Jon Jay and Matt Holliday each had two hits and two RBIs as the St. Louis Cardinals jumped on the Pittsburgh Pirates early in a 10-6 victory Monday night.

Allen Craig doubled and drove in three runs for the Cardinals, who knocked around James McDonald (1-2) with a seven-run second inning. McDonald gave up eight runs, three earned, and walked two in 1 1-3 innings, the shortest start of his career.

Lance Lynn (2-0) labored through five innings to get the win. Lynn allowed four runs, walking three and striking out four.

Starling Marte had three hits and Neil Walker homered for the Pirates, who had their three-game winning streak snapped.

— Associated Press —

The St. Louis Cardinals announced Monday that longtime football rivals Southeast Missouri State University and Southern Illinois University will play each other at Busch Stadium on Saturday, September 21st.  Kickoff is set for 1 PM.

“We are thrilled to host our first football game in Busch Stadium with two great schools that have such a large following in St. Louis,” said Bill DeWitt III, President of the Cardinals. “We are excited to showcase the versatility of Busch Stadium as a multi-use sports venue.”

This will be the 81st game between Southeast and SIU, who have close to 40,000 local alumni in St. Louis, as well as thousands of students from the St. Louis area.

“We’d like to thank the St. Louis Cardinals for the opportunity to play this game at Busch Stadium,” said Kenneth W. Dobbins, President of Southeast Missouri State University. “Nearly 40 percent of this year’s freshmen class at Southeast is from the greater St. Louis region, and playing this game at Busch Stadium is exciting for all our students, and great exposure for our University and the Redhawk football program.”

“Southern Illinois is definitely Cardinals’ country, so this is a great fit for our University and football program,” said Rita Cheng, Chancellor of Southern Illinois University. “It will be a great experience for our student-athletes and for our fans on both sides of the river.”

Ticket prices start at $10 and will go on sale June 3rd.  For tickets and additional details, fans should go to cardinals.com/football. Be sure to join the conversation with #footballatbusch

As the iconic home of one the most storied franchises in baseball, Busch Stadium is one of the most sought after special event venues in St. Louis.   Since it was opened in 2006, Busch Stadium has hosted over a thousand special events ranging from corporate meetings, weddings and charity events to one-of-kind concerts such as Dave Mathews Band, the Eagles and U2. This will be the first football game and the second major non-baseball sporting event held at Busch Stadium. The Cardinals will host an international soccer match between the English Premier League teams Chelsea and Manchester City in May.

— Cardinals Media Relations —

After setting a team record for the most consecutive innings without scoring a run, the Milwaukee Brewers now have a new streak going – one they much prefer.

Jonathan Lucroy hit a solo homer in the 10th inning as the Brewers rallied past the St. Louis Cardinals 4-3 Sunday and avoided a sweep.

The Brewers had been shut out in 32 innings before Ryan Braun hit a two-run homer off reliever Trevor Rosenthal in the eighth that made it 3-2.

Milwaukee tied it with another run in the ninth and then won on Lucroy’s shot. Lucroy credited Braun with getting the Brewers on track.

”After he hit that homer, we had a little bit rolling,” Lucroy said. ”You could feel the tide turn a little bit. I think we were pressing a lot to score some runs. That was a big homer that opened it up for us. It let us relax and play a little better.”

Braun’s second home run of the season snapped a 39-inning shutout streak for St. Louis pitchers. The Brewers had not scored since the second inning Tuesday against the Cubs and had lost three in a row.

”It’s been a scuffle,” Milwaukee manager Ron Roenicke said. ”It’s been really difficult to get wins thus far. We did a nice job battling back in the eighth and the ninth. That’s always a positive.”

Milwaukee tied it in the ninth on a leadoff single by Carlos Gomez and an RBI double by Yuniesky Betancourt off Mitchell Boggs. The Cardinals’ closer-for-now left without retiring a batter and blew his second save in five chances.

”This was there for us to take,” Boggs said. ”The bottom line is I had a chance to get the win for us and I didn’t get the job done.”

