Betting Odds - Graffiti - Podcast

Ron Martin, President and CEO of online payment processing company, Neteller, has taken the YouTube route. Over $40 million in withdrawals were processed during the first day, according to Martin.

Graffiti Wall Rumor Monger reports on HIS YOU TUBE ADDRESS TO THE PLAYER NATION!

He explained and apologized for his company freezing online gambling funds of US customers.

“Clearly this situation has strained the trust we have built over the years,” Martin said. He ensured it is a priority to get all funds returned.

A number of Neteller customers have acknowledged receiving wired money into their bank accounts.

In January, two co-founders of Neteller were arrested for their engagement in the online gambling industry. Last month, both plead guilty of conspiracy.

Miami, FL - Matt Holliday had two hits, two RBI and scored the go-ahead run in the eighth inning as the Colorado Rockies beat the Florida Marlins, 4-3, in the finale of a three-game series at Dolphin Stadium.

Trailing 3-2, Colorado not only tied it, but took the lead in the eighth inning off Armando Benitez (2-7). Kaz Matsui reached on a bunt single and scored on Holliday’s double to right that made it a 3-3 game. Holliday went to third on the throw home, and after Todd Helton struck out looking, scored on a sacrifice fly by Garrett Atkins that put the Rockies on top.

The Marlins wasted a leadoff single by Jason Wood in the bottom of the frame, and were shut down by Manny Corpas in the ninth as he recorded his eighth save in eight chances.

LaTroy Hawkins (2-5) earned the win with an inning of scoreless relief for Colorado, after starter Jason Hirsh allowed three runs on six hits over 5 1/3 innings in his first start since July 2. He also tied a career high for strikeouts with eight, matching his effort on April 6 at San Diego.

Atkins finished the night 2-for-3 with two RBI and Matsui scored two runs for the Rockies, who took two of three in the series and have won four of five overall.

Florida’s Rick VandenHurk received a no-decision after lasting just 4 1/3 innings, yielding two runs on four hits, with three walks and five strikeouts. Josh Willingham and Dan Uggla both homered for the Marlins, who have dropped four of six.

The Rockies got a run in the first on back-to-back walks to Holiday and Helton, and an RBI single by Atkins.

Florida answered in the home half when Hanley Ramirez drew a leadoff walk and Uggla belted a line drive over the scoreboard in left to make it 2-1.

Colorado tied it up in the third when Matsui singled, stole second and scored on Holliday’s base hit to right.

Willingham’s solo shot, however, put the Marlins back on top 3-2 in their next at-bat.

Game Notes

The Marlins announced Thursday that right-hander Josh Johnson will undergo season-ending “Tommy John” surgery on Friday…Marlins reliever Renyel Pinto suffered a left shoulder strain in the game and will be examined on Friday…Hirsh took the turn of injured teammate Rodrigo Lopez, who was placed on the DL with a torn flexor tendon in his right arm…Uggla’s homer was his 22nd and Willingham’s was his 16th.

Washington, DC - Ryan Zimmerman drove in three runs, and Mike Bacsik hurled seven solid innings as Washington downed Cincinnati, 7-3, in the finale of a three-game set at RFK Stadium.

Zimmerman was 3-for-5 with a run-scoring double for the Nationals, who swept the series. Meanwhile, Bacsik (5-6) won for the third straight time after allowing just three runs on three hits in seven innings of work.

“I got some runners on base and finally got a chance to drive them in,” Zimmerman said.

Dmitri Young finished 2-for-4 and drove in a pair of runs for Washington while Ronnie Belliard was 2-for-3 with three runs scored and an RBI.

Adam Dunn and Alex Gonzalez both homered for the Reds, who lost their fifth straight game.

Phil Dumatrait (0-1) was rocked in his major league debut. The former first- round pick of the Boston Red Sox allowed six runs on eight hits in just 3 1/3 innings of work.

“He didn’t have good command,” said Reds manager Pete Mackanin. “It was his debut, I’m sure he was nervous.”

Down 3-1, the Nats evened things in the third. Consecutive doubles by Belliard and Zimmerman made it 3-2 and Young tied it with an RBI single to right.

Washington then took control with a three-run fourth. Bacsik started things with a one-out double and, after Felipe Lopez walked, the pitcher scored on Belliard’s double. The Reds had seen enough of Dumatrait at that point and went to Todd Coffey but Zimmerman greeted the reliever with a two-run single up the middle.

