Final
Cardinals primed to sweep Mets
Apr 23, 2009 - 5:35 AM By Brett Huston Stats WriterNY Mets (6-8) at St. Louis (10-5), 1:40 p.m. EDT
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- The St. Louis Cardinals received some solid pitching early to help them climb atop the NL Central, but lately their offense is really starting to click.
The New York Mets can hardly say the same about their lineup.
The Cardinals will look for their first three-game sweep of the scuffling Mets in nearly five years Thursday afternoon at Busch Stadium as New York tries to avoid a fourth straight loss.
St. Louis' pitching staff has a solid 3.83 ERA, but that number was a shaky 5.69 over the six contests heading into Wednesday's game against the Mets (6-8).
Joel Pineiro pitched eight solid innings to give the Cardinals' overworked bullpen a needed rest, but the offense again did more than its part to help St. Louis (10-5) win. Albert Pujols had two RBIs to increase his league-leading total to 18 as the Cardinals scored at least five runs for the seventh straight game and won 5-2.
Manager Tony La Russa, however, isn't getting too excited despite having the NL's second-highest scoring offense.
"If it's September and we're getting 5-6 runs a game, then it would be a good time to talk about it," he said. "But we're taking hungry at-bats."
The Mets, meanwhile, are simply starving for some runs. They're hitting .283, but have just 36 extra-base hits through 14 games, including nine home runs. They've scored eight runs in their last three losses combined.
If the Mets are to avoid being swept by St. Louis for the first time since Aug 6-8, 2004, they'll need to solve Kyle Lohse (2-0, 2.57 ERA), who's part of a Cardinals rotation that's started the season 9-1.
Lohse started twice against New York last season, with extremely different results. He allowed one run and five hits over seven innings of a 7-1 win June 30 at Busch, but was throttled for seven runs and 11 hits - including three homers - over five innings in a 9-1 loss at Shea Stadium on July 27.
Lohse was outstanding in his first two starts this season, bringing a 1.13 ERA into Wrigley Field on Saturday. He couldn't hold an early 3-0 lead, however, giving up four runs over five innings while not figuring in the decision in St. Louis' 7-5, 11-inning loss.
"I'm handed a three-run lead there, and it's my job to make it stand up," Lohse told the Cardinals' official Web site. "I take accountability for that one."
The Mets' offense may be struggling to score, but their biggest hitters have feasted on Lohse. David Wright and Carlos Delgado are a combined 13-for-31 (.419) with two homers, and Carlos Beltran has especially hammered the right-hander, hitting .529 (18-for-34) with four homers and 12 RBIs.
Livan Hernandez (1-0, 4.63) will start the series finale for the Mets. The veteran right-hander picked up a win in his first start this year, but didn't get a decision Friday against Milwaukee, giving up four runs in five innings as the Mets won 5-4.
"As a guy who's been at the back end of the rotation for us," manager Jerry Manuel told the Mets' official Web site, "he's given us a chance to win each of his games."
Hernandez has been able to corral Pujols for the most part. The reigning NL MVP is hitting .276 (8-for-29) with one homer in their matchups.
- NL
FINAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
NY METS 1 0 0 0 1 1 2 3 0 8 13 0
ST LOUIS 1 0 0 3 3 4 1 0 x 12 18 2 (FINAL)
BATTERIES: NYM - LIVAN HERNANDEZ, BRIAN STOKES (5TH), SEAN GREEN (6TH), ROBERT
PARNELL (8TH) AND OMIR SANTOS
STL - KYLE LOHSE, P.J. WALTERS (6TH), TREVER MILLER
(8TH), CHRIS
Apr 23 4:41 PM - NL
AT ST LOUIS - SCORING UPDATE
THREE-RUN HOME RUN BY CARLOS BELTRAN (2) TO CENTER WITH 1
OUT IN THE 8TH OFF P.J. WALTERS SCORED FERNANDO TATIS AND ALEX
CORA.
CURRENT SCORE: NY METS 8, ST LOUIS 12
DUE UP FOR NY METS: C DELGADO (.281, 1-FOR-3, BB)
Mets 8, Cardinals 12 Top 8, 0 OutsApr 23 4:13 PM - NL
AT ST LOUIS - SCORING UPDATE
DOUBLE BY SKIP SCHUMAKER SCORED JASON LARUE.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, S SCHUMAKER ON SECOND, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: NY METS 5
ST LOUIS 12 BOTTOM, 7TH
DUE UP FOR ST LOUIS: C RASMUS (.293, 2-FOR-4, RBI)
Mets 5, Cardinals 12 Bot 7, 0 OutsApr 23 4:01 PM - NL
AT ST LOUIS - SCORING UPDATE
TWO-RUN HOME RUN BY RYAN CHURCH (1) TO RIGHT WITH 2 OUT IN
THE 7TH OFF P.J. WALTERS SCORED DAVID WRIGHT.
CURRENT SCORE: NY METS 5, ST LOUIS 11
DUE UP FOR NY METS: O SANTOS (.375, 1-FOR-3)
Mets 5, Cardinals 11 Top 7, 0 OutsApr 23 3:50 PM - NL
AT ST LOUIS - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY RYAN LUDWICK SCORED COLBY RASMUS AND ALBERT
PUJOLS.
