The Cardinals put the finishing touches on a fantastic month of April this afternoon with a 5-2 win over the Cincinnati Reds to put their record at 18-11. Braden Looper pitched a great game en route to his 4th win of the year and Aaron Miles and Rick Ankiel anchored the offense, each knocking home 2 RBI on the game.
Miles, playing 2nd base and batting 2nd in the lineup, went 2-4 on the day with the 2 RBI and 2 runs scored, while Ankiel was 3-3 with 2 RBI and a walk. Chris Duncan had a nice day at the plate, going 1-2 with a run scored and 2 walks. Meanwhile, Looper allowed 2 runs on 7 hits over 6 innings to put his record at 4-1 on the year with a 3.86 ERA, continuing the trend of surprising starting pitching from Dave Duncan’s staff. 4 pitchers combined to shut down the Reds’ bats from that point on, including a perfect inning from Jason Isringhausen, who secured his 9th save of the year.
The Cards will get a day off tomorrow before welcoming the Chicago Cubs to Busch Stadium for the first really big series of the young year as the two teams battle for 1st place in the NL Central. St. Louis sends ace Adam Wainwright (3-1, 2.79 ERA) to the hill against Cubs lefty Rich Hill (1-0, 3.79 ERA) Friday night at 7:15pm (Central time).
