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The Leading Logic In Sports Handicapping |
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ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- Aaron Miles' walk-off grand slam erased a
blown save by Jason Isringhausen and propelled the St. Louis
Cardinals to a 9-5 victory and a four-game sweep of the San
Diego Padres on Sunday.
With one out in the ninth inning, Albert Pujols drew a walk and
advanced to third when Padres catcher Luke Carlin threw the ball
into right field trying to nail Pujols after a missed sacrifice
by pitcher Brad Thompson.
"We really had the momentum on our side goingg into that
inning," Carlin said. "I just made a mental mistake, I've got
to hold on to the ball there. I tried to be overly aggressive
and unfortunately it hurt us."
Yadier Molina pinch hit for Thompson and was intentionally
walked along with Skip Schumaker to load the bases for Miles,
who sent a 2-1 pitch from Brian Corey (1-2) into the Cardinals
bullpen in right for his second career grand slam and first
career walk-off homer.
"Aaron Miles hits a grand slam? Fantasy Island," said St. Louis
manager Tony La Russa, whose team moved a season-high 14 games
over .500 with their fifth straight win. "He is just a tough
competitor. The situation didn't scare him, evidently."
Ending the game with his 15th career long ball was farthest from
the mind of the five-foot-eight Miles.
"Put bat on ball and preferably get something up to hit," Miles
said. "(Corey) has a pretty good sinker, so that's all I'm
really trying to do."
Troy Glaus looked to be the Cardinals hero in the eighth, when
he connected for a three-run home run off of Heath Bell to give
St. Louis a 5-3 lead.
"It was a fastball up," Glaus said. "Heath has a real good
fastball and with a runner on second base I was just trying to
get on top and put a good swing on it and hopefully drive him in
and tie the game up, fortunately it went out."
It was the third homer of the series and fifth in the last six
games for Glaus, who is hitting .528 (19-for-36) during his
current nine-game hitting streak.
Isringhausen was called upon to get his first save for the
Cardinals since May 5 but the former closer was unable to shut
the door, allowing a one-out single to Scott Hairston in front
of a RBI double from Edgar Gonzalez to bring the Padres within
one.
Brian Giles followed with a single to place runners on first and
third and knock Isringhausen out of the game. Thompson (2-2)
was brought in to face Kevin Kouzmanoff, who lined a double to
center to knot the score at 5-5 and place runners on second and
third.
Chase Headley was intentionally walked to load the bases before
Thompson got Carlin to ground into a force out at the plate, and
Adrian Gonzalez to line out to first to end the threat.
San Diego starter Cha Seung Baek was strong for 6 1/3 innings in
the 95-degree heat, allowing two runs - one earned - while
scattering six hits with a walk and three strikeouts. The
righthander retired 13 of 14 batters through the sixth inning
before tiring in the seventh.
"Baek threw well," Padres manager Bud Black said. "To hold this
lineup down, especially the guys in the middle of the order, he
did a very good job. You can't ask more than that on a day like
today."
Baek also contributed at the plate, connecting for his first
major league home run, a two-run shot traveling 403 feet to the
left-center field bleachers, to give the Padres a 3-1 edge in
the fifth. It was only the second hit in 11 at-bats for the
South Korean since coming to San Diego in June in a trade with
Seattle.
Making his first major league start since being called u
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