SITUATION: 4 RUNS IN, R LUDWICK ON SECOND, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: NY METS 3
ST LOUIS 11 BOTTOM, 6TH
DUE UP FOR ST LOUIS: R ANKIEL (.235, 2-FOR-3, HR, 2 RBI)
Mets 3, Cardinals 11 Bot 6, 0 OutsApr 23 3:37 PM - NL
AT ST LOUIS - SCORING UPDATE
DOUBLE BY COLBY RASMUS SCORED SKIP SCHUMAKER.
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, C RASMUS ON SECOND, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: NY METS 3
ST LOUIS 9 BOTTOM, 6TH
DUE UP FOR ST LOUIS: A PUJOLS (.351, 3-FOR-3, 2 HR, 3 RBI)
Mets 3, Cardinals 9 Bot 6, 0 OutsApr 23 3:33 PM - NL
AT ST LOUIS - SCORING UPDATE
DOUBLE BY SKIP SCHUMAKER SCORED JASON LARUE.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, S SCHUMAKER ON SECOND, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: NY METS 3
ST LOUIS 8 BOTTOM, 6TH
DUE UP FOR ST LOUIS: C RASMUS (.275, 1-FOR-3)
Mets 3, Cardinals 8 Bot 6, 0 OutsApr 23 3:31 PM - NL
AT ST LOUIS - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY JOSE REYES SCORED RYAN CHURCH.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, J REYES ON FIRST, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: NY METS 3
ST LOUIS 7 TOP, 6TH
DUE UP FOR NY METS: A CORA (.200, 2-FOR-3)
Mets 3, Cardinals 7 Top 6, 0 OutsApr 23 3:21 PM - NL
AT ST LOUIS - SCORING UPDATE
SOLO HOME RUN BY RICK ANKIEL (1) TO RIGHT WITH 1 OUT IN THE
5TH OFF LIVAN HERNANDEZ.
CURRENT SCORE: NY METS 2, ST LOUIS 7
DUE UP FOR ST LOUIS: B BARDEN (.360, 0-FOR-2)
Mets 2, Cardinals 7 Bot 5, 0 OutsApr 23 3:10 PM - NL
AT ST LOUIS - SCORING UPDATE
TWO-RUN HOME RUN BY ALBERT PUJOLS (6) TO CENTER WITH 0 OUT
IN THE 5TH OFF LIVAN HERNANDEZ SCORED COLBY RASMUS.
CURRENT SCORE: NY METS 2, ST LOUIS 6
DUE UP FOR ST LOUIS: R LUDWICK (.354, 0-FOR-2)
Mets 2, Cardinals 6 Bot 5, 0 OutsApr 23 3:06 PM - NL
AT ST LOUIS - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY DAVID WRIGHT SCORED JOSE REYES.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, D WRIGHT ON FIRST, C DELGADO ON SECOND, A
CORA ON THIRD, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: NY METS 2
ST LOUIS 4 TOP, 5TH
DUE UP FOR NY METS: G SHEFFIELD (.133, 0-FOR-2)
Mets 2, Cardinals 4 Top 5, 0 OutsApr 23 3:01 PM - NL
AT ST LOUIS - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY KYLE LOHSE SCORED BRENDAN RYAN.
SITUATION: 3 RUNS IN, K LOHSE ON FIRST, J LARUE ON SECOND, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: NY METS 1
ST LOUIS 4 BOTTOM, 4TH
DUE UP FOR ST LOUIS: S SCHUMAKER (.267, 0-FOR-2)
Mets 1, Cardinals 4 Bot 4, 0 OutsApr 23 2:47 PM - NL
AT ST LOUIS - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY BRENDAN RYAN SCORED RICK ANKIEL.
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, B RYAN ON FIRST, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: NY METS 1
ST LOUIS 3 BOTTOM, 4TH
DUE UP FOR ST LOUIS: J LARUE (.400, 0-FOR-1)
Mets 1, Cardinals 3 Bot 4, 0 OutsApr 23 2:45 PM - NL
AT ST LOUIS - SCORING UPDATE
DOUBLE BY RICK ANKIEL SCORED ALBERT PUJOLS.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, R ANKIEL ON SECOND, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: NY METS 1
ST LOUIS 2 BOTTOM, 4TH
DUE UP FOR ST LOUIS: B BARDEN (.375, 0-FOR-1)
Mets 1, Cardinals 2 Bot 4, 0 OutsApr 23 2:41 PM - NL
AT ST LOUIS - SCORING UPDATE
SOLO HOME RUN BY ALBERT PUJOLS (5) TO RIGHT WITH 2 OUT IN
THE 1ST OFF LIVAN HERNANDEZ.
CURRENT SCORE: NY METS 1, ST LOUIS 1
DUE UP FOR ST LOUIS: R LUDWICK (.370, 5 HR, 16 RBI)
Mets 1, Cardinals 1 Bot 1, 0 OutsApr 23 1:55 PM - NL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
NY METS 1 1 2 0
ST LOUIS 0 0 0 (BOT 1)
CURRENT PITCHERS: NYM - LIVAN HERNANDEZ
STL - KYLE LOHSE
DUE UP FOR ST LOUIS: S SCHUMAKER (.279, 0 HR, 5 RBI)
C RASMUS (.270, 0 HR, 2 RBI)
A PUJOLS (.315, 4 HR, 18
Mets 1, Cardinals 0 Bot 1, 0 OutsApr 23 1:51 PM
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