After retiring Rickie Weeks on a fly to start the 10th, Fernando Salas (0-2) gave up Lucroy’s first home run of the season.

”Any time is a good time for a homer,” Lucroy said. ”I haven’t had a lot of success ofd that guy in the past. It was nice to hit a ball hard off him.”

Brandon Kintzler (1-0) pitched a scoreless ninth and got the first out in the 10th. Burke Badenhop retired pinch-hitter Carlo Beltran on a grounder for the final out and his first save.

Matt Adams had another big day in the loss for St. Louis, as he had a solo home run and a single in four at-bats. Adams has homered in three straight games and has a hit in all five games he has played.

Adams is batting .611 (11-for-18) with three homers and eight RBI.

Matt Holliday had an RBI single and Yadier Molina an RBI double for the other St. Louis runs.

The Cardinals broke through for the game’s first two runs against Marco Estrada with four consecutive two-out hits in the third, including an RBI single by Holliday and an RBI double to the gap by Molina. Allen Craig was thrown out at the plate trying to score on Molina’s hit.

Adams made it five straight hits when he led off the fourth with a 419-foot homer to center that made it 3-0.

— Associated Press —

After ups and downs last season after reconstructive elbow surgery, Adam Wainwright is reclaiming his role as the St. Louis Cardinals ace. His bat looks pretty good, too.

Wainwright pitched a four-hitter and drove in two runs with three hits, including a pair in a seven-run sixth inning, and Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers 8-0 Saturday for their third straight shutout.

”He’s back to himself,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. ”He’s healthy, and that’s a great place to start. Seasons like last year teach you how to pitch more than just rely on great stuff.”

Milwaukee ace Yovani Gallardo (0-1) endured yet another setback against his nemesis, falling to 1-10 with a 6.83 ERA versus St. Louis. Gallardo allowed six runs – five earned – and seven hits in 5 1-3 innings.

A 16-game winner coming off his fourth consecutive 200-strikeout season, he was 0-2 with a 12.34 ERA in three starts against St. Louis last season. Including a loss in the 2011 NL division series, Gallardo sinks to 1-11 with a 6.86 ERA against the Cardinals.

”It’s just one of those things,” Gallardo said. ”I know I haven’t had very many good ones, but the few that I’ve hung in there I was able to keep it together and not let it get out of hand like it happened today.”

Cardinals pitchers have thrown 32 consecutive scoreless innings, and St. Louis is 4-1 going into Sunday’s homestand finale. Jake Westbrook shut out Cincinnati on Wednesday, and rookie Shelby Miller combined with two relievers on a two-hitter against Milwaukee on Friday.

Minus injured Chris Carpenter and departed Kyle Lohse, the Cardinals rotation was thought to be a potential weakness.

”I said it in the beginning of the season, this league doesn’t really know what kind of arms we have,” said Wainwright, who was 14-13 with a 3.94 ERA last year. ”We have some great arms. The world is seeing that.”

Milwaukee, missing injured sluggers Corey Hart and Aramis Ramirez, hasn’t scored in 25 straight innings and is 1-8 since winning on opening day.

”When things don’t go your way, it’s always just ‘Here we go again,”’ Rickie Weeks said. ”We are going to keep our heads up, that’s what we do around here.”

Wainwright (2-1) retired his first 10 batters and did not allow a ball out of the infield in that span. He matched his career best with 12 strikeouts in his fifth shutout and 12th complete game. He has yet to walk a batter in three starts over 22 innings.

When he was out in 2011, he noticed how much walks could hurt a pitcher.

”It’s something I say to myself before every game: No free passes,” Wainwright said. ”Even when I get behind in the count, you can throw good quality pitches in the zone and let guys get themselves out or get a hit. At least make them earn it.”

Wainwright singled twice with an RBI in the sixth, becoming the first Cardinals pitcher to get two hits in an inning since Braden Looper singled twice in the fifth against the Padres on Aug. 6, 2007. A career .202 hitter, Wainwright lined an RBI single over a drawn-in infield to put the Cardinals ahead in the third, then beat out an infield hit and added an RBI single off Burke Badenhop.

