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Holliday, Cardinals blank slumping Rays

Jun 11, 2014 - 7:09 AM St. Petersburg, FL (SportsNetwork.com) - Matt Holliday supplied the game's lone run with a homer as the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 1-0 from Tropicana Field on Tuesday.

Jhonny Peralta and Jon Jay both singled for the Cardinals, who only needed three hits to win their third straight game. Adam Wainwright (9-3) tossed seven scoreless innings, giving up seven hits and two walks with two strikeouts.

"We're pitching very well right now," Wainwright said. "We just have to keep that momentum going. Our starters take it upon ourselves to go deep into games."

Kevin Kiermaier and James Loney supplied two hits apiece for the struggling Rays, losers of their last four and 14 of their last 15.

Tampa Bay has failed to score in 28 1/3 innings, surpassing the franchise record of 26 innings set in 2002.

Jake Odorizzi (2-7) was solid in defeat, surrendering just one run on three hits with five strikeouts across 7 1/3 frames. The right-hander did not allow a hit until Peralta's single with two outs in the fifth.

"We are really snakebit right now. It's extremely frustrating," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "I thought Jake was really good. All of his stuff was working. It's pretty impressive what he did today."

Holliday smacked a splitter into the left-field seats to give the Cardinals all they needed with two outs in the sixth.

The Rays threatened in the eighth. Pat Neshek took over for Wainwright and gave up a ground-rule double to Kiermaier before Evan Longoria was hit by a pitch.

Sam Freeman replaced Neshek and struck out James Loney, then got Ben Zobrist to fly out before Trevor Rosenthal came on and hit pinch-hitter Jerry Sands to load the bases. Rosenthal induced a rally-killing pop out from Matt Joyce to escape the jam.

Rosenthal stayed on and tossed a scoreless ninth, earning his 17th save of the season.

Tampa Bay also squandered a prime opportunity in the fourth. Loney singled up the middle and moved to third on Zobrist's double to right with one out. Two batters later, Joyce was intentionally walked to load the bases, but Kolten Wong snagged Logan Forsythe's liner at second base to end the frame.

Game Notes

The last American League team to be shut out in three straight games was the Kansas City Royals from July 5-7, 2004 ... The Rays signed their first round pick (20th overall) of the 2014 First-Year Player Draft, first baseman Casey Gillaspie, prior to the game ... Cardinals second baseman Wong returned to the lineup after missing three games with a shoulder injury ... St. Louis is the second team to throw three straight shutouts in interleague play in a single season. The last team to accomplish this feat was Houston in 2004.