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Moehler, Astros shut down Cardinals

Jun 7, 2008 - 4:14 AM By Ted Dunnam PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

HOUSTON (Ticker) -- Pitcher Brian Moehler was economical, efficient and a welcome sight to a struggling Houston Astros offense Friday night.

Moehler pitched seven scoreless innings and the Astros took advantage of some sloppy defense by the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday night in a 6-1 victory.

Moehler (3-2) allowed just two singles, struck out five and continued to be a pleasant addition to the Astros' pitching staff.

"I was just trying to get ahead of these guys, and hopefully they'd swing at pitches I'm trying to locate well," Moehler said. "I just pitch to contact. I don't want to sit out there and throw a lot of pitches.

"I haven't changed the way I've pitched since day one of my career. I'm not going to strike out 10 guys a night. I just go out there and try to make quality pitches. I know what I can and can't do."

The Astros scored three unearned runs in the fourth inning, two coming home on Cardinals shortstop Cesar Izturis' throwing error.

On a ball hit to deep short by Carlos Lee, Izturis' throw went wide of second baseman Adam Kennedy, allowing Darin Erstad to score from second and Lance Berkman to score from first for a 4-0 lead.

Lee went all the way to third on the play and scored Houston's fifth run on another error. Geoff Blum hit a high hopper to Albert Pujols at first, but Cardinals' catcher Yadier Molina dropped the throw to home.

Blum hit his fourth home run of the season in the eighth inning for a 6-1 score.

Mark Loretta, who had four singles, helped rejuvenate an Astros offense that had scored two runs or less in seven of its last eight games.

"It's a funny thing - you find some holes some times," Loretta said. "But Brian really set the tone tonight. He had great command, great movement.

"We had a tough three-city trip; we needed a big lift. We were able to give a couple of guys some rest and give the reserve guys some at-bats. We understand our role. We know there's a set lineup, there's no animosity and it worked out well."

The Astros took a 2-0 lead in the second when Hunter Pence's two-out double scored Humberto Quintero and Kazuo Matsui followed with a run-scoring single to center.

The Cardinals' lone run came in the eighth when Skip Schumaker's infield single scored Kennedy from third.

St. Louis starter Braden Looper (7-5) allowed just two earned runs in six innings and struck out a career-high seven in losing to Houston for the second time this year.

"This is going to sound kind of weird, but that's the best I've felt in the last month," Looper said. "I've had as good stuff as I've had in a while.

"Unfortunately, Moehler was too good."

Looper didn't fault his defense in the fourth inning.

"Izzy has made some amazing plays behind me," Looper said. "If he wouldn't have slipped ... that made him panic. Guys are trying hard. They're going to make mistakes."

Cardinals right fielder Joe Mather refused to blame a long travel day for St. Louis' inefficiency.

"It's one of those things - we got to bed at 3:30 last night," Mather said. "That's kind of the nature of the beast.

"Moehler hit a couple of nice spots. He threw a lot of split-fingers and put them in good spots. He was tough."