The Cardinals had a great back and forth game with the Cubs yesterday that featured five runs scored in the last three innings and five lead changes to go with it. How did the Cardinals outlast their regional rivals? Find out after the jump.

The game started off with Kyle Lohse facing off against the Cubs offense. David DeJesus and Tony Camapan led things off with singles. DeJesus then scored on a Starlin Castro single and Bryan LaHair scored Campana on a double play ball. Alfonso Soriano hit a double and scored on an Ian Stewart single. Lohse induced a Welington Castillo pop up to end the inning. Down 3-0, the Cardinals came in to the bottom of the first in a hole. Rafael Furcal flew out, but Skip Schumaker and Matt Holliday reached base on singles. Allen Craig scored Schumaker with a double and Holliday scored on a David Freese ground out. Yadier Molina took a walk, but Matt Carpenter popped up to end the inning with the Cardinals down 3-2.

The second inning wasn’t as exciting for the Cubs as Lohse started to settle in. He retired Darwin Barney, Paul Maholm, and DeJesus in order to end the inning. To start off the second for the Cardinals, Tyler Greene hit a double and was advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Kyle Lohse. He then scored on a Rafael Furcal ground out and Schumaker struck out to end the inning with the score tied at three.

The third was uneventful for both sides as Campana, Castro, and LaHair were retired in order for the Cubs. Holliday flew out for the Cardinals and Allen Craig’s single was erased by a David Freese double play ball.

Lohse continued to cruise in the fourth as he retired Alfonso Soriano, Ian Stewart, and Castillo. In the bottom frame, Yadi struck out and Carpenter flew out. Greene reached base again, but Lohse struck out to end the inning.

The Cubs continued their struggles against Lohse in the fifth as Barney hit a single that was erased on a fielder’s choice by Maholm, who was then taken out with a double play ball by DeJesus. Furcal and Schumaker led off the fifth with ground outs, but Holliday took the lead for the Cardinals with a solo home run. Craig took a walk, but Freese struck out to end the inning with the Cardinals up 4-3.

In the sixth, Campana and Castro struck out to lead things off, but Bryan LaHair hit his fifth home run against the Cardinals to tie the game back up at four. Soriano then popped up to end the inning. In the bottom frame, Yadi and Carpenter were retired. Green took a walk, but Kyle Lohse grounded out to end the inning.

Lohse induced ground outs out of Stewart in Castillo to start the seventh, but gave up a double to Barney who then scored on a pinch hit single by Reed Johnson. Marc Rzepczynski then relieved Lohse and forced a groundout by DeJesus. The Cubs took the lead, though, making it a 5-4 game. Kerry Wood came in for Paul Maholm and started things off with a walk to Furcal. Schumaker flew out and Holliday took a walk to put runners on first and second. Craig then hit a single to score Furcal and advance Holliday the third. The threat was erased on a Freese double play ball, but the Cardinals had tied the game at five.

Scrabble induced three straight ground balls to shut down the Cubs in the eighth. James Russell came in to the game for the Cubs and started off with a strike out of Yadier Molina. Matt Carpenter hit his third home run on the season to give the Cardinals the lead and Tyler Greene followed that with a triple. Carlos Beltran was intentionally walked in a pinch hit at bat and was replaced on the base paths by Daniel Descalso. Furcal grounded into a fielder’s choice which took Greene out at home and Shane Robinson hit a pinch hit pop up to end the inning with the Cardinals up 6-5.

Jason Motte came in to record the save for the Cardinals, but it wasn’t his day as he gave up a home run to Soriano. Stewart flew out and Castillo walked, putting the go ahead run at first. Barney grounded out and Adrian Cardenas hit a pinch hit pop up to end the inning. In the bottom half, Rafael Dolis came in to get the save for the Cubs. He started his effort off with a single to Matt Holliday. Allen Craig struck out and Freese advanced Holliday to second on a ground out. Yadi then hit a single to shallow right that scored Holliday, giving the Cardinals their 21st win of the season with a 7-6 score.

Box Score

Final		1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		R		H		E
	Chi Cubs	3	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	1	6	10	0
	St. Louis	2	1	0	0	1	0	1	1	1	7	12	0
WP: J. Motte (2-1) LP: R. Dolis (2-3)

Note from the Game

• Jon Jay landed on the DL after feeling lingering pains in his shoulder after crashing into the wall back in April. Shane Robinson was called back up to take his spot. Unfortunately, while Robinson made it to St Louis for the yesterday’s game, his luggage did not.
• Carlos Beltran was benched with what he describes as a “stiff and sore knee”
• Lance Berkman was a late scratch because Mike Matheny wanted to find at bats for both Freese and Carpenter.

