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 Lackey's accuracy, and Winters' vision ruled Friday night at
sold-out Busch Stadium, where the veteran right-hander lowered his
career earned run average against Los Angeles to 1.75 with seven
shutout innings in a 3-0 win.
In improving to 3-3, Lackey fanned nine, one shy of his season high,
and allowed only five hits along with a walk. He threw 66 of 96
pitches for strikes before departing for a pinch-hitter in the
bottom of the seventh inning.
"I wouldn't say perfect, but I felt I located my pitches pretty
well," Lackey said. "They have a good lineup, and you can't take
anything for granted."
But Lackey appeared to be in cruise control most of the game as he
steadily pounded the plate's outer half with fastballs which touched
93 miles per hour, then mixed in breaking stuff to keep the Dodgers
off-balance.
On their way to eating a fourth straight road shutout -- Los Angeles
hasn't scored a road run in 37 innings, dating back to a 9-5 win May
10 in Colorado -- the Dodgers appeared to grow more frustrated with
Winters' interpretation of the strike zone.
It boiled over in the seventh, right after first baseman Adrian
Gonzalez and third baseman Justin Turner led off with singles for
Los Angeles' best threat. Manager Don Mattingly was booted after
right fielder Andre Ethier took a third strike for the first out,
and Lackey got a foulout and strikeout to quell the rally.
The mild-mannered Ellis was next to go, earning his first big league
ejection in the inning's bottom after reliever J.P. Howell walked
third baseman Matt Carpenter.
"He kept saying, 'Your presentation's poor.' I told him it doesn't
matter if it comes through the zone," Ellis said. "At that point, he
wasn't going to further debate balls and strikes with the Dodgers."
There is no debating, though, that St. Louis (32-16) owns the
majors' best record. Winners of five in a row, the Cardinals are
19-5 at home, the best record in franchise history through 24 games.
After losing ace Adam Wainwright on April 25 in Milwaukee, a string
of extra-inning games during a stretch of 20 games in 20 days
further taxed their bullpen. But the rotation has found its footing
of late, registering starts of six innings or longer in 11 of their
last 12 games.
"I've been building on some solid starts lately," Lackey said. "I'm
going to keep working on it. I've felt good all year."
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Shortstop Jhonny Peralta doubled twice, his second two-bagger
driving in second baseman Kolten Wong in the seventh with the game's
final run. Left fielder Randal Grichuk laced a two-out RBI double in
the third and also brought in the first run with a double-play
grounder in the first.
Los Angeles starter Mike Bolsinger (3-1), who entered the night with
an 0.71 ERA, gave up seven hits and two runs over six innings with
three walks and three strikeouts. Although Bolsinger did a solid job
of pitching around trouble most of the game, it wasn't enough.
"We tried to make him elevate the cutter," St. Louis manager Mike
Matheny said. "He's got stuff you don't see every day."
The Dodgers (28-19) fell into a first-place tie in the National
League West with San Francisco, pending the outcome of the Giants'
game with Atlanta. Meanwhile, St. Louis upped its NL Central lead to
6 1/2 games, pending the outcome of Pittsburgh's game in San Diego.
NOTES: St. Louis LF Matt Holliday (flu-like symptoms) was held out
of Friday night's lineup. Holliday set a National League record
Wednesday night by reaching base in 43 straight games to start the
season. ... Los Angeles C Yasmani Grandal (concussion) served as the
designated hitter for Triple-A Oklahoma City on Thursday at Salt
Lake City, going 2-for-4 with three runs, a double and two walks.
The team expects to activate Grandal from the seven-day concussion
DL on Saturday. ... Cardinals CF Jon Jay (left wrist) was activated
from the 15-day DL on Friday. To make room for Jay, the team
optioned RHP Miguel Socolovich to Triple-A Memphis.
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