Walk to Victory, St. Louis Cardinals

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Just when it looked like the St. Louis Cardinals might fall to the Pittsburgh Pirates, along comes Matt Adams to save the day.

Adams’ walk-off single helped the Cardinals to a 2-1 win in 10 innings in the opener of a three-game set Friday night at Busch Stadium.

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It was a fine start to May for St. Louis, which advanced its record to 16-6 overall and stayed 2 1/2 games in front of the Chicago Cubs. The Cubs beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 1-0, at a stadium that looks like Wrigley Field but has an ugly video board behind the bleachers.

All kidding aside, the Cubs-Cardinals rivalry looks like it will be great this season. But for now, let’s look at the highlights from Busch:

*He ended up not getting a decision, but Lance Lynn deserves applause. Lynn and Pirates starter A.J. Burnett dueled for six innings, but Pittsburgh took a 1-0 lead. Lynn fanned 10 batters in seven innings of work but did not factor in the end.

*Mark Reynolds scored Jhonny Peralta on a base hit in the seventh inning to send the game to extras.

*Being at the top of the lineup appears to have paid dividends for Jon Jay. Jay had two hits to raise his average to .270, and he’s helping to set the stage for Matt Carpenter.

This was a pitchers duel, and it’s worth noting that these two squads have the lowest earned run averages in the National League. These next two games should be quite entertaining.

The series continues Saturday at 2:15 p.m.