Nick Punto’s 11th inning triple help St. Louis Cardinals beat Atlanta Braves, 5-3: MLB Update
St. Louis Cardinals' infielder, Nick Punto, proved his Club's spot by making decisive triple in the additional 11th inning as the Cardinals defeated the
Atlanta Braves by 5-3 at the Turner Field in Atlanta on April 29.
Punto said of his performance, “I was looking for a fastball. I got a fastball, middle in, and put some good wood on it. It didn't hit anybody. It landed in the corner,
so we got a couple of runs.”
The Cardinals were unable to score any run in the first inning. Jason Heyward hit a solo homer in the first inning for the Braves to take their lead 1-0. He went 2-for-5,
including one RBI single. Then both the teams were scoreless in the second and third inning. After that, Daniel Descalso made two-out single in the fourth inning to tie the score at 2-2.
The scorecard was still tied with 2-2 in the sixth inning. Nate McLouth hit a tie breaking single in the seventh inning and led off the Braves 3-2. He struck his first
home run of the season since a long span. McLouth was hit out on the double play against Chris Carpenter. Molina hit a sacrifice fly while Ryan Theriot made a single and went 2-for-4 to tie the score-card again, but with 3-all.
The game was levelled so additional two innings were given to both sides. The Cardinals rallied the game in the 11th inning by driving two runs and extended the lead
5-3. The Cardinals' Manager, Tony La Russa, was contended with the team’s performance.
He said, “A hellacious game. I can't feel better about our club. Our whole club feels good. Everybody contributed.”
The Cardinals' pitchers threw well to restrict the Braves. Carpenter had a remarkable day as he gave away just three runs on 10 hits including three earned runs average
and struck out three batters in seven inning pitches. The Cardinals reliever Eduardo Sanchez pitched superbly as he threw two innings without giving any score and also had three strike-outs. Trever Miller pitched in the end for the first save.
On the other side, the Braves' starter Tim Hudson pitched tightly but unluckily his team lost the game. Speaking to reporters, he said, “Obviously, it was a more melodramatic
day than usual. But tomorrow is a new day. We'll come out and try to win that one.”
Hudson allowed two runs on six hits with three strike-outs in six inning pitches.
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