Wainwright, Cardinals drop Braves 5-3

[April 30, 2009]  ATLANTA, Ga. (AP) -- Adam Wainwright overcame five walks and drove in a run during a four-run fifth inning, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the weak-hitting Atlanta Braves 5-3 on Wednesday night.

The Cardinals won two of three in the series against the Braves, who have scored three runs or fewer in 11 of 15 games after scoring at least four runs in each of their first six games.

Wainwright (3-0), the Brunswick, Ga., native who began his career with the Braves, allowed seven hits and three runs -- two earned -- with five walks and two strikeouts in six innings. He gave up three runs in the first three innings, but the Braves couldn't hold a 3-1 lead.

The Cardinals are off to their best start since 2006, when they also were 15-7.

St. Louis, which blew a 1-0 lead in the eighth inning in Tuesday night's 2-1 loss to the Braves, protected the late lead in the final game of the series. With two outs and runners on first and second in the eighth, second baseman Skip Schumaker jumped to catch a soft liner by Omar Infante off closer Ryan Franklin.

Franklin recorded four outs for his seventh save.

Javier Vazquez (2-2) gave up nine hits and five runs with one walk in eight innings. He struck out eight -- his fourth straight start with at least eight strikeouts.

Atlanta led 3-1 before the Cardinals scored four runs in the fifth on six singles, including five up the middle. Wainwright, Albert Pujols, Chris Duncan and Rick Ankiel had RBI singles, the last three with two outs.

Infante had three hits, including a run-scoring single in the second. The Cardinals tied the game at 1-all on Schumaker's RBI single in the third.

St. Louis, who began the day tied with Washington for the major league lead with 20 errors, had another bobble which helped the Braves take the lead in the third.

Casey Kotchman doubled to left and initially stopped at third on Jeff Francoeur's single to right. Cardinals right fielder Colby Rasmus couldn't cleanly field the hit, and Kotchman scored on the error for a 2-1 lead as Francoeur advanced to second. Francoeur scored on a wild pitch by Wainwright after moving to third on a groundout.

Notes: Brendan Ryan left the game with tightness in his left hamstring. Ryan grabbed the back of his leg while running to first base on a grounder that rolled foul. ... Umpire Ed Montague was sick and missed the game. Chris Tiller, the fill-in umpire on the crew, was the third base umpire. .... 2B Kelly Johnson, in a 4-for-39 slump that has dropped his batting average to .203, didn't start for the second straight day. ... The Braves said RHP Kenshin Kawakami has right shoulder fatigue, and his next start was pushed back three days to Tuesday.

[Associated Press; By CHARLES ODUM]

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