Wainwright’s 1.94 career ERA against the Brewers is the lowest among active pitchers, and four of his last five starts against them have been complete games.

Ryan Braun struck out three times for the second straight day, and Logan Schafer also fanned three times. Weeks struck out twice and doubled in the seventh, stopping an 0-for-21 slide.

Jon Jay also singled twice with an RBI in the sixth, and Matt Holliday had a two-run single. Jay contributed a nice diving catch in center to rob Martin Maldonado of a hit in the fifth, one at-bat before Yuniesky Betancourt doubled.

Gallardo allowed a run and three hits entering the sixth, when six of the first seven batters reached safely.

— Associated Press —

Rookie Shelby Miller allowed one hit in seven innings, a single by Norichika Aoki to open the game, and the St. Louis Cardinals had just enough to spoil Kyle Lohse’s first start as a visitor since 2007 in a 2-0 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday night.

A near-sellout crowd of 42,528 bundled up in 44-degree chill for the second Stan Musial tribute of the opening homestand, featuring a harmonica giveaway and the unveiling of a memorial plaque attached to the iconic Musial statue outside Busch Stadium. Seven members of the Musial family threw simultaneous first pitches and Musial’s No. 6 was cut into the outfield grass in center.

David Freese had an RBI single at the end of a three-hit flurry to open the second and Yadier Molina hit his second homer in the seventh for the Cardinals, who have allowed one run during a three-game winning streak.

Lohse, a 16-game winner whom the Cardinals did not attempt to re-sign, allowed two runs in seven innings while throwing 82 pitches – 31 fewer than Miller needed. He received a nice ovation before his first at-bat leading off the third, with hundreds of fans standing.

Miller (2-0) had a career-best eight strikeouts in his third career start, one more than he had in his debut against the Reds in the 2012 regular-season finale. He retired his final 17 in order after hitting Alex Gonzalez with one out in the second, and fanned Ryan Braun and Carlos Gomez twice each.

Lohse (0-1) pulled a nice escape in the second, holding the Cardinals to one run after giving up three straight hits in the second. He allowed one hit the next four innings before Molina homered with one out in the seventh.

Lohse, who is 30-18 with a 3.39 ERA at Busch Stadium, made his first start in St. Louis in an opposition uniform since a 5-1 win for the Reds on June 7, 2007.

Trevor Rosenthal retired the side in order in the eighth and Mitchell Boggs stranded two runners in the ninth, striking out Braun and Rickie Weeks to earn his second save in four chances to wind up a game played in 2 hours, 15 minutes.

Carlos Beltran led off the first with a broken-bat single that gave him a .575 average (23 for 40) against Lohse, and the Cardinals had runners on second and third after Braun, leaving his feet at the last second on a running attempt, couldn’t hang onto Molina’s double to the gap to left-center. Freese singled up the middle on the next pitch to put St. Louis ahead, but Lohse got eighth-place hitter Pete Kozma on a called third strike and Miller grounded into a double play.

— Associated Press —

Jake Westbrook bounded out of the dugout for the ninth inning before manager Mike Matheny could change his mind.

The right-hander quickly finished off a five-hitter for his first shutout in more than six years, backed by four home runs in the St. Louis Cardinals’ 10-0 rout over the Cincinnati Reds Wednesday.

”He was making a statement,” Matheny said. ”He wanted to make sure he gave the appearance he was ready to go. What a great day for him.”

Westbrook (1-1) hasn’t allowed an earned run in 15 2-3 innings this season, although he took the loss on an unearned run in a 1-0 setback to Barry Zito in San Francisco in his season debut. He relied heavily on a sinker against the Reds with 16 groundball outs.

”It always means a lot when you can finish what you started,” Westbrook said. ”The ball was in the zone and really moving a lot. I guess I know when I’m good is when I get a lot of ground balls.”

