Lance Berkman shines as St. Louis Cardinals over-power Houston Astros 11-7 – MLB Update
St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Lance Berkman hit five RBIs as the Cardinals defeated the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park in Houston on April 28.
The first four innings were scoreless for the Cardinals while the Astros led off with 2-0 in the second inning as Chris Johnson drove a two run shot towards the left-field area. Hunter Pence and Carlos Lee both also made two runs for the Astros but they
could not give their team one big inning.
Johnson also struck a two-run homer in the second inning against the Cardinals’ starter Kyle McClellan. In the third inning, Michael Bourn made a double run while pence singled to take the Astros lead 3-0.
During the fifth inning, Gerald Laird made an RBI single to reduce the Cardinals difference to 3-1. Lee hit an RBI single in the fifth inning for the Astros and extended the lead to 4-1. Berkman then took a charge and hit the ball hard all around the ground.
He outshined the rivals by hitting a solo home-run in the sixth inning and hit a three-run shot against the Astros reliever Fernando Abad after which the Cardinals went ahead with 5-4.
Berkman also forced four runs with the contribution of Albert Pujols who went 2-for-5 in the sixth inning. Matt Holliday added three RBI singles and gave the Cardinals a nine-run inning. For the Astros, Angel Sanchez was the only player who was able to hit
a shot and completed a single run in the sixth inning. The scorecard then moved to 10-5.
During the eighth inning, Lee and Pence both made continuous singles and cut the gap 10-7. Brett Wallace completed a walk with the bases loaded while Pence was unable to give more runs to the Astros because he was thrown out on a slider. Berkman again showed
his hitting abilities and struck another home-run in the ninth inning to extend the lead 11-7.
McClellan was a little bit shaky for the Cardinals as he pitched five innings and gave away five runs on eight hits including five earned runs and just two strike-outs. The Cardinals’ closer Fernando Salas did not allow a run on a single hit in his inning
pitches for the first save.
On the other side, the Astros’ starter Nelson Figueroa allowed four runs on six hits in five inning pitches.
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