Today’s Game

The Cardinals head to San Francisco for a two game set with the Giants. 2-2 Jaime Garcia takes his 4.09 ERA to the mound to take on 5-2 Madison Bumgarner who sports a 2.80 ERA. Bumgarner is looking to become the fourth pitcher in Giants history to win nine consecutive home starts. Game time is set for 10:15 PM and, as always, Redbird Rants will have the recap of the game.

The rebuilding Cubs came into St Louis and took advantage of the cooling St Louis Cardinals. Jake Westbrook put up four solid innings, but it wasn’t enough as the Cubs out-hit the Redbirds. Who performed well for the Cardinals? Find out after the break

Jake Westbrook started the game out on a positive not as he retired the side in order on a strike out and two ground outs. Unfortunately, the Cardinals bats started just as cold as Rafael Furcal popped out, Jon Jay grounded out, and Matt Holliday popped out to end the inning.

A red-hot Bryan LaHair reached base on a fielding error by Matt Holliday, but was erased when Alfonso Soriano grounded into a double play. Ian Stewart and Geovany Soto reached base on back-to-back singles, Darwin Barney loaded the base with a two out walk, but Ryan Dempster grounded out to end the inning. Allen Craig started the bottom half with a single into left field. Lance Berkman flew out and David Freese hit a grounder that erased Craig. Yadier Molina and Skip Schumaker singled to load the bases, but Jake Westbrook struck out to end the threat.

David DeJesus started the third inning with a single, but was caught stealing by Yadi. Tony Campana grounded out, which was followed by singles by Starlin Castro and Bryan LaHair. Alfonso Soriano walked to load the bases, but Ian Stewart struck out to end the inning. The bottom of the third was uneventful for the Cardinals as Furcal, Jay, and Holliday were retired in order.

Darwin Barney hit a double in the fourth, but Soto, Dempster, and DeJesus were retired to end the inning and keep the game scoreless. Allen Craig struck out to begin the fourth. Berkman followed that up with a double, but was left on base after Freese and Molina grounded out.

Westbrook fell apart in the fifth inning. Campana singled to lead things off and then stole second. Starlin Castro scored Campana with a single, and then LaHair hit a home run to clear the bases. Soriano flew out to record the first out. Ian Stewart hit a double and then scored on a Soto single. Barney and Dempster were retired to end the inning, but the Cubs made the score 4-0. Schumaker grounded out and Dan Descalso hit for Westbrook, but popped out. Furcal struck out to end the inning with the Cardinals still scoreless.

Newly called up Eduardo Sanchez came in to relieve Westbrook and retired the side in order. Jay and Holliday started the sixth with consecutive singles, but Craig flew out to record the first out. Berkman hit a single to score Jon Jay. David Freese walked to load the bases, and Yadi cleared them with a double that scored Holliday and Berkman. Freese attempted to score but was called out at home. Schumaker hit a single to score Yadi, but a pinch-hitting Matt Carpenter struck out to end the inning after the Cards tied the game at 4-4.

Victor Marte came in to pitch in the seventh and started off by giving up a single to Bryan LaHair. LaHair stole second and reached third on a Soriano ground out. Ian Stewart struck out to record the second out and Darwin Barney was intentionally walked to load the bases. Reed Johnson then struck out to end the threat. Shawn Camp relieved Ryan Dempster and retired the side in order to keep the game knotted at four.

Mitchell Boggs came in to pitch the eighth and gave up a single to David DeJesus. Tony Campana reached on a field’er choice and advanced to second on a double play ball by Starlin Castro that erased DeJesus. LaHair was intentionally and then Campana scored on a Soriano single. Ian Stewart grounded out to end the inning, but the Cubs held the lead 5-4. Allen Craig hit a double to start the inning, but Berkman, Freese, and Molina were retired to end the inning.

Boggs began the ninth by hitting Soto with a pitch and then Darwin Barney reached base on a fielding error by Skip. Former Cardinal Joe Mather grounded into a fielder’s choice that erased Soto, but Barney scored from second on a throwing error by David Freese. DeJesus and Campana struck out to end the inning, but the Cubs scored the insurance run to make it 6-4. Rafael Dolis came in to close the game out for the Cubs. He struck out Schumaker, induced a pop up by a pinch-hitting Carlos Beltran, and stuck out Furcal to end the game.

Box Score

	Final		1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		R		H		E
	Chi Cubs	0	0	0	0	4	0	0	1	1	6	14	0
	St. Louis	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	4	10	3
WP: S. Camp (2-1) S: R. Dolis (4) LP: M. Boggs (0-1)

What’s On Tap?

The Cardinals hope to end their four game skid, as 5-1 Kyle Lohse takes the mound against 4-2 Paul Maholm. Lohse enters the game with a 2.08 ERA to counter Maholm’s 4.05. Game time is 12:45.