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Glaus, Cardinals knock off Astros

Apr 9, 2008 - 4:25 AM By Ted Dunnam PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

HOUSTON (Ticker) -- Troy Glaus is a firm believer that timing is everything, and on Tuesday night he finally benefited from some more focused work.

Glaus belted a two-run double in the eighth inning to break a 3-3 tie and send the St. Louis Cardinals to a 5-3 win over the Houston Astros Tuesday night.

Chris Duncan drew a one-out walk off reliever Geoff Geary (0-1) to start the rally and Albert Pujols followed with an infield single. Geary then struck out Rick Ankiel before Glaus hit his first delivery to the gap in right-center to score both runners.

"When you're fouling off pitches you're supposed to hit, you find yourself in unfavorable counts," Glaus said. "Tonight I had a couple of good at-bats.

"Three days ago, I might have fouled that ball off, but that's just the nature of the game. Today was a better swing and a better result."

Anthony Reyes earned the win (1-0) with three innings of scoreless relief. Jason Isringhausen pitched the ninth for his fourth save in as many appearances.

Cardinals manager Tony La Russa was more than pleased with his team's complete performance.

"Troy's hit was huge," La Russa said. "But we don't have a chance without Anthony's pitching. He was really pumping it.

"That's the way he's looked before. He was really going after those guys. It was a clutch job."

Reyes said he's continued to improve since late March.

"I thought the ball was coming out of my hand a little quicker," Reyes said. "In spring training I was OK, but I wasn't quite there. I tweaked a couple of things and I'm feeling better and better."

Houston rallied from an early 2-0 deficit, scoring three times in the third inning after two outs had been recorded.

Lance Berkman doubled, Carlos Lee walked and Miguel Tejada followed with a two-run double, advancing to third on a late throw to the plate. Tejada then gave the Astros a 3-2 lead when St. Louis starter Brad Thompson uncorked a wild pitch.

But that proved to be the extent of Houston's offense.

"We put some good hits on the ball, but we couldn't put them together," Lee said. "It was a well-played game ... a tough break for us.

"We hit some balls hard, but right at them. That's the way it goes."

St. Louis tied the game at 3-3 in the fifth on two-out single by Adam Kennedy that scored Duncan.

Astros starter Shawn Chacon put himself in trouble early after walking Ankiel, Kennedy and Jason LaRue in the first inning. Thompson laid down a one-out suicide squeeze that scored Ankiel for a 1-0 lead.

St. Louis increased its cushion to 2-0 in the third when leadoff hitter Skip Schumaker ended an 0-for-16 streak with a triple to deep center and scored on Duncan's sacrifice fly.

"Getting on base is what I'm supposed to do," Schumaker said. "That's not the way you want to start. I didn't think it would take me four games to get my first hit. It's frustrating because I was seeing the ball good, I just wasn't hitting.

"My wife was taking the hit - I was coming home mad."

Chacon worked six innings, allowing three earned runs, four hits and striking out two. Thompson lasted four innings, permitting three earned runs on five hits while fanning five.