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Friday, Apr. 14 9:05pm ET
Astacio guts out win over Cards | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
DENVER (AP) -- With their bullpen showing signs of being arm-weary, the Colorado Rockies needed innings from their ace, and Pedro Astacio provided them. Astacio, shrugging off a liner that bruised his left thigh in the third inning, pitched 7 1/3 solid innings, and the Rockies backed him with three home runs to beat the St. Louis Cardinals 6-2 Friday night for their third straight victory. Colorado (6-5) climbed above .500 for the first time since last June 23. Astacio (1-2) allowed just four hits and two runs. He struck out eight against a lineup missing Mark McGwire. McGwire was examined for lingering back pain by team physician Dr. George Paletta, and no new disc injury was discovered. McGwire was treated for inflammation and will rest and receive therapy in St. Louis. He will be re-evaluated Monday to determine his playing status. "I used a lot of fastballs, some changeups and a few curveballs," Astacio said. "I used most everything, and everything worked pretty well in most situations. I made some good pitches tonight to get outs." Astacio took a shot off his leg from Jim Edmonds in the third but refused to consider leaving the game. "It's nothing," he said. "I got the guy out. It's worse when you get hit like that and you don't get the guy out." Rockies manager Buddy Bell said Astacio's performance "was huge. Not only did he have great stuff, but because of the way we've used our bullpen lately, that's what you're asking your No. 1 guy to do, go deep into the game. And he did it tonight." Catcher Scott Servais, who had one of the Rockies' homers, said Edmonds "smoked a line drive about as hard as you can hit it off his leg, and Pete is like, `So what, it's my night to pitch.' He's one of the best competitors I've seen. He's a true gamer." Home runs by Jeff Cirillo, Servais and Mike Lansing _ all off Rick Ankiel (1-1) _ gave the Rockies an early 4-1 lead. "You give up four runs in this park and you've handled yourself all right," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said of the 20-year-old Ankiel. "Overall, he pitched well enough to give us a chance to win. Astacio just pitched better." Cardinals outfielder Eric Davis said Astacio "showed that you can pitch in this ballpark, if you believe in your stuff." St. Louis, which started the season 7-1, has lost three straight. In the first, Brian Hunter singled and scored on Cirillo's first homer for the Rockies. Servais got his first hit of the year, a 426-foot solo shot to left-center in the second. Lansing also hit a solo homer, his fourth, in the third. In the Cardinals' second, J.D. Drew and Craig Paquette both singled and Eli Marrero had a sacrifice fly. Davis hit a 446-foot solo homer to center in the Cardinals fourth. Both Astacio and Ankiel worked out of jams in the fifth. With one out in the top half, Fernando Vina reached third on third baseman Cirillo's three-base throwing error. Edgar Renteria hit a bouncer to Cirillo, who threw out Vina at home, and Astacio struck out Jim Edmonds. Ankiel walked three batters in the Rockies' half, but got Terry Shumpert on a grounder for the third out. Colorado threatened again in the seventh off Alan Benes, called up earlier in the day from Triple-A Memphis. With one out, Lansing singled and Larry Walker was hit by a pitch, but Cirillo then grounded into a double play. Vina led off the Cardinals eighth with a double and, after a ground out, Astacio gave way to reliever Mike Myers, who struck out both Edmonds and Ray Lankford. Neifi Perez and Servais hit RBI singles off Benes in the Rockies' eighth. Game notesThe Cardinals promoted Benes and sent LHP Justin Brunette to Memphis. ... Walker received a Gold Glove award, his fifth, in a pregame ceremony. ... Colorado's Terry Shumpert was caught stealing in the second, ending his club-record streak of stolen bases at 16. ... Cirillo's homer was his seventh hit of the season. His first six hits all were doubles. ... With four homers, Lansing matched his total in 1999, a season that was cut short by back surgery. | ALSO SEE Baseball Scoreboard St. Louis Clubhouse Colorado Clubhouse RECAPS Texas 7 Cleveland 2
Colorado 6
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