The St. Louis Cardinals kicked off their three game series with the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday evening with a 2-0 win. It was a very good quality win for the Cardinals as they shut out the potent Phillies offense to improve to 51-40 on the season.
Rick Ankiel smashed a solo home run in the fifth inning and than Ryan Ludwick added a solo shot in the sixth inning for the Cardinals. Those two runs were their only runs for the game. It was a good thing that the offense threw the ball as well as they did.
Joel Pineiro tossed the first 6 1/3 innings of the game to get the win. Pineiro improved his season record to 3-4. Pineiro allowed five hits but zero runs while walking three and striking out three. Ron Villone recorded the final two outs of the seventh inning after Pineiro left the game. Kyle McClellan tossed the eighth inning without allowing a hit and then Ryan Franklin closed out the game in the ninth inning to record his 12th save of the season.
It was a huge win for the Cardinals as they try to keep pace with the Chicago Cubs. I have to wonder if the Cardinals will try to make a big move after the Brewers traded for CC Sabathia and the Cubs just traded for Rich Harden. What will the Cardinals do?
