ekansekans's blog: "df"

ST. LOUIS -- Matt Carpenter picked up another series of cuts to his already beat-up hand on Sunday. Not that the St. Louis backup is complaining. Carpenter scored the winning run with a picture-perfect slide on Allen Craigs single in the 10th inning, giving the Cardinals a 5-4 win over the Milwaukee Brewers. The Cardinals broke a three-game losing streak and avoided a three-game sweep. St. Louis held onto its slim lead for the second NL wild-card spot. The Brewers, who have won 15 of 20, tied it in the ninth on Norichika Aokis two-out, two-run homer off closer Jason Motte. The two-strike drive barely cleared the right-field wall. Carpenter singled with one out in the 10th off Kameron Loe (6-5) and moved up on a wild pitch. Craig singled to right field with two outs and Carpenter barely eluded the tag from catcher Jonathan Lucroy after a strong throw by Aoki. "I had an angle and I just tried to avoid the tag and thankfully I got in there," Carpenter said. "I got some new blood from that." Carpenter sustained five cuts on his hands Saturday when his bat shattered in a 6-3 loss. He left the game in the third inning as blood dripped from his hands. Carpenter showed up early Sunday and went through some hitting and throwing drills to prove to manager Mike Matheny that he was fit to play. "The work ethic he has, the energy he brings, hes a very good teammate," Matheny said. Carpenter used a super glue to tape his skin back in place on one of the cuts. He simply taped the others shut. Now, thanks to his game-winning slide, he has two other cuts and one huge scrape on his bruised hands. "Its sore, but its nothing that would keep me out," he said. "Once you get that adrenaline going, you dont think about it." Craig recorded his first career walk-off hit, thanks in part to Carpenters hustle. "Its a great feeling," Craig said. "The last few days havent been so great. It was good to battle back after a tough game." The loss slowed the Brewers, who were trying to reach the .500 mark for the first time since April 24. Milwaukee manager Ron Roenicke was pleased with his teams performance and its ability to bounce back in the ninth. "We played a really good game today, they just came through with a really big hit," he said. "Im OK with the three games we just played." Lance Lynn (14-7) picked up the win with one inning of scoreless relief. Matt Holliday hit a two-run homer, his 26th, off Shaun Marcum. One out later, Carlos Beltran hit his 29th home run and first since Aug. 10. Beltran ended an 0-for-14 slump. He had not gotten an extra-base hit in his previous 49 at-bats. "It was good for me to go out there and get a couple hits," Beltran said. "Lately, its been a battle at the plate." St. Louis pushed the lead to 4-1 in the second on doubles by pitcher Joe Kelly and Carpenter. Milwaukee climbed to 4-2 in the fourth on singles by Corey Hart, Jonathan Lucroy and Jean Segura. Segura, who had a career-high three hits, doubled with one out in the ninth off Motte. One out later, Aoki hit his eighth home run. NOTES: Brewers OF Ryan Braun left in the sixth with a sore wrist. 1B Corey Hart, who has a hit in his last 11 games against St. Louis, left the game after twisting his ankle on the last play of the fourth inning. "He tweaked it a little bit and hes got a mild sprain," Roenicke said. Braun and Hart were listed as day-to-day. ... Cardinals 3B David Freese missed the game with a mild left ankle sprain. He is considered day-to-day. ... St. Louis reliever Edward Mujica pitched a scoreless seventh inning. He has not allowed a run in 18 appearances since coming to the Cardinals in a July 31 trade. ... The Cardinals improved 4-10 in extra innings. ... St. Louis opens a seven-game road trip at San Diego on Monday. Jaime Garcia (4-6, 4.16) will face Eric Stults (5-2, 2.35). ... Milwaukee begins a six-game homestand against Atlanta. Wily Peralta (1-0, 5.14) takes on Mike Minor (8-10, 4.58). <a href="http://hipstervancouver.com/">Wholesale NFL Jerseys</a>. "What else are we supposed to do?" Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson said after his clubs 8-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs. <a href="http://hipstervancouver.com/">Wholesale Nike NFL Jerseys</a>. The NHL closed its doors at midnight Saturday and there were no formal talks between the league and its players in the final three days before the previous agreement expired. <a href="http://hipstervancouver.com/">http://hipstervancouver.com/</a>. For Italy, it was a bit of a reprieve. Beginning its bid for a third straight major title, the Spanish rallied to earn a 1-1 draw Sunday against Italy, which entered this years European Championship amid another match-fixing scandal.Alex Rodriguez will be on the bench on Friday afternoon when the New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles play a winner take all showdown at Yankee Stadium with a trip to the ALCS on the line. Game 3 hero Raul Ibanez will be in the New York lineup as designated hitter while Eric Chavez plays third base. Rodriguez struggled in the first four games and is just 2-for-16 with nine strikeouts in the series. Hes not the only one, though, as Curtis Granderson (1-for-16), Cano (2-for-18) and Nick Swisher (2-for-15) have all failed in big spots. "Were obviously frustrated after having several situations to do some damage," Rodriguez said Thursday. After a crushing extra-inning loss on Wednesday, Baltimore staved off elimination in Game 4 on Thursday, as J.J. Hardys RBI double in the 13th inning lifted the Orioles to a 2-1 victory. The hit made a winner of Pedro Strop (1-0), who allowed one hit and struck out two over two scoreless innings of relief. "Its an honor to be in Game 5 with them," Baltimore manager Buck Showalter said. "You knew all along that the road to where we want to try to get is going to have to pass through there and here." Nate McLouth hit his first career postseason homer in the win, while Jim Johnson pitched a perfect 13th to record his second save of the series. Johnson, of course, served up a game-tying home run to Raul Ibanez in the ninth inning of Wednesdays 12-inning setback. David Phelps (0-1) surrendered the deciding run to take the loss. Robinson Cano knocked in the lone run for New York, which hit 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position and left 10 men on base. "Its playoff baseball and the games are extremely tight. Usually the difference in these games is one hit. That basically has been the difference," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "Its been very good pitching. They controlled the bats for the most part, and its come down to one hit." The Yankees are shooting for their third trip to the ALCS in the last four years, while Baltimore hasnt advanced past the first round since 1997. New York should have an edge on Friday with lefty CC Sabathia on the hill. Sabathia was brilliant in his Game 1 win, allowing two runs and eight hiits in 8 2/3 innings.dddddddddddd He also struck out seven and walked a batter in his third straight win overall. "Its time to go," Sabathia said late Thursday night. "This is a one-game playoff and this is what we play for. Were here in the Bronx, at home, and like I said, Ill be excited and ready to go." Sabathia is 6-1 with a 3.29 ERA in 11 playoff starts with New York, but has pitched to a 4.56 ERA in 17 career postseason outings. Baltimore, meanwhile, will counter with righty Jason Hammel, who also pitched well in Game 1. Hammel did not factor in the decision, but surrendered two runs and four hits with four walks in 5 2/3 innings. "Its obviously an honor to be the one toeing the slab," said Hammel, who allowed two runs in 5 2/3 innings against the Yankees on Sunday. "But its been a team effort to get here ... Were very confident that we can go ahead and win one more. "It is all or nothing, but theres no reason to pressure ourselves anymore. Weve done this a million times this year. It seems like weve played these guys to a one run game every time out. Its really nothing new." This will be his fifth start this season against the Yankees, who have managed just three runs over their last 10 2/3 innings against Hammel. Showalter may need a big effort from Hammel on Friday, as Os relievers have thrown 11 1/3 innings over past two games. Including San Francisco and Detroits wins on Thursday, there have been 18 Division Series Game 5s and 11 have been won by the road team. Six of those 11 wins have come in the AL. Of the last 13 opening-round series to go to a Game 5, the home team has won only three of those contests The Yankees know that stat all too well, as they dropped a decisive fifth game at home last year to Detroit. They are also 5-4 all-time in best-of-five Game 5s. The Tigers, of course, won a Game 5 of their own on Wednesday and will play the winner of Fridays game in Game 1 of the ALCS on Saturday. The Orioles and Yankees are certainly no strangers to one another and in addition to splitting 18 regular season meetings this season, these teams also met in the 1996 ALCS, a series won by New York, but one that was made famous by the Jeffrey Maier catch. New York won that series in five games. ' ' '