Diamondbacks 2 - 4 Cardinals
Final
  for this game

Freese powers Cardinals past D-Backs

Jul 11, 2011 - 1:48 AM

Video

St. Louis, MO (Sports Network) - David Freese clubbed a two-run homer to lift the St. Louis Cardinals to a 4-2 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks in the finale of a four-game series at Busch Stadium.

Freese added a sacrifice fly for the Cardinals, who salvaged a split after dropping the first two games of this set.

Jaime Garcia (9-3) gave up a two-run homer to Arizona's Ryan Roberts among seven hits over six innings. Lance Lynn tossed two innings of relief before Fernando Salas closed the door in the ninth for his 16th save of the season.

"He made one mistake and it cost two runs. Make one mistake when you're out there, that's outstanding," St. Louis manager Tony La Russa said about Garcia, who improved to 6-1 at home in 2011.

Zach Duke (2-4) yielded four runs on nine hits in six frames to absorb the loss for Arizona.

St. Louis and the Diamondbacks head into the All-Star break with identical 49-43 records. The Cardinals are tied atop the National League Central with Milwaukee, while Arizona is second in the NL West.

The Cardinals pushed across two runs in the opening frame. St. Louis strung together three straight one-out hits -- the last one an RBI single by Matt Holliday -- to grab the early lead. Albert Pujols then scored on Freese's fly to center field.

Arizona tied the game in the second on Roberts' home run to left, but St. Louis countered with two outs in the third. Holliday drew a walk and Freese followed with an opposite field blast to right for a 4-2 lead.

"I was trying to go in and I left the ball a little up. That's what he hits well and it ended up being the deciding factor in the game. It's tough," said Duke.

With runners on the corners, Garcia retired Willie Bloomquist on a fielder's choice to end the fourth. Arizona also stranded a runner in scoring position in the seventh and ninth innings.

Game Notes

Arizona catcher Miguel Montero will replace Philadelphia third baseman Placido Polanco on the NL All-Star team...The Cardinals took four of seven from the Diamondbacks this year.






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