Cardinals send Braves to eighth straight loss

Baseball Betting Lines

04/28/2010 - St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jaime Garcia pitched seven shutout innings, and the St. Louis Cardinals extended Atlanta's losing streak with a 6-0 win over the Braves at Busch Stadium.

Garcia (2-1) allowed only four hits and a walk while fanning five for the Cardinals, who have won four straight games, including the first three of this four-game set. David Freese went 2-for-3 with two runs batted in, while Albert Pujols and Colby Rasmus each had a pair of hits, an RBI and a run scored in the win.

Yunel Escobar doubled and was the lone Braves player to reach third base, as Atlanta dropped its eighth straight game. Kenshin Kawakami (0-4) lasted only 4 1/3 innings, giving up five runs -- four earned -- on five hits and four walks.

The Braves' losing streak is their longest since a 10-game skid from June 11-22, 2006.

St. Louis got to Kawakami early, scoring twice in the first. Skip Schumaker led off with a single, and Ryan Ludwick's ground ball eluded the shortstop Escobar, allowing Schumaker to reach second. Pujols followed with a base hit up the middle to plate Schumaker.

Two batters later, Ludwick raced home on a wild pitch to make it 2-0.

Schumaker scored on a wild pitch with the bases loaded and nobody out in the third, but the Cardinals were unable to tack on any more runs.

St. Louis scored three more runs in the fifth to push the margin to six.

Pujols smacked a one-out double, and Matt Holliday was intentionally walked. Rasmus followed with an RBI double off Jonny Venters, and, after an intentional walk to Yadier Molina, Freese's single plated Holliday and Rasmus for a 6-0 edge.

Meanwhile, Garcia was masterful in never allowing an Atlanta player to reach third base during his outing. The Braves finally put a runner at third against Kyle McClellan in the eighth, as Escobar doubled with one out and advanced on Martin Prado's single.

McClellan, though, got Chipper Jones to fly out and Troy Glaus to strike out to end the inning. Mitchell Boggs pitched a scoreless ninth to seal the win.

Game Notes

Garcia lowered his ERA to just 1.04...The Braves have been outscored, 34-13, over their losing streak, which includes two shutouts...Atlanta has scored five runs over Kawakami's four starts...The Braves have not homered in their last eight games, a drought lasting 273 at-bats...Melky Cabrera was the lone Atlanta player with two hits.

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Kurt Warner to start, Matt Leinart to watch

Despite the debate that's swirling , Kurt Warner will remain the starting quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals, coach Dennis Green said today. The Arizona Cardinals are the +7 point underdog at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com for this Sunday's game.

Green's comment came in a statement released by the team following an ESPN report that Green decided that rookie Matt Leinart would replace Warner as starter for Sunday's game at Atlanta.

"Generally talking about the starting lineup is not something we do," Green told the AP. "However, given the speculation that was out there we want to make it clear. We're disappointed after last week, but we still expect to be a playoff football team and we fully expect Kurt Warner to be the quarterback that leads us. That has not changed."

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