LaRoche drives in 3 runs as Pirates sweep Cards

[September 15, 2008]  PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Adam LaRoche drove in three runs with a pair of hits and the Pittsburgh Pirates scored three times in both the first and second innings and went on to beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-2 Sunday for a three-game sweep.

Nate McLouth hit his 25th homer -- his previous major league high was 13 last season -- and had two RBIs as the Pirates all but finished off St. Louis in the NL wild-card race.

The 2006 World Series champions have lost five in a row and 11 of 15. The Cardinals trail three teams for the wild card with only 13 games to play -- St. Louis is five games behind Milwaukee for the fourth playoff spot, but would have been down by only two if it had swept the series.

The Cardinals didn't show much spark until both benches emptied briefly in the eighth. Pitcher Ron Villone had to be restrained by catcher Jason LaRue after the Pirates' Doug Mientkiewicz apparently didn't like how he was tagged by second baseman Aaron Miles while being doubled off second to end the inning.

When the Cardinals spend time during the offseason wondering why their season didn't go as they wanted, they can partially blame the Pirates. The Cardinals won 12 of 18 from them in 2007, only to go 7-10 against the NL Central's last-place team this season.

This was the first time in 11 years that St. Louis lost eight or more games to Pittsburgh. The Pirates won nine of 12 in 1997.

The Pirates were coming off a four-game sweep by Houston and had lost six in a row and 17 of 20 going into the series.

T.J. Beam (2-1), the second of five Pittsburgh pitchers, allowed one run over three innings for the victory. He followed Jason Davis, who gave up one run in three innings while making a spot start because Jeff Karstens (abscessed tooth) still isn't ready to pitch. Karstens is scheduled to start Tuesday night against the Dodgers.

Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina made his first start since injuring a thigh Wednesday against the Cubs, only to leave in the fourth inning with tightness in his left quadriceps.

Brad Thompson (5-3) gave up nine hits and six runs in 3 2-3 innings in his fifth start, falling behind 6-0 after two innings as each of the first five Pittsburgh batters reached base. McLouth, LaRoche and Brandon Moss had RBI singles in the first.

In the second, McLouth walked ahead of LaRoche's two-run double and Moss' second RBI single in as many innings. McLouth homered in the fourth off Randy Flores.

The Pirates bullpen gave up one run in six innings after shutting out St. Louis for the final eight innings of Pittsburgh's 7-6 victory in 12 innings on Saturday night.

Notes: The Pirates halted a 12-game losing streak on Sundays that began June 15 in Baltimore. The Pirates swept three from St. Louis for the third time since PNC Park opened in 2001. ... Pittsburgh had only three previous sweeps this season. ... Cruz had three hits for the second time in the series. ...LaRoche is 15-for-39 (.385) with eight doubles and 14 RBIs in nine games.

[Associated Press; By ALAN ROBINSON]

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