Cards find some runs in ninth

Cards find some runs in ninth
Seven-run inning frustrates Astros.

Published Saturday, June 2, 2007

HOUSTON (AP) - The St. Louis Cardinals found some offense in the ninth inning. The Houston Astros are still looking for theirs.

Juan Encarnacion and Gary Bennett hit their first homers of the season on consecutive pitches in a seven-run ninth inning to lift the Cardinals to an 8-1 victory over the struggling Astros last night.

Encarnacion’s homer hit the wall above the yellow line in left field and broke a tie at 1.

Bennett extended the lead with his home run, also to left, on the next pitch from Chad Qualls (4-3). Bennett added a two-run double later in the inning that made it 8-1.

Bennett was shocked at his ninth-inning production.

"Two hits in one inning? I probably haven’t had two at-bats in one inning since Little League, since I was 10 or 11 years old," he said with a smile.

The Cardinals have won three straight, while Houston has lost 11 of 12.

Houston ace Roy Oswalt was visibly upset after the game and said the lack of scoring when he pitches has been "tough mentally" for him. The Astros have been outscored 84-31 in their last 12 games.

"It’s just hard to throw up zeros," Oswalt said. "You get out there and you get in a situation where you feel like you have to throw a perfect game. And if you give up one or two, it’s an uphill battle the rest of the game."

Oswalt allowed four hits and one run and struck out four in seven innings.

Scott Spiezio had a two-run double in the ninth and pitcher Kip Wells got an RBI when his pop up dropped between second baseman Craig Biggio and right fielder Luke Scott.

Albert Pujols doubled to lead off the fourth for St. Louis and he scored after a sacrifice bunt and an error by first baseman Lance Berkman to make it 1-0.

Houston tied it at 1 in the sixth when Carlos Lee hit an RBI double off starter Adam Wainwright on the 14th pitch of his at-bat. Lee’s hit sailed over a sprinting Jim Edmonds and landed on the hill in center field.

"That’s the best at-bat I’ve ever had against me," Wainwright said. "That was just absurd. I threw everything I had at him."