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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Jim Edmonds put a couple of earlier failures
out of his mind.
After stranding five runners in two early at-bats, Edmonds
doubled home the winning run with two outs in the ninth inning as
the Cardinals beat the Colorado Rockies 5-4 Thursday.
|  | | Jim Edmonds watches the flight of the ball after connecting for a game-winning double off Rockies relief pitcher Jose Jimenez in the ninth inning Thursday. |
For the second straight game, the Cardinals wasted a two-run
lead in the late innings. This time, they won.
"A lot of the problems on this team have been me," Edmonds
said. "I haven't been able to come up with the big hit and haven't
been able to do the things I'm supposed to do. It's good for me to
get that hit and pick the team up, too, at the same time."
Edmonds struck out with the bases loaded, ending the second, and
fanned again with runners on first and second, finishing the fourth.
"I came up a couple times where it was a situation that I just
needed to put the ball in play and see what happens," Edmonds
said. "I've just been scuffling."
The Cardinals, the NL Central leader, completed a 3-4 homestand
in which they scored just 19 runs. They had been 1-41 when trailing
after seven innings.
Todd Helton was 4-for-4 for the Rockies to raise his NL-leading
average to .384, getting doubles in his first three at-bats that
raised his league-leading total to 40. He singled in the eighth.
After Colorado scored three runs in the seventh to go ahead 4-3,
Fernando Tatis homered off Bobby Chouinard in the eighth.
Shawon Dunston singled off Jose Jimenez (5-2) with two outs in
the ninth and Edmonds doubled to the gap in left center on a 3-2 pitch.
"The at-bat that killed him was Dunston," Rockies manager
Buddy Bell said. "He was up in the count and he threw him a
fastball down the middle of the plate. Now you've got to deal with
Edmonds."
Dunston nearly overran pinch-hitter Jeff Frye's fly to right
with two on and no outs in the ninth, reaching back to make a
leaping catch.
"The ball was hit in the gap and I just ran as hard as I could
and tried to catch it the best I could," Dunston said. "Thank God
I caught it."
Mike Timlin (2-0) allowed two hits in 1 1-3 scoreless innings in
relief of Garrett Stephenson, who gave up four runs and eight hits
in 7 2-3 innings.
Trailing 3-1 in the seventh, Colorado took the lead on Brent
Mayne's RBI double, Todd Hollandsworth's run-scoring single and an
error by shortstop Edgar Renteria, who charged on Juan Pierre's
grounder hoping for a play at the plate and booted the ball.
Pierre, a rookie, strayed off first on Neifi Perez's flyout to
center and was doubled up by Edmonds before Hollandsworth, who had
tagged up, crossed the plate.
"I should just freeze when a ball is hit like that," Pierre
said. "Just learning on the job, I guess, that's the way I look at it."
Stephenson, 1-for-42 (.024) at the plate, drove in his second
run of the season with a squeeze bunt in the second although he
didn't get credit for a sacrifice. Fernando Tatis scored easily
from third but Mike Matheny was forced at second.
Ray Lankford doubled and Tatis singled to set up Edgar
Renteria's sacrifice fly earlier in the inning. The Cardinals also
scored on the fourth to make it 3-1 on infield hits by Renteria and
Matheny, a hit batsman and a sacrifice fly by J.D. Drew.
Stephenson, coming off a shutout of Atlanta, extended his
scoreless streak to 14 innings before consecutive doubles by Helton
and Jeff Cirillo with two outs in the fourth.
"I felt great out there, had all three pitches, and they were
just hitting balls where we weren't," Stephenson said. "But I
kept the game close and felt like I did what I was supposed to do."
Colorado's Pedro Astacio allowed three runs and eight hits in
six innings.
Game notes
St. Louis wasted a 3-1, eighth-inning lead in Wednesday's
5-3 loss to Florida. ... Hollandsworth had been 3-for-17 (.176) as
a pinch-hitter before his single. ... The Rockies' first six hits
were doubles. ... The game was a makeup of an April 24 rainout. ...
Fernando Vina was hit by a pitch for a major league-high 19th time.
... Matheny, in a 2-for-30 slump, had two hits. ... Stephenson
leads the Cardinals with 10 sacrifices.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Colorado Clubhouse
St. Louis Clubhouse
RECAPS
NY Yankees 12
Oakland 6
Tampa Bay 10
Minnesota 4
Detroit 14
Baltimore 3
Seattle 6
Chi. White Sox 3
Toronto 15
Kansas City 7
St. Louis 5
Colorado 4
NY Mets 10
Houston 3
San Diego 15
Philadelphia 3
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