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Cardinals hammer Braves

May 28, 2012 - 9:08 PM Atlanta, GA (Sports Network) - Matt Adams finished with three hits and knocked in three runs to help the St. Louis Cardinals take an 8-2 victory over the Atlanta Braves in the opener of a three-game set on Monday at Turner Field.

Daniel Descalso smacked a two-run home run and Rafael Furcal added a solo blast for the Cardinals, who have won two straight since a three-game slide.

Lance Lynn (8-1) spun seven strong innings, yielding two runs on five hits and a walk with eight strikeouts to improve to 5-0 in six road starts this year.

Tommy Hanson (5-4) had a forgettable outing, allowing six runs on eight hits and three walks in 3 1/3 innings. Hanson did fan six hitters, but needed 92 pitches to record just seven outs.

"I thought it was a huge advantage for us," said Adams about Hanson's pitch count. "We made him work and it worked out to our advantage."

Juan Francisco stroked a two-run single to account for the Braves only runs as they dropped their eighth straight contest.

After failing to score with the bases loaded and no outs in the first, St. Louis took advantage of its opportunity with the bags packed in the third.

Matt Holliday and Adams each singled around a Carlos Beltran walk before Holliday scored as Hanson's curveball got away from catcher Brian McCann.

After Beltran was picked off on an apparent suicide-squeeze attempt, Yadier Molina made up for not bunting by slapping a single to center to score Adams before Descalso scorched a two-run blast into the right-field seats to give the Cardinals a 4-0 lead.

Furcal launched a one-out fastball over the right-field wall to give the Cardinals a five-run cushion in the fourth before Skip Schumaker and Holliday walked to chase Hanson from the game.

"I was just battling all day. I made pitches at times, but I wasn't consistent with my fastball command," admitted Hanson. "Against a good hitting team, that's not a good recipe."

Kris Medlen entered and got Beltran to line out, but Adams picked him up with a single to left to score Schumaker as St. Louis grabbed a 6-0 lead.

Atlanta cracked the scoreboard in the fourth when Dan Uggla singled and Jason Heyward followed with a broken-bat double to left before Francisco singled to center to plate both runners and make it a 6-2 contest.

In the sixth, Furcal and Schumaker slapped consecutive singles before Adams ripped a double into the right-field corner to score both runners and restore a six-run lead for the visitors.

Game Notes

Lynn's only loss came on May 13 at home against the Braves...Cardinals third baseman David Freese sat out the game with right hand soreness...Atlanta swept a three-game set in St. Louis from May 11-13...The last time the Braves dropped nine in a row was April 21-29, 2010.