The lineup made a statement, too. Jon Jay, Carlos Beltran and Matt Adams homered in a span of seven at-bats off Homer Bailey as the Cardinals took two of three from the NL Central champions after Cincinnati stunned them with a nine-run ninth in the home opener.

”It’s a great point about resiliency,” Matheny said. ”They certainly showed a different brand the last two days.”

Matt Carpenter added a two-run homer on a four-hit day. Adams homered for the second straight game and added an RBI double and walk.

The Cardinals have dominated the Reds at home the last decade, losing just three of 28 series with two splits. They outscored them 15-1 the last two games of the series and the Reds were shut out for the first time in the finale.

”I was hoping this would be different this time especially after that first night,” Reds manager Dusty Baker said. ”The thing about it is their pitching really shut us down.”

Westbrook (1-1) pitched his first shutout since Aug. 9, 2006, against the Angels when he was with Cleveland, and this was his 15th career complete game. He held the Reds hitless in six at-bats with runners in scoring position, and contributed his 11th career RBI with a single in the seventh for St. Louis’ final run.

”It was a perfect storm,” said Joey Votto, one of the few Reds with much success, going 2 for 3 with a walk. ”He didn’t surprise us because he definitely has that capability.”

Bailey (1-1) had gone 23 straight shutout innings – including his no-hitter against Pittsburgh last season – before the Cardinals broke open a scoreless game with four runs with two outs in the fifth.

”Once they started seeing the ball there toward the end, they hit it,” Bailey said. ”After watching the film, I missed a spot to Beltran pretty big. The others hit pretty good pitches. They just got ahold of them.”

Bailey was charged with seven runs in five-plus innings and dropped to 3-8 with a 5.52 ERA against the Cardinals, including 0-4 with a 6.93 ERA at Busch Stadium.

Baker pulled Bailey after Pete Kozma’s liner struck the pitcher just above his right ankle, with the ball caroming into left field. But Bailey walked off without a limp.

”I was trying to wave him off,” Bailey said. ”It was more because of giving up the rockets that haven’t really landed yet.”

The Cardinals advanced only two runners into scoring position in the first four innings and Bailey got two quick outs to start the fifth before running into trouble against the top of the lineup. St. Louis scored 10 runs on 11 hits in the fifth, sixth and seventh off Bailey, Logan Ondrusek and Alfredo Simon.

Jay’s second homer just cleared center fielder Shin-Soo Choo’s leaping attempt at the wall. Carpenter followed with a single and Matt Holliday hit an RBI double, prompting a visit from pitching coach Bryan Price.

Beltran then hit his first homer of the season on to make it 4-0.

Adams hit a two-run homer in the sixth off Bailey. Carpenter’s two-run shot homer three batters later made it 8-0.

— Associated Press —

Lance Lynn struck out 10 in six sharp innings and rookie Matt Adams connected for his first career pinch-hit homer as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Cincinnati Reds 5-1 on Tuesday night.

Reds starter Bronson Arroyo (1-1) retired the first 15 batters. The Cardinals broke through in the sixth, with Adams hitting a two-run homer and Allen Craig and Carlos Beltran also driving in runs.

St. Louis bounced back nicely a day after the Reds roughed up the bullpen for nine runs in the ninth inning of a 13-4 rout that made for a sour home opener.

Brandon Phillips had a sacrifice fly and Shin-Soo Choo had two hits for Cincinnati. The Reds were held to five hits, ending a run of four consecutive games with double-figure hit totals. Choo has four straight two-hit games.

— Associated Press —

Matt Carpenter has no explanation for the sudden turn of events, other than a little bit of luck and a lot of aggression.

Matt Cain became the first Giants pitcher to allow nine runs in an inning since 1902 when Carpenter and the St. Louis Cardinals tagged him Sunday in a 14-3 romp over San Francisco.

”I wasn’t as sharp as I was, for some reason, for the first three innings and it just kind of fell apart,” Cain said. ”I don’t know that they changed anything. I just started making