St. Louis Cardinals finish month on high note

Cardinals close May with victory

Now this is more like it.

The second month of the season has come to a close, and the St. Louis Cardinals find themselves in a familiar position.

The Cardinals closed out May with a 3-1 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday at Busch Stadium to maintain at least a six-game lead over the Chicago Cubs in the standings.

This was an emotional day for everyone involved. The Cardinals paid tribute to Oscar Taveras, the team’s highly-touted outfield prospect who was killed in a car accident in the Dominican Republic in the offseason.

This time, St. Louis scored in the first inning and the runs stuck. A two-run first inning put the Cardinals on the board as Jhonny Peralta homered and drove in a pair. Peralta later added an eighth-inning RBI single that scored Jon Jay and provided the team with its final margin of victory.

Carlos Martinez overcame some recent struggles and posted eight strikeouts over seven innings of work, improving his ERA to 3.13 in the process. Kevin Siegrist and Trevor Rosenthal each pitched an inning and Rosenthal earned his 15th save of the season.

Outfielder Matt Holliday missed the game Sunday due to continuing flu-like symptoms. The illness isn’t a serious one, and Holliday is expected back when his condition improves.

All told, the Cardinals needed this win to show they could do well against potential playoff teams come October, but we have plenty of baseball remaining in the regular season.

Up next

There is no off day for the Cardinals, as they welcome the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday for the start of a National League Central series.

Jaime Garcia (1-1, 3.46 ERA) takes the hill for St. Louis to face Milwaukee starter Matt Garza (2-7, 6.00). Game time is Monday at 8:15 p.m.