Fifth Time’s a Charm

Finally.  The Cardinals beat the Royals.  Heading into tonight’s game, Kansas City had taken all four previous meetings between the two clubs, including a sweep of the Redbirds at Busch.  With the win, the Cardinals are poised to take this series with a win tomorrow afternoon.

Mitchell Boggs was the story in this one.  He got the nod over recently activated Mark Mulder, and after a shaky start, cruised to his third win of the season. He pitched six plus, on 96 pitches, allowing 1 run on just 4 hits, while striking out 6.  The lone run scored after Boggs had departed with two on in the seventh. Kyle McClellan pitched two innings, and Russ Springer finished the game.

The Cardinals managed seven hits from seven different batters, including Rick Ankiel’s fifteenth home run of the season, a two run shot in the sixth.  Only Troy Glaus and Brendan Ryan didn’t reach base.  5-1 was the final score.  Here’s the complete box score.

Now back at ten games over .500, with a record of 46-36, the Cardinals trail Chicago by 3.5 games.  After tomorrow’s finale in KC, the Cards will host the Mets for four, followed by a very important three games series against Cubs over the 4th of July weekend.  I’ll be making the trip to St. Louis to see us kick some Baby Bear butt!

For now, it’s one game at a time, starting with Braden Looper against Brian Bannister tomorrow.  Go Cards!