Mulder shuts out Astros for win in 10

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Walker single plates Sanders with winning run

ST. LOUIS -- Mark Mulder showed his teammates, his coaches, St. Louis fans and a future Hall of Famer just why the Cardinals dealt for him this past winter. Facing Roger Clemens, Mulder pitched 10 shutout innings as the Cards eked out a 1-0 win over the Astros. Mulder was very good five days earlier in Pittsburgh, but he was great at Busch Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Mulder, who needed a mere 101 pitches -- of which 75 went for strikes -- to finish his outing, becoming the first Cardinals pitcher to go at least 10 innings since Jose DeLeon went 11 on Aug. 30, 1989. It was his ninth career shutout and 23rd complete game, but his first of each in a St. Louis uniform.

Larry Walker singled home Reggie Sanders with one out in the 10th inning to make sure that Mulder, unlike DeLeon, was the winner. Sanders led off the inning with an infield hit and advanced to second on David Eckstein's grounder.

"It was good to get the hit," said Walker, "but I think all the focus should be on what was on the mound to start the game, Clemens and Mulder. It was phenomenal. It was one of those days where if you paid money for a ticket to come watch, you got to watch something pretty special. For two guys to go out there and battle like that, it was a lot of fun. Not only to watch, but to play in, too."

It was career win No. 2,125 for St. Louis manager Tony La Russa, moving him into a tie for fifth on the all-time wins list. He pulled even with the legendary Joe McCarthy, who skippered the Yankees to seven World Series titles in the 1930s and 1940s.

Clemens tossed seven shutout innings to increase his scoreless streak to 23 straight, but the Astros scored exactly one run over the course of that streak. The right-hander was lifted for a pinch-hitter in the top of the eighth after 126 tosses. The rematch of last year's All-Star Game starters turned out to be a more compelling duel than the Midsummer Classic itself.

While the Cards had chances against Clemens, leaving the bases loaded twice, Mulder was rarely so much as threatened. He permitted four hits, all singles, and didn't issue a walk. The only Astros hitter to get so far as second base was Adam Everett, who reached base on an error and advanced to scoring position on a broken-bat grounder.

Jason Lane led off the 10th with a single off Mulder, but the lefty quickly induced a double play, and got Chris Burke to fly out to end the inning. He got 17 groundouts against seven outs in the air.

"Whether it's the ninth or the 10th or the eighth, when it's 0-0, it's big," Mulder said. "You've got to make good pitches. You've got to be focused. And after getting that leadoff hit -- I threw it right down the middle, it didn't sink for me -- I was trying to get a double play, and I was fortunate enough that I did."

There was a brief fear that Mulder might not even make it out of the fourth, however. Mike Lamb's bat shattered on a groundball, and the barrel of the bat hit Mulder on his ankle. He doubled over in pain but was able to strike out Lane to end the inning.

"It hit me right on the ball on the inside of your ankle," said Mulder. "I saw it at the last second, and I tried to pull my foot out and it hit me right in a spot where it made my whole foot go numb. So I just fell because I couldn't stand up. The feeling, it started coming back. I was fine at the end of the game, but now since I had to ice it, it's sore. But it's fine."

Mulder had been winless with an 8.18 ERA in two previous starts at home. However, he didn't permit an earned run in eight innings in Pittsburgh on Monday before tossing his masterpiece on a chilly Saturday afternoon.

"It's huge," said Sanders. "He showed me some heart today. He really did. He showed me what he was all about. Under the circumstances of the game from the beginning, and then for 10 innings... The 10th inning, he was like it was the first inning. You want to fight for somebody like that."

Sanders led off the 10th with an infield dribbler against Chad Qualls. Rather than sacrificing, La Russa elected to hit-and-run with Eckstein, and it worked as the shortstop hit a bouncer to the right side to advance Sanders. Houston manager Phil Garner called on Brad Lidge to get out of the jam, but Walker lined a base hit into the gap in right-center to end the game. Despite pitching 2 1/3 otherwise spotless innings, Qualls was charged with the run and the loss.

"To put the ball in play off [Lidge] is tough to do," said Walker. "He's that good. We fill out forms on who's the toughest pitcher to face, and I put his name down because he's got phenomenal stuff."

The Cardinals have won eight of their last nine games to improve to 11-5. They lead Houston, the Cubs and Cincinnati by 3 1/2 games in the National League Central Division.

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This was an awsome game!