Independence Day has been great for the Cardinals the last seven years. They’ve not lost a 4th of July game since 1999, holding that mark with a 6-3 win over the Braves, Tuesday.
The game was suspended for almost three hours in the top of the sixth inning. Right before the game resumed, Braves officials announced to the crowd that the postgame fireworks had been canceled until after Wednesday’s game. By then, the Cardinals had already provided fireworks of its own. Leadoff batter, David Eckstein, drew a walk to start the game. Chris Duncan and Albert Pujols proceeded to reach base before Scott Rolen hit into a double play that scored Eckstein. Jim Edmonds finished the scoring in the inning with an RBI double that gave the Cardinals and Chris Carpenter a 2-0 lead.
Marcus Giles immediately cut the deficit in half homering off Carpenter in the bottom of the first.
The Cardinals upped their lead with another run in the second and two more in the third. Aaron Miles followed Yadier Molina’s leadoff double with an RBI single to center making it 3-1. Juan Encarnacion made it 5-2 with a two-run homer in the third.
Carpenter did his part with a non-impressive, but effective outing. He worked five innings allowing two runs on four hits before passing the game to the bullpen. Adam Wainright, Braden Looper, Randy Flores, and Jason Isringhausen combined to give up a run in four innings of relief. Isringhausen pitched the final 1.1 innings to get his 25th save of the year.
The Cardinals ended a seven-game road losing streak. The win improved St. Louis to 45-37 and increased their lead over the Reds to two games in the National League Central.