Abraham Nunez spent the first eight seasons of his Major League career in Pittsburgh and on Monday he returned with a vengeance. Nunez went 3-for-4 with a run and an RBI as the Cardinals topped the Pirates 3-1.
Nunez collected his first hit of the day when he drove in David Eckstein with a single in the first inning to give St. Louis a 1-0 lead.
So Taguchi drove in a run in the top of the third inning with a single to score Jim Edmonds to top the Cardinals up 2-0. Later in the inning, Hector Luna reached on an infield single to score Nunez.
Freddy Sanchez drove in the only run of the game for the Pirates, with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the third. After that, there would be no scoring.
The Cardinals out hit the Pirates 12-3, but St. Louis stranded ten runners on Monday. Luckily for the Cardinals, Mark Mulder was in top form. Mulder (15-6) lasted eight innings and allowed one run off three hits and two walks with three strikeouts to get the win. Mulder has now won seven of his last eight decisions.
