Cardinals outfielder Colby Rasmus supplied some power with his second major league home run and Albert Pujols drove in two runs as the Cardinals keep pace with Milwaukee atop the NL Central with a 5-1 win over the Pirates.
Mitchell Boggs pitched just 4 1/3 innings, and the bullpen retired four in a row to hold on for the win. The good news is the Cardinals got the win, but looking at the big picture, the Cardinals will need more than 4.1 innings from starting pitchers if they hope to hang onto to the top spot in the division.
Rasmus hit a first-pitch fastball from Pittsburgh starter Jeff Karstens that hit the sidewalk outside the park and bounced into the Allegheny River. They say the ball went 458 feet. That was just the 25 th time a ball has plopped into the river.
With an off day coming up, this may have been Boggs’ last start. Chris Carpenter appears as though he may be ready to come back from his rib cage strain.
With a 3-1 lead in the 8 th , singles Skip Schumaker and Shane Robinson and a wild pitch put them on second and third. The Pirates pitched to Pujols who on a 1-2 count singled up the middle to drive in both runs.