The Nats added an insurance run in the seventh. Ryan Church doubled to right and came around on pinch hitter D’Angelo Jimenez’s two-out double.

The Nats grabbed the early advantage with a run in the first but it could have been much worse. Lopez singled to leadoff the frame, moved to second when Belliard walked and was cut down at the plate after Zimmerman singled up the middle. Young followed with an RBI single to left.

The Reds answered with three runs in the second. Dunn crushed a one-out solo homer to right, his 28th of the year. Edwin Encarnacion then singled and swiped second before Gonzalez belted his 14th home run of the year to left.

Game Notes

Dumatrait was taking the place of the departed Kyle Lohse, who was traded to Philadelphia on Monday. The left-hander was 10-5 with a 3.49 earned run average in 21 starts for Triple-A Louisville…Washington also won three of four earlier in the season from the Reds, but is just 10-15 in the series since the start of the 2004 campaign.

Chicago, IL - Jayson Werth went 3-for-6 with four RBI as the Philadelphia Phillies held off the Chicago Cubs, 10-6, to earn a split in a four-game set at Wrigley Field.

Pat Burrell and Chris Coste each collected three hits for Philadelphia, and Burrell homered as the Phils won for the 10th time in 13 games.

J.D. Durbin (4-2) gave up five hits and three runs in three innings of relief, but picked up the win. Durbin was the originally scheduled starter, but was moved to the bullpen in favor of Kyle Lohse, who the Phillies picked up in a trade earlier this week with the Reds.

Lohse, however, had a shaky first inning that ended with a line drive to his arm, and he left with a right forearm contusion after allowing two hits and one run.

Alfonso Soriano had three hits and scored twice for the Cubs, who have dropped four of six. Sean Marshall (5-5) was ripped for nine hits and seven runs in 2 2/3 innings.

The Phils put the game away with three runs off of Will Ohman in the ninth. Pinch-hitter Carlos Ruiz ripped an RBI double to right, and Werth followed with a double to right, plating two more runs.

“You keep going to the well, eventually you’ll get a drink, unless the bucket has a hole in it,” said Phillies manager Charlie Manuel.

Ryan Howard’s two-out RBI single in the first game the Phils the early lead.

Lohse’s debut for Philadelphia was less-than-stellar, though. With two outs and nobody on, he gave up a double to Derrek Lee before plunking both Aramis Ramirez and Cliff Floyd to load the bases. Lohse then walked Mike Fontenot to force in a run before Jacque Jones ended his day with a line drive to the forearm. Lohse was able to corral the ball and throw out Jones, but immediately headed to the locker room.

The Phils added three runs in the second. Burrell continued his scorching-hot second half performance with a leadoff homer, his 15th of the season. Wes Helms followed with a double to left, Coste singled, and pitcher Adam Eaton, in a rare pinch-hitting appearance, walked to load the bases. Werth drove in one run with a single to left, and Tadahito Iguchi’s sacrifice fly gave Philadelphia a 4-1 lead.

Coste’s infield single in the third plated one run, and Ryan Theriot’s throwing error on the play allowed another run to come home. Werth’s RBI double off the wall in left-center padded the Phils lead to 7-1.

The Cubs were able to chip away at the six-run hole against the weak Phils bullpen, though. Mike Fontenot’s RBI double was followed by Jones’ RBI infield single in the third, and Lee plated another run with a double to right in the fourth to cut the deficit to 7-4.

“Home runs kind of just happen. Obviously we’re not hitting home runs,” said Lee. “I’ll take our chances when we swing the bats like that.”

Pinch-hitter Matt Murton’s RBI single in the fifth added another run for the Cubs, and Theriot made it a one-run game in the eight with his run- scoring single to center.

Game Notes

Cubs reliever Rocky Cherry had his first major league plate appearance when he grounded out to lead off the fourth…The attendance for the four-game series was a combined 163,727, the most ever for a four-game set in Wrigley Field history…Howard is a career .166 hitter with five RBI and 20 strikeouts in 42 at-bats at Wrigley Field.

San Diego, CA - Morgan Ensberg homered twice and drove in four runs in his first start for the Padres, and Jake Peavy passed 1,000 strikeouts for his career as San Diego trounced Arizona, 11-0, in the finale of a three-game series at Petco Park.

