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LaRue, Cardinals rough up Pirates

Baseball Betting Lines

08/21/2008 - St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jason LaRue hit a two-run homer, doubled and finished with three runs batted in, as St. Louis blasted Pittsburgh, 11-2, in the finale of a two-game set with the Pirates.

Rick Ankiel also had a two-run blast, while Skip Schumaker went 3-for-4 with a walk and run batted in for the Cardinals, who split the series and ended a two-game slide.

Todd Wellemeyer (11-4) allowed both Pirates runs on five hits and a pair of walks in five innings of work. He also struck out five on the way to winning his third consecutive start and fourth straight decision.

Jason Davis (1-3) was rocked for eight runs -- six earned -- on nine hits and three walks in just 3 2/3 frames to absorb the loss. Craig Hansen allowed three runs on three hits in two innings of relief for Pittsburgh, which had a two-game win streak snapped.

Ryan Doumit provided all the offense for the Pirates with a two-run homer, and finished 3-for-4 with a double.

The Cardinals put two runs on the board in the second inning. With runners in scoring position and no outs, LaRue hit a sacrifice fly to right field, and Wellemeyer followed with a base hit to right that plated another run. Doumit's two-run blast in the top of the third tied the game at two.

But in the home third, the Cardinals started to pull away. Schumaker led off with a single and Ryan Ludwick followed with a double. Albert Pujols drove in one run with a ground out to short, bringing up Ankiel, who crushed the ball beyond the center-field wall to put St. Louis ahead 5-2.

The Cardinals added three more runs in the fourth. With runners on the corners and one out, Schumaker slapped a single to right, plating one run and again placing runners on the corners. Ludwick hit a sacrifice fly to make it a 7-2 game.

Pujols then walked, and after a wild pitch let the runners advance, Ankiel worked a free pass to load the bases. Troy Glaus walked to force a runner in, ending Davis' day on the mound. Romulo Sanchez entered and got Felipe Lopez to ground out, but not before St. Louis had a six-run lead.

Sanchez worked 2 1/3 innings of scoreless ball, but Hansen took the mound in the seventh. He gave up a one-out single to Glaus, and two batters later, LaRue slugged the ball to left for the two-run homer and a 10-2 Cardinals lead.

Pujols completed the scoring in the eighth with an RBI double, plating Schumaker.

Game Notes

The Pirates next travel to Milwaukee to begin a three-game set Friday with the Brewers...St. Louis hosts Atlanta for three games, with that series also beginning Friday...Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright is expected to come off the disabled list and make the start Friday against the Braves. He has been on the DL since early June with a sprained right middle finger...St. Louis pitcher Kyle Lohse was suspended five games and fined an undisclosed amount on Wednesday. Lohse was penalized for an incident in his last start on Sunday, when he threw a pitch near the head of the Reds' Edinson Volquez during the fifth inning of Cincinnati's 7-3 win. The 29-year-old right-hander decided to appeal the decision and the suspension will not begin until a ruling has been made.