Jake Westbrook pitched eight solid innings and kept the ball down, a secret to his success, getting 16 of his 24 outs on ground balls as the Cardinals snapped their three game losing streak beating the San Diego Padres 4-0 Thursday night.
Westbrook won for just the second time in 11 starts while allowing six hits and four walks while striking out three. Padres starter Tim Stauffer allowed all four runs in his five innings. He is 0-4 in his career against the Cards.
Matt Holliday’s two out single, after a lead off double from Skip Schumaker gave the Cardinals a 1-0 lead in the first. They were shut down until Stauffer came out to start the sixth. Albert Pujols had an RBI double snapping him out of a mini slump and after Stauffer was relieved, Yadier Molina later singled in two more runs to put the game out of reach.
Kyle McClellan pitched the ninth in a non-save situation with Ryan Franklin away from the team attending to personal matters. In his return to St. Louis, Ryan Ludwick went 1 for 4.