Peavy (11-5), who fanned 10 in the game, also scattered just three hits and walked one. The right-hander, who leads the National League with 154 strikeouts, also lowered his earned run average to 2.30, which trails only injured teammate Chris Young’s 1.82 ERA.

Peavy struck out the side in the first inning, reaching the 1,000 mark plateau when he got Jeff DaVanon looking at strike three leading off the fourth.

Relievers Cla Meredith and Wilfredo Ledezma held Arizona hitless to finish San Diego’s 15th shutout, which leads the majors.

Ensberg, who finished 3-for-4 and also scored two runs, was acquired from Houston on Tuesday, one of three deals the Padres made before the non-waiver deadline. Rob Mackowiak also made his San Diego debut, filling in for injured right fielder Brian Giles. Batting leadoff, Mackowiak went 2-for-5, stole a base and scored two runs.

Adrian Gonzalez added a solo homer and Khalil Greene a three-run shot for the Padres, who had dropped three of four coming in. With the win, they pulled to 1 1/2 games of the Diamondbacks in the NL West.

Yusmeiro Petit (2-3) allowed five runs and five hits in 4 1/3 innings in the start for Arizona, which lost for just the second time in 12 games. Petit walked four and struck out four.

“If you’re going to lose, you lose,” said Arizona manager Bob Melvin. “It counts as one. We responded well the last time it happened.”

The Padres used the long ball to give Peavy some early run support. Gonzalez drew a leadoff walk in the second before Ensberg launched a two-out, two-run homer to left.

Gonzalez then connected for a solo shot in the fourth to give San Diego a 3-0 lead.

Mackowiak ripped a one-out single in the fifth, stole second and scored on Mike Cameron’s single. Milton Bradley and Gonzalez both walked, forcing Arizona to call on right-hander Dustin Nippert, who uncorked a wild pitch that scored Cameron to make it 5-0.

San Diego scored five more times in the eighth. Bradley reached on an infield single, went to second on a fielding error by Stephen Drew, and Gonzalez was walked intentionally. Greene then worked a full count before belting a three- run homer to left, giving the Padres an eight-run cushion.

Nippert followed by walking Josh Bard, and on a 1-2 count, served up a two-run homer to Ensberg, his second of the day.

“I knew that I was most successful when I was aggressive and when I swung as hard as I could, so I came here with that mindset,” said Ensberg.

The Pads capped the scoring in the eighth when Mackowiak singled and came home on a double by Geoff Blum.

Pittsburgh, PA - Pinch-hitter Jose Castillo singled home the game-winning run with two outs in the 11th inning, and the Pittsburgh Pirates got consecutive wins for the first time in almost a month when they wrapped up a three-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals at PNC Park with a 5-4 win.

With the score deadlocked at four, Pittsburgh got the game-winner in the 11th off Brad Thompson (6-5). Jason Bay reached on a fielding error by David Eckstein and Ryan Doumit singled. Ronny Paulino then bunted into a double play, but got Doumit to second. Castillo, who was the last available position player for the Pirates, then singled home the winning run on a line drive to center field.

Paulino homered for the Pirates, who ended a four-game losing streak with Wednesday’s 15-1 pounding of the Cardinals in the second installment of this series, and now have back-to-back triumphs for the first time since a four- game win streak from July 3-6.

“Our bullpen was terrific today. That goes without saying,” said Pirates manager Jim Tracy. “All the situational pitching we did, the outs that we got, the two innings we got from Salomon to keep them in check to score the run and win the game was terrific.”

Looking to snap a three-start losing streak, Pirates starter Shane Youman allowed three runs on five hits with three walks and three strikeouts over five frames. Salomon Torres (1-3) tossed two scoreless innings for the win.

Albert Pujols homered for the Cardinals, who lost their second straight after a four-game winning streak. Yadier Molina ended 3-for-4 in the loss. Cardinals starter Anthony Reyes allowed three runs on four hits with three walks and four strikeouts over five frames.

“The infield has been really choppy. It’s hard and it’s uneven,” noted Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa, straining to find a reason for his club’s defeat. “There have been a lot of balls that have been bouncing funny. Usually it’s a very good infield but it‘s harder and a little more uneven than usual.”

St. Louis plated three runs in the fourth. Pujols walked and Juan Encarnacion singled him to third, and scored on Scott Rolen’s fielder’s choice ground out . Rolen got to second on a Youman wild pitch before Ryan Ludwick and Molina both walked to load the bases for Aaron Miles, who doubled home two runs.

