Cardinals have their way with Padres

[StlCards4ever515]

11-run first inning leaves little room for doubt in blowout

ST. LOUIS -- St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa called it "a welcome sight" -- twice. Right fielder Larry Walker said it was "Coors Field-ish." Left fielder Reggie Sanders said, simply, "It was good to bust out."
St. Louis' 11-run first inning breakout on Sunday afternoon helped the Cardinals secure a 15-5 victory over the San Diego Padres in front of 46,444 at Busch Stadium and helped ease the sting of dropping three straight games for the first time all season.

"It was a great thing to see, especially because we needed a win so badly," said La Russa, whose club banged out 15 runs on 17 hits. "It was a welcome sight."

It was just what St. Louis needed. In ending their three-game losing streak, the National League Central Division-leading Cardinals improved to 19-11 on the season and 3-7 against teams outside the division. San Diego, which has never swept the Redbirds in a four-game series, fell to 17-15.

"Our team did a great job bouncing back after losing three," said St. Louis starter Jason Marquis, who improved to 5-1 after allowing four runs (on three home runs) on six hits in six innings of work.

Rookie right-hander Brad Thompson allowed one run on two hits over the final three innings to pick up his first professional save in his Major League debut.

The Cardinals lineup made it a little easier on Marquis and Thompson. Every player in the starting lineup had at least one hit with 11 players recording hits in the game. In all the crew collected 17 hits, six doubles, three home runs, 14 RBIs and seven walks.

"We basically won the game in the first inning and put it out of reach," said Walker, who went 3-for-3 with a double, home run, two RBIs and three runs scored. "You obviously don't expect to have innings like that. When you do, you're happy with them. Everybody was pretty relaxed after that, you can kick back and cruise from there."

The first three hitters in the Cardinals lineup -- David Eckstein, Walker and Albert Pujols -- each scored two runs in the first inning, and Scott Rolen, Mark Grudzielanek, Yadier Molina, Marquis and Jim Edmonds all scored.

"That's unbelievable," Molina said of the 11-run first inning. "I've never seen that before. The boys came swinging, so we did a good job."

Rolen drove in four runs in the frame. The Redbirds' third baseman plated the final three runs of the inning with a double to deep left field off left-handed reliever Randy Williams that a leaping Ryan Klesko failed to corral.

Padres starter Tim Redding, who fell to 0-5 on the year, left the game with a sore right shoulder after surrendering a single to center by Eckstein that put the Cardinals in front 6-0.

Walker blasted a two-run home run into the Cardinals bullpen in right-center in the second inning for his fourth home run of the season and second in two games. Walker and Eckstein, who also scored on the homer, both scored three runs in the first two innings.

St. Louis scored 10 of its 13 runs in the first two innings with two outs.

San Diego got on the scoreboard with back-to-back solo home runs from Jesse Garcia and Klesko in the fourth inning. It was Garcia's second home run this season and Klesko's seventh. The Padres added two more runs in the sixth with a two-run home run by Brian Giles.

The Cardinals made it 15-4 when Abraham Nunez and Sanders hit home runs on consecutive pitches in the seventh inning off San Diego reliever Chris Hammond. St. Louis also hit back-to-back home runs in Saturday's game, when Walker and Pujols both hit homers in the first inning off right-hander Adam Eaton.

Thompson, 23, made his Major League debut when he replaced Marquis for the top of the seventh inning. He walked the first batter he faced, but then retired six in a row.

"It was just unbelievable today," Thompson said. "The atmosphere. All those guys behind me. I've got an All-Star team behind me, so I felt confident in that way but still a little bit nervous out there."

The only negative for the Cardinals on Sunday came when Molina sprained his left ankle while trying to beat out a groundout to shortstop for the third out in the seventh inning.

"The throw made me hit the corner of the base," the catcher said. "It scared me at first, but I feel much better now."

Molina, who went 2-for-5 in the game with a run scored and raised his batting average to .200, had to be helped off the field by trainers Barry Weinberg and Greg Hauck. Einar Diaz replaced him at catcher.

"We'll have to wait to see how it feels tomorrow," La Russa said. "It's not swelling real bad right now, but they got right on it. It's not broken, so I don't know how long that's going to mean, but it could have been worse."

[riverdunesrat]

The title of your thread makes it sound like we are whores......LOL.... :p

[riverdunesrat]

What is the status of Molina anyone know?

[StlCards4ever515]

He just sprained his ankile. So my friend told me.