St. Louis Cardinals overpower Atlanta Braves 4-3 for back-to-back win – MLB Update
St Louis Cardinals defeated Atlanta Braves 4-3 in the second outing of the three-game series at Busch Stadium in St. Louis on Saturday, September 10 to take a 2-0 lead.
Cardinals scored two runs each in the bottom of the first and the third inning to acquire an early lead. Albert Pujols led the game off with his line drive RBI single off the Braves’ starter Derek Lowe in the first inning. Then third baseman David Freese
took the score to 2-0 with his RBI single.
In the third inning, Matt Holliday doubled to occupy right-field then Lance Berkman doubled to right-field for an RBI single. With Berkman on second base, Freese struck-out and then Molina singled to centre after two balls and two strikes, to get the fourth
run and take his club into a dominating lead until the end of the third inning.
"I don't think you can look too far down the road," Berkman said. "If we come out and lay an egg (Sunday), then the series doesn't mean a whole lot because we really haven't gained that much ground. If we can somehow win the game tomorrow, then it gets really
interesting."
Garcia on the other hand, was holding the Braves bat to no-score in the first three innings but he gave a home-run for two-runs to Freddie Freeman in the top of the fourth inning. He then permitted a third run to Brian McCann in the top of the fifth inning.
These runs completely destabilised Garcia and he yielded another hit in the sixth inning.
It made the Cardinals’ manager Tony La Russa change Garcia with relief pitcher Marc Rzepczynski. The move worked as Marc tossed a one-hit seventh in the crucial time to hold the Cardinals into a leading position. Fernando Salas followed with a no-hitter
eighth for his fifth hold of the season and then closer Jason Motte earned his fourth save with a perfect ninth.
Lowe lost his 14th game of the season, permitting four runs on nine hits and allowing two walks over six innings. Lowe always had a tough time against the Cardinals as he had a 1-8 record with a 6.79 ERA in 10 career starts.
"For some unknown reason, this team gives me fits," Lowe said. "You look at the numbers against this team and it's awful."
Cardinals’ back-to-back 4-3 wins will be of great trouble for the Braves, who are among the post-season prospects with 84 wins.
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