Pittsburgh tied the score at three with a three-spot in the fifth. Paulino doubled, advanced to third on a balk, and came home on Jack Wilson’s double. Pinch-hitter Josh Phelps then walked before Nate McLouth’s RBI double and a Jose Bautista sacrifice fly.

The Bucs grabbed a one-run lead in the sixth off Russ Springer, who surrendered a solo shot to Paulino on a 2-2 pitch.

The Cards then tied it with a run in the seventh off Shawn Chacon, whose third pitch got sent over the wall in center field by Pujols.

St. Louis got a runner to third in the third, but Eckstein flied out to end the inning, and again in the eighth, when Eckstein struck out swinging. The Cards later loaded the bases in the sixth, but So Taguchi flied out.

Game Notes

St. Louis is 7-4 against Pittsburgh this season, including a three-game sweep in the Steel City from April 9-11…The Cardinals are 40-19 in the series since the start of the 2004 campaign.

Milwaukee, WI - Damion Easley went 3-for-5 with a two-run inside-the-park homer and scored twice as the New York Mets rocked Milwaukee, 12-4, in the finale of a three-game set at Miller Park.

Brian Lawrence (1-0), called up from Triple-A New Orleans prior to the game, won his first major-league game since 2005. He allowed three runs and eight hits with three strikeouts in five innings.

Lastings Milledge was 3-for-5 with an RBI and run scored for the Mets, who have won two in a row and three of four. David Wright added four hits and scored three times, while Moises Alou finished with a pair of hits, a run scored and one driven in, and Jose Reyes hit a two-run homer.

Milwaukee starter Chris Capuano (5-8) was tagged for 10 hits and five runs despite fanning eight and walking one in six full innings.

Corey Hart was 3-for-5, homered twice and drove in three runs for the Brewers, who have dropped five of six. Johnny Estrada collected three hits and Tony Graffanino knocked in the other run.

After the Brewers failed to score with the bases loaded in the sixth, the Mets answered to put the game away with a three-run seventh.

Wright led off with a single and Carlos Delgado was plunked. Alou flew out then Easley reached with a base hit. Following Ramon Castro’s strikeout, Milledge bounced a ball to deep short which scored one run, and another scored when J.J. Hardy’s throw went wide of first. Jorge Sosa followed with a ground- rule double to make it 8-3, but Reyes grounded out facing Brian Shouse to end the inning.

Marlon Anderson’s two-run double in the ninth put the Mets in double digits, and Reyes followed with a two-run shot for a 12-3 game. Hart added his second solo homer of the game and 18th of the season in the last of the ninth to end the scoring.

The Mets got to Capuano early, scoring a pair of runs in the first on Carlos Delgado’s RBI double, and Alou’s run-scoring single.

However, the Brewers struck for a pair of their own in the second when Graffanino drove in Estrada and Hart knocked in Graffanino.

Wright’s solo shot in the fifth put the Mets up, 3-2, but Hart barely cleared the wall in right-center in the home half with his 17th home run of the year to bring Milwaukee even.

New York then took a two-run lead in the sixth. Alou led off with a double, then scored when Easley slammed a ball off the wall at the angle of the wall in center. The ball bounced in the outfield long enough for Easley to circle the bases on a two-run inside-the-park homer.

Game Notes

Milwaukee third baseman Ryan Braun won both Rookie of the Month and Player of the Month for July…It was Easley’s second inside-the-park homer, the first being September 18, 1998 with Detroit…Wright tied a career-high with four hits…Milwaukee stays home to open a three-game series with the Phillies on Friday, while New York heads to Chicago for a three-game set with the Cubs also on Friday.

Bronx, NY - Jermaine Dye had a monster day, going 4-for-5 with two doubles, two homers, and four RBI, and the Chicago White Sox recovered from blowing an eight-run lead in the second inning to outslug the New York Yankees, 13-9, to salvage one win from a three-game set.

Alex Rodriguez did break his 0-for-21 skid with two hits and an RBI, but did not hit his 500th career home run.

Paul Konerko went 3-for-5, homered, and drove in two for the White Sox, who knocked Roger Clemens out in the second inning, and stopped a three-game losing skid. Boone Logan (2-0) got the win for two scoreless inning of relief.

