Albert Pujols powers St. Louis Cardinals to 4-3 win over Atlanta Braves – MLB Update
Albert Pujols drove in a crucial run in the ninth inning to take the St. Louis Cardinals past the Atlanta Braves 4-3 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri on Friday, September 9.
The game did not have much to offer for the batters and was dominated by the pitchers for a larger period. The Braves scored two runs in the first inning but the Cardinals were quick to reply with a run in the bottom of the first to keep the deficit in touching
distance.
Michael Bourn and Brian McCann scored a run each to allow Atlanta a one-run advantage over the home team by the end of the first inning.
Randall Delgado and Edwin Jackson then entered a fierce battle at the mound which ignited both bull-pens. Jackson continued till the sixth inning and was charged for just two runs while Delgado went a step ahead and leaked just a solitary run amid three
hits in his spell of five innings. Both pitchers failed to get a result for their spotless pitching and it all came down to the closers in the end.
Both teams were denied a scoring chance after the first inning and it was only in the ninth inning that this deadlock ended. Antoan Richardson scored for the Braves in the ninth to re-establish a two-run advantage over the Cardinals before Pujols skilfully
drove in a run in for the home side in the same inning, allowing Nick Punto and Rafael Furcal to complete their runs and level the score at 3-3. Furcal had earlier scored for the Cardinals in the first inning and finished the game 1-for-2.
Craig Kimbrel has been, by far, the best closer this season but a few wayward pitches saw him leak two crucial-runs in a crunch game. His ERA surged slightly to 1.78 but this, nonetheless, remains the best in the Majors.
With scores level, Scott Linebrink failed to stop Matt Holliday from adding the fourth run for the Cardinals and lost his third game of the season. Jason Motte, on the contrary, pitched a perfect tenth for the home team to win his fourth game of the season.
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