Daily Rant: Cardinals earn series split with late inning win

The Cardinals and Dodgers infused a little drama into their game last night with some extra inning baseball. After going stroke for stroke offensively during the first nine innings, the Cardinals upended the Dodgers in the 11th. More details follow after the jump.
Box Score
Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
Los Angeles Dodgers | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 1 |
St Louis Cardinals | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 0 |
WP | F. Salas (1-3) | |||||||||||
LP | J. Wright (4-3) |
AB | R | H | RBI | HR | BB | K | SB | LOB | Season Avg | ||
R. Furcal ss | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .277 | |
J. Jay cf | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .301 | |
M. Holliday lf | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | .317 | |
C. Beltran rf | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | .287 | |
A. Craig 1b | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | .296 | |
Y. Molina c | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .303 | |
D. Freese 3b | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .308 | |
T. Greene pr | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .214 | |
F. Salas p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | |
L. Berkman ph | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .281 | |
J. Kelly pr | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .154 | |
S. Schumaker 2b | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .308 | |
K. Lohse p | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .098 | |
M. Boggs p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | |
D. Descalso ph | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .235 | |
J. Motte p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | |
M. Carpenter ph-3b | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .278 | |
Totals | 37 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 11 | 0 | 12 |
The Positives
- Rafael Furcal only had one hit, but it was a key jab, as his eleventh inning single drove in the winning run.
- Matt Holliday hit a single to keep his average above .315
- Yadier Molina also hit a single
- David Freese had two hits including his 18th double of the season.
- Kyle Lohse pitched seven solid innings and only gave up two earned runs.
- Mitchell Boggs, Jason Motte, and Fernando Salas combined for five innings of scoreless baseball.
Justin’s Jeers
- It was a pitcher’s duel, so obviously some Cardinals were held hitless. Jon Jay, Carlos Beltran, Allen Craig, and Skip Schumaker were silenced.
- The Cardinals stranded twelve runners. Holliday had the most men left on with three.
Three Stars
3) David Freese – Freese’s two hits led the way offensively for the Cardinals.
2) Rafael Furcal – Furcal had the biggest hit of the night with a game-winning single
1) Kyle Lohse – Without Lohse’s performance, the Cardinals don’t make it to the extra innings with their stagnant bats.
Standings
Central | W | L | Pct | GB | Home | Road | RS | RA | Diff | Streak | L10 |
Cincinnati Reds | 58 | 40 | 0.592 | — | 31-18 | 27-22 | 413 | 353 | 60 | Won 7 | 8-2 |
Pittsburgh Pirates | 55 | 42 | 0.567 | 2.5 | 33-16 | 22-26 | 394 | 357 | 37 | Won 1 | 6-4 |
St Louis Cardinals | 52 | 46 | 0.531 | 6 | 28-21 | 24-25 | 478 | 387 | 91 | Won 2 | 6-4 |
Milwaukee Brewers | 44 | 53 | 0.454 | 13.5 | 26-23 | 18-30 | 433 | 447 | -14 | Lost 6 | 3-7 |
Chicago Cubs | 40 | 57 | 0.412 | 17.5 | 24-21 | 16-36 | 356 | 428 | -72 | Lost 1 | 5-5 |
Houston Astros | 34 | 65 | 0.343 | 24.5 | 24-24 | 10-41 | 378 | 494 | -116 | Lost 9 | 1-9 |
Today’s Game
The Cardinals take on the Dodgers in the fourth game of their four game set today at 12:45. The Cardinals have already secured a series tie, but are looking for a win today. The surprisingly resurgent Chris Capuano starts for the Dodgers against Jake Westbrook. Capuano is 10-5 with a 2.81 ERA. He has five wins in fourteen career starts against St Louis and a 5.33 ERA to match. Westbrook is 8-8 with a 3.60 ERA and has only one career start against the Dodgers.