Miller battles, Maness Picks Up the W as St. Louis Wins Again

The Cardinals squared off with the Mets in game 3 of the 4 game series and things went much the same as the first 2, with the Cardinals taking yet another victory, 4-2, and improving their record to 26-13 which is still tops for the best record in MLB.

May 15, 2013; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher

(40) throws to a New York Mets batter during the first inning at Busch Stadium. Image Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

It’s no coincidence on a night when Yadier Molina got a rare night off behind the plate that Shelby Miller had to battle his way through 5 and 2/3 IP to hold the Mets scoreless. While it was fairly clear that Miller wasn’t his usual crisp self, he still managed to allow only 4 hits while striking out 6 and walking only 1 batter. In the process, Miller lowered his ERA to a sparkling 1.40 on the season.

Miller gave way to Randy Choate in the 6th inning and Choate once again did his job getting a groundout to end the inning and preserve a 2-0 Cardinals lead.

Seth Maness made his second appearance in as many nights, once again in the 7th inning, but this time things didn’t go so well as he gave up a 2 run homer to former Cardinal Rick Ankiel. Just like that, Miller’s bid for his 6th win went up in smoke.

The Cardinals quickly answered Ankiel’s tying shot in the top half of the inning with a run of their own in the bottom of the 7th when Daniel Descalso reached base with a 2 out walk. Pete Kozma hit a soft liner off Mets starter Shaun Marcum into center field and Descalso advanced to 3rd. Marcum was officially chased on that Kozma hit, and then Mets reliever Scott Rice decided to chuck one to the backstop allowing Descalso to scamper home for the go ahead, and ultimately game winning, run.

Trevor Rosenthal worked the 8th inning registering a hold on only 9 pitches. He has certainly found his stride, and is excelling when called upon.

Following Rosenthal’s rock solid top half of the 8th, the Cards pushed an insurance run across the plate in the bottom of the 8th on a Yadi Molina pinch hit single to score Matt Holliday who had reached on a throwing error by second baseman Daniel Murphy.

Edward Mujica came on to post a 1-2-3 9th inning for his 11th save.

The Cardinals will conclude the 4 game set tomorrow afternoon at Busch with Adam Wainwright looking to improve on his 5-2 record and 2.30 ERA by pitching the Cards to their 2nd 4 game sweep of the season.

That’s a winner, folks! Here’s hoping we get to bust out some brooms tomorrow!