Braden Looper struggled for the second straight start, only this time instead of missing the strike zone and narrowly avoiding a disaster, he had trouble avoiding the bats of the San Francisco Giants in an 8-2 loss this afternoon.
Looper was undone by a rough 3rd inning, where the Giants put together 6 straight hits during a 6 run explosion in the inning, and his day ended with 7 earned runs and 10 hits over only 3 innings of work. Jonathan Sanchez left the St. Louis batters baffled for the second straight game, allowing only 2 hits over 5 innings. The Cards would only be able to put up 8 hits on the game, and Troy Glaus was the only Cardinal with multiple hits, going 2-3 with a walk, 1 run and an RBI. Rico Washington picked up the other St. Louis RBI in pinch-hitting duty, although both runs were scored in the bottom of the 9th and the damage had already been done.
The Cardinals will try to shake off their first losing streak of the season tomorrow night at Miller Park against the Milwaukee Brewers, sending Adam Wainwright (2-1, 2.78 ERA) to the hill against Brewers righty Carlos Villanueva (1-2, 6.19 ERA) at 7:15pm (Central time).
