St. Louis Cardinals’ defeat Chicago Cubs 6-1 ending 2-game losing streak - MLB Update
After losing two-straight games from defending World Series Champions the San Francisco Giants, the National League’s current leader St. Louis Cardinals came back to their original form with a 6-1 victory over Chicago Cubs in the first fixture of the three-game
series at Busch Stadium on Friday, June 3.
The Cardinals’ batting line-up that remained under pressure against the Giants started to express its strength right from the first inning. Right-fielder Lance Berkman, who has not made a hit since May 29 when he added a vital run against the Colorado Rockies,
splashed a splendid 429-feet long three-run homer off the Cubs’ starter Ryan Dempster in the first inning.
As the line-up has not awakened fully, the Cardinals remained scoreless in the next three innings until Skip Schumaker scored on a wild pitch by Dempster to short-stop Ryan Theriot in the bottom of the fourth inning.
By this time, the Cardinals’ starter Jaime Garcia held the opposition scoreless but in the top of the fifth inning, the Cubs’ Luis Montanez earned an RBI single on a throwing error by Lance Berkman. However, Garcia did not lose his strength with the ball
and completed his eight innings spell, allowing one run on four hits, walking one and making eight strike-outs to win his sixth game of the season.
The Cardinals’ high-rated slugger, Albert Pujols, on the other hand, hammered a 383-foot two-run homer off Dempster in the bottom of the fifth inning to finalise the score 6-1. It proved to be the last inning for Dempster in the game as the Cubs’ manager
Mike Quade replaced Dempster with reliever James Russell.
The 34-year-old right-handed Dempster, who was making his 13th start of the season, allowed all six runs on eight hits and walked three over five innings to bear his fifth loss of the season.
Russell took the ball from Dempster in the sixth inning and dominated with his fastballs. He allowed just one hit and took out three batters over one inning. Reliever Rodrigo Lopez too provided strong back up to Russell with his hitless one inning and closer
John Grabow showed the same kind of performance but the damage occurred in the opening innings could not be cured.
The Cardinals’ closer Eduardo Sanchez tossed a perfect last inning to take his club into their 34th win of the season.
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