Stan Musial Seventh Inning Stretch

The Cardinals bid for the sweep is in danger. St. Louis trails Arizona 4-1 through six-plus innings. The seventh inning stretch gives us a moment to recount the action to this point.

Suppan fails to deliver.

Jeff Suppan will have to get his first win next time after a mediocre start. The righthander lasted 5 2/3 innings and allowed four runs to the D’Backs. Suppan threw 109 pitches, an improvement over his previous starts, but couldn’t finish a complete outing. He was close, but Chris Young’s fifth inning home run put Arizona up 3-1. Later, he walked pitcher Dan Haren who came to bat as a pinch hitter in the sixth with two outs and nobody on base. The walk came back to haunt Suppan as Arizona turned it into its fourth run, providing some room for error in the final frames. From a one-run start to four, Suppan pitched better but a few mistakes kept him from a great one.

Enright comes through on the big stage.

Barry Enright made his major league debut and did a good job for Arizona. He kept his team in it and has them in position to pick up a much-needed victory. It wasn’t perfect or pretty at all times, but Enright was effective. He fought through five innings and a couple of jams in an exhausting start. The Cards forced him to throw 101 pitches and put pressure on him, but couldn’t break through with the big hit. St. Louis left eight on base against the rookie. Right now, it was an exhausting but memorable day for the 24-year-old.

Enright made fewer mistakes than his counterpart and that’s the difference with a few at bats left.

Offensive firepower runs out of gas.

The awesome display from Albert Pujols and Felipe Lopez at the plate last night came to an end today. Matt Holliday provided the lone highlight for St. Louis in the first with a triple that scored Albert Pujols. After that, Enright settled in and the Arizona bullpen has held the lead. Young’s home run broke an early tie and is the difference at this point.

Check back after the game for a look at today’s action through a photo gallery. The Cardinals will need some late inning drama like Monday night’s comeback to take the brooms back out of the closet.