=== St. Louis Cardinals Team Report - May 22 === (My Sportsbook) - Vying for a piece of second place in the NL Central, the St. Louis Cardinals and the Houston Astros will go head-to-head in the finale of their three-game set at Minute Maid Park tonight. St. Louis owns a slight percentage points lead (.523-.522) over both Houston and Cincinnati for the second spot, after posting a 7-4 win over the Astros on Wednesday. The victory evened this series at one apiece. Albert Pujols hit a three-run homer and finished with four RBI and two runs scored in the winning effort. Edgar Renteria had three hits -- including a homer -- for the Cardinals, who have won three of their last four games. Woody Williams threw seven innings and won his ninth straight decision. Williams (6-0) was charged with four runs - two earned - on five hits. The righthander struck out six and walked a pair. The hurler hasn't lost a decision since last August 29 at Cincinnati. The Cardinals, who have a league-low 17 errors, committed two errors in the game. Their last error came May 8. Cal Eldred earned his fourth save with 1 1/3 scoreless innings. St. Louis will hand the ball to righthander Brett Tomko this evening. Tomko hasn't registered a decision in his last three outings, including a contest against Chicago last week. The 30-year-old was tagged for nine hits and one run over seven innings, while fanning four and walking three. Tomko is 3-2 with a 5.59 ERA in six career games against the Astros. The Euclid, OH native hasn't been at his best on the road this year, racking up a 6.35 ERA in four contests. |
