisco. Barry Zito and three relievers combined on a two-hitter. Zito gave up two hits over six innings. Sergio Romo (4-2) pitched a perfect 1 2/3 innings for the win.

BRAVES 15, METS 2:

Brian McCann hit a three-run homer as part of an eight-run second inning to lead visiting Atlanta. Five runs scored after Luis Castillo of the Mets failed to cover second on Garret Anderson's two-out grounder to shortstop Anderson Hernandez with runners on the corners.

PIRATES 3, BREWERS 1:

Paul Maholm (7-7) allowed one run and eight hits over 7 2/3 innings and Ronny Cedeno homered as host Pittsburgh finished a three-game sweep of Milwaukee. Delwyn Young added two hits and an RBI for Pittsburgh.

ASTROS 6, MARLINS 3:

Michael Bourn had three hits, two stolen bases and two runs scored for host Houston. Florida had at least 10 hits for the 15th straight game, matching the longest streak since the St. Louis Browns had one that long in 1937, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

CUBS 7, PADRES 1:

Rich Harden (8-7) allowed one hit over seven scoreless innings, helping visiting Chicago beat San Diego to avoid a three-game sweep. Milton Bradley and Aramis Ramirez homered for the Cubs.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

RED SOX 6, BLUE JAYS 1:

Jason Bay hit a two-run homer, David Ortiz and Victor Martinez added solo shots and visiting Boston beat Roy Halladay (13-6) and Toronto. The Red Sox have hit at least two homers in five straight games and eight of nine overall.

TWINS 5, RANGERS 4:

Denard Span hit a tying double before sliding past Texas catcher Ivan Rodriguez with the go-ahead run in the sixth inning on a single by Orlando Cabrera to lift visiting Minnesota.

ANGELS 3, INDIANS 0:

Jered Weaver (13-4) bounced back from one of his worst starts to pitch his second career shutout as visiting Los Angeles won its fifth straight. Weaver spaced seven hits only five days after being pounded for nine hits and eight runs in 3 1/3 innings of a 16-6 loss at Baltimore.

WHITE SOX 4, ROYALS 2:

Jose Contreras (5-11) won for the first time in six weeks and Gordon Beckham, Carlos Quentin and Alex Rios hit solo homers off Zack Greinke (11-8) as visiting Chicago beat Kansas City. Contreras gave up a run on three hits in seven innings.

RAYS 3, ORIOLES 1:

Rookie Jeff Niemann (11-5) allowed one run and seven hits over 7 1/3 innings, and Pat Burrell, Ben Zobrist and B.J. Upton hit solo homers for host Tampa Bay. Niemann lost his shutout bid when Brian Roberts hit a solo homer with one out in the eighth.

MARINERS 3, TIGERS 1:

Ichiro Suzuki homered and Ian Snell (1-1) held host Detroit to one run and four hits in 5 2/3 innings in his third start since being acquired from Pittsburgh on July 29 to lift Seattle. David Aardsma pitched the ninth for his 28th save.

YANKEES 3, ATHLETICS 2:

Mark Teixeira hit a two-run homer, Alfredo Aceves earned his majors-leading eighth win as a reliever and visiting New York wrapped up a stretch of 33 games in 34 days with a victory over Oakland. Aceves (8-1) gave up two runs on four hits in 2 1/3 innings.