Jake Westbrook shines as St. Louis Cardinals defeat Houston Astros 7-4 – MLB Update
St. Louis Cardinals’ starter, Jake Westbrook was outstanding as he went 1-for-2 with three RBIs and struck-out three batters in the Cardinals’ 7-4 victory over the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park, Houston on June 7.
Both teams started their first inning in a splendid way as the Cardinals scored two runs at the top of the first while the Astros also posted two runs on the score-board in reply. For the Cardinals, Lance Berkman struck a solo homer (426 feet) towards centre-field
and Colby Rasmus added one run to end the first inning.
On the other hand, the Astros’ first baseman, Carlos Lee hit a one-run homer (397 feet) to left-field and Hunter Pence contributed a tie run at the bottom of the first. The score-board was 2-2 after the first inning. No run was added by any batter in the
second and third inning.
The Cardinals went ahead 5-2 in the fourth inning by hitting three runs. Jake Westbrook doubled to left centre-field while Yadier Molina, Skip Schumaker and Daniel Descalso each scored three runs jointly to complete a three-run campaign.
Fifth inning passed score-less as the pitchers maintained their line to restrict the scoring shots of the batters. In the sixth inning, the Astros’ batters took one run to cut their deficit 5-3. Jeff Keppinger posted a single run when Matt Downs drove a
shot towards deep right centre and Chris Johnson occupied third base.
The batters failed to contribute any run for their team during the seventh inning. Westbrook was impressive with the ball as pitched just over five innings with an ERA of 5.01 and gave just three runs on eight hits including two earned runs. He allowed just
three walks on his 100 pitches.
Westbrook commented on the game and said, “I think I actually learned a little bit from my pinch-hit experience the other night. I wanted to be aggressive, but I also wanted to get a pitch to hit.”
The Cardinals extended their lead 6-3 in the eighth inning when Albert Pujols homered (423 feet) to left-field. The Cardinals’ manager, Tony La Russa was pleased with the recent performance of Pujols. Speaking to reporters, he said, “Pujols is a great ballplayer.
He does great things.”
The Astros’ manager, Brad Mills said, “The guys are giving us those quality at-bats. The hits aren't coming in those situations, but they will.”
During the ninth inning, both the teams posted one run to move their score-card 7-4. Descalso added a single run for the Cardinals when Ryan Theriot doubled to deep right-field. Chris Johnson hit a ground rule double to deep right and Lee scored one run
to end the game.
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