Clemens, in his shortest outing in seven years, was ripped for nine hits and eight runs — only three earned — in 1 2/3 innings. His counterpart, Jon Garland, wasn’t any better, blowing an eight-run lead with his 1 1/3 inning performance, allowing nine hits and eight runs of his own.

Bobby Abreu went 3-for-5 with two RBI and two runs for Yankees, who answered Chicago’s eight-run second inning with an eight-run inning of their own. Newly acquired Wilson Betemit hit a three-run homer for the Yankees, who saw their three-game win streak come to an end. Jeff Karstens (0-2) gave up three runs on five hits in 3 1/3 innings.

The White Sox looked like they wrapped the game up when they chased Clemens with their eight-run second. Konerko and AJ Pierzynski hit consecutive singles to start the inning, and Dye plated Konerko with a double to center. Darin Erstad and Juan Uribe followed with consecutive RBI singles before Clemens retired Danny Richar on a fly out. Robinson Cano then booted Jerry Owens’ grounder, loading the bases with one out.

Alex Cintron’s fielder’s choice kept the bases loaded with two outs, but the White Sox were far from done. Jim Thome laced an RBI single to left, Konerko doubled in a run for his second hit of the inning, and Pierzynski followed with his second hit of the inning, a two-run single to center. Dye followed with a double to right, chasing Clemens and, after reliever Mike Myers came in and walked a batter, Karstens came in with the bases loaded and got Uribe to fly out to end the inning.

The Yankees, not to be outdone, plated eight runs of their own in the home half. Hideki Matsui and Jorge Posada doubled to start the inning, and Cano’s single to right scored one run. Betemit, in his first at-bat with the Yanks, blasted a three-run homer to left-center.

Abreu singled in a run later in the inning, and Rodriguez followed with an RBI single to left, ending his 0-for-21 slump and chasing Garland in favor of Logan, who surrendered a ground-rule, two-run double to Posada, knotting the game at 8-8, before finally getting out of the inning.

Dye’s 20th homer of the season, a two-run shot in the fourth, put the Sox back on top. Scott Podsednik’s RBI single to left in the fifth gave Chicago an 11-8 lead.

Abreu led off the sixth with his 10th homer of the season, cutting the Chicago lead to two.

The White Sox took a four-run lead with two solo homers off of Kyle Farnsworth in the eighth. Konerko belted a shot to left with one out, and Dye belted his second homer of the game to center with two outs.

Game Notes

This was Clemens’ shortest outing since June 14 of 2000, when he left after one inning against the Red Sox with a groin injury…The White Sox lost three position players - Thome, who left with back spasms, Erstad, who left with a leg injury, and Cintron, who left with a chest injury…The Yankees had a season-high nine hits in the second inning.

Boston, MA - Doug Mirabelli finished 3-for-3 with a homer, walk and two RBI and a pair of runs scored as Boston rallied for a 7-4 win over Baltimore in the rubber match of a three-game set at Fenway Park.

Dustin Pedroia was 2-for-3 and drove in two for the Red Sox, winners in two straight and four of six. Manny Ramirez collected two hits and an RBI, Coco Crisp added a pair of hits and scored once, David Ortiz also crossed the plate and Eric Hinske homered.

Tim Wakefield (13-9) earned the win on his 41st birthday, in his 22nd consecutive decision. He was charged with three runs and six hits, fanning five and walking just one over seven innings.

Rob Bell (3-2) took the loss, tagged for four runs and four hits in two-thirds of an inning. Starter Jeremy Guthrie got a no-decision, allowing nine hits and three runs over 5 1/3 innings, with three strikeouts and four walks.

“He didn’t give in. I thought the strike zone was tight in the first couple of innings,” said Orioles manager Dave Trembley of Guthrie’s outing. “The walks hurt him and obviously, the back-to-back home runs, that’s part of the game.”

Corey Patterson finished 2-for-4 with two RBI for the Orioles, who have dropped two in a row and three of four. Jay Payton also drove in two in defeat.

Against Bell in the seventh, the Sox put runners on first and second with two outs, and Mirabelli’s third hit of the game drove in the go-ahead run on a line single to center. Alex Cora followed with a seeing-eye single up the middle to make it 5-3, and Pedroia drove in two more with a double that eluded Nick Markakis’ glove in right-center.

“I work hard at what I do and try to do the best I can out there,” Mirabelli said. “It makes you feel good definitely, when you can help out the team win the ball game. It was more relieving than anything. You just felt like you had to come through in that situation. To come back and put them ahead feels good but it’s more of a relief.”

