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 Tony Rasmus told a Toronto radio station (590 The Fan) earlier on
Thursday that his son was, "miserable," in St. Louis. He accused La Russa of driving his son out of town.
La Russa would not answer questions about Rasmus or his father after
Thursday's 5-3 loss to the Houston Astros.
"I have no comment," La Russa said politely, when informed of Tony
Rasmus' allegations
Rasmus was traded along with relievers Trever Miller, Brian Tallet
and P.J. Walters to Toronto for pitchers Edwin Jackson, Octavio
Dotel, Marc Rzepczynski and outfielder Corey Patterson,
Houston lefthander Wandy Rodriguez retired the last 13 batters he
faced in a seven-inning stint and Jason Bourgeois hit a tiebreaking
double in the fifth inning to lead the Houston Astros to a 5-3 win
over the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday.
Rodriguez (7-7) allowed just one earned run and five hits. He walked
Matt Holliday with one out in the fourth before settling in. He got
David Freese to hit into a double play to end the fourth, then
pitched four perfect innings before Sergio Escalona and Mark
Melancon finished up. Melancon got his tenth save in 13
opportunities.
"The first two or three innings, I didn't feel very comfortable on
the mound," Rodriguez said. "Then I started to focus. When I focus
on my game, I know what can happen."
Rodriguez threw first-pitch strikes to 22 of the 26 batters he
faced. The Astros committed two errors allowing a pair of unearned
runs in the second inning. But the miscues didn't bother Rodriguez,
who appeared to get stronger as the game went along. He threw 116
pitches on a hot night. The temperature at the start of the game was
95 degrees.
"When they got a couple unearned runs against us, he didn't let that
bother him," Houston manager Brad Mills said.. "He kept coming. He
worked through it. The last few starts, he's been right on."
St. Louis lefty Jaime Garcia (10-5), who entered the game with an
NL-best home record of 6-1, gave up four earned runs in six innings.
"It was just a tough game," Garcia said. "I was battling. That
fourth and fifth inning, they were kind of long. Things just didn't
go my way."
Carlos Lee hit his tenth homer of the season in the sixth to give
his team a 5-3 lead..
"I'm feeling pretty good," Lee said. "We're finally coming through
at the plate."
Lee has three homers and nine RBI in his last seven games.
Michael Bourn extended his hitting streak to a career-best 13 games
with two hits. He also walked twice.
Hunter Pence hit two doubles. Pence has been the subject of trade
rumors and he reiterated after the game that he would like to stay
with the Astros.
"I love these guys and I love Houston," Pence said. "That's all I
know. I'm not really in control."
St. Louis first baseman Albert Pujols, who went 2 for 4, moved to
within two hits of 2,000. He is aiming to become the 263rd player in
history to hit that mark and the fifth St. Louis player to do so.
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Houston scored twice in the fourth and once in the fifth to
erase a 3-1 deficit. Lee doubled in Pence to cut the deficit to
3-2. Lee advanced to second and third on a wild pitch by Garcia
and scored on a sacrifice fly to center by Chris Johnson.
The Astros capitalized on a throwing error by Freese at third to
take the lead for good 4-3 in the fifth. Wandy Rodriguez reached
on the error and scored on Bourgeois' two-out double that
bounced off the bag at third.
St. Louis, which lost for the third time in eight games, took a
3-1 lead in the third on back-to-back doubles by Jon Jay and
Pujols.
"I give Houston credit," St. Louis manager Tony La Russa said.
"They faced two of our best pitchers and they got two wins.
That's why if you want to try and bet on baseball, you'll be a
poor man."
Houston rookie second baseman Jose Altuve, who had hit safely in
his first seven games, went 0 for 4, but drove in Bourn with a
first-inning sacrifice fly.
St. Louis starters Gerald Laird and Nick Punto, along with Tony
Cruz who entered for Laird, all left the game early. Laird, the
starting catcher, had a mild strain of the ring finger on his
left hand while sliding at the plate in the second inning. Punto,
who started at second base, strained his left oblique during his
third-inning at-bat. Cruz got hit by a foul tip off the bat of
Johnson in eighth.
St. Louis relievers Rzepczynski and Dotel pitched well in
their debuts. Rzepczynski struck out four in two innings. Dotel pitched a
hitless ninth inning.
[Associated Press]
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or
redistributed.
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