St. Louis Cardinals

St. Louis Cardinals

Matt Carpenter hit a two-run homer off Kevin Gregg in the 11th inning, lifting St. Louis over Cincinnati 7-5, cooling off the Reds who started the season with four straight wins.  The victory gives the Cardinals a 3-2 record as they make their Busch Stadium debut Monday afternoon at 3:05 vs. the Milwaukee Brewers.

Before Carpenter’s heroics in extras, St. Louis needed to get there.  Jhonny Peralta hit a two-run shot off reliever Jumbo Diaz. Peralta finished with two hits and leads all the regulars with a .333 average in the first week of the season.

Carlos Villanueva picked up the win throwing two innings of relief.  He saved the game in the tenth, getting Todd Frazier to strike out with the bases loaded.  This was the 13th straight series the Cardinals have won over the Reds.

St. Louis starter Carlos Martinez struck out a career-high eight in six innings, giving up two runs and four hits.

Adam Wainwright will pitch for the first time in eight days when he starts the home opener today.  It’s Waino’s second start of the season after games were pushed back by last Tuesday’s rainout in Chicago.