Hideki Okajima shut down the O’s in the eighth. Eric Gagne, making his first appearance for Boston, gave up an RBI single to Payton in the ninth before successfully closing out the game.

After Pedroia struck out swinging to end the second with the bases loaded, Boston got on the board in the third when Ortiz reached on a fluke double which was misplayed by Payton in left, and Ramirez drove him in with a single.

The Sox went back-to-back in the fourth when Hinske dropped a ball into the bullpen to make it 2-0, and Mirabelli launched one just over the Monster for a 3-0 lead.

Baltimore cut it to 3-1 in the fifth on a sacrifice fly by Payton to plate Aubrey Huff, who led off with a triple. Paul Bako then singled and Brian Roberts moved him to third with a double. Patterson laced a base hit to center to plate both which tied the game, 3-3.

The Sox loaded the bases with one out in the sixth, but the inning ended when Ortiz flew out to Markakis in right-center. Mirabelli, who got a late start on his tag from third, was gunned down at the plate.

Game Notes

Wakefield improved to 14-13 in 43 career games (30 starts) against the Orioles, and joined Roger Clemens and Cy Young as the only pitchers in franchise history to win 150 games with the team…The Sox upped their major- league-leading day-game record to 23-9…J.D. Drew did not start due to his balky groin injury, but made a pinch-hit appearance…Boston has won 14 of their last 17 games at Fenway against the O’s…Curt Schilling, who was slated to make his return to the rotation Sunday in Seattle, will not make his start in that series. Josh Beckett will take his turn and make the start…Former Sox second baseman Bobby Doerr was honored in a pre-game ceremony 60 years to the day of the first day honoring him…Mirabelli’s last three-hit game came August 25, 2004…Attendance was 36,457.

Pittsburgh, PA - Pinch-hitter Jose Castillo singled home the game-winning run with two outs in the 11th inning, and the Pittsburgh Pirates got consecutive wins for the first time in almost a month when they wrapped up a three-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals at PNC Park with a 5-4 win.

With the score deadlocked at four, Pittsburgh got the game-winner in the 11th off Brad Thompson (6-5). Jason Bay reached on a fielding error by David Eckstein and Ryan Doumit singled. Ronny Paulino then bunted into a double play, but got Doumit to second. Castillo, who was the last available position player for the Pirates, then singled home the winning run on a line drive to center field.

Paulino homered for the Pirates, who ended a four-game losing streak with Wednesday’s 15-1 pounding of the Cardinals in the second installment of this series, and now have back-to-back triumphs for the first time since a four- game win streak from July 3-6.

Looking to snap a three-start losing streak, Pirates starter Shane Youman allowed three runs on five hits with three walks and three strikeouts over five frames. Salomon Torres (1-3) tossed two scoreless innings for the win.

Albert Pujols homered for the Cardinals, who lost their second straight after a four-game winning streak. Yadier Molina ended 3-for-4 in the loss. Cardinals starter Anthony Reyes allowed three runs on four hits with three walks and four strikeouts over five frames.

St. Louis plated three runs in the fourth. Pujols walked and Juan Encarnacion singled him to third, and scored on Scott Rolen’s fielder’s choice ground out . Rolen got to second on a Youman wild pitch before Ryan Ludwick and Molina both walked to load the bases for Aaron Miles, who doubled home two runs.

Pittsburgh tied the score at three with a three-spot in the fifth. Paulino doubled, advanced to third on a balk, and came home on Jack Wilson’s double. Pinch-hitter Josh Phelps then walked before Nate McLouth’s RBI double and a Jose Bautista sacrifice fly.

The Bucs grabbed a one-run lead in the sixth off Russ Springer, who surrendered a solo shot to Paulino on a 2-2 pitch.

The Cards then tied it with a run in the seventh off Shawn Chacon, whose third pitch got sent over the wall in center field by Pujols.

St. Louis got a runner to third in the third, but Eckstein flied out to end the inning, and again in the eighth, when Eckstein struck out swinging. The Cards later loaded the bases in the sixth, but So Taguchi flied out.

Game Notes

St. Louis is 7-4 against Pittsburgh this season, including a three-game sweep in the Steel City from April 9-11…The Cardinals are 40-19 in the series since the start of the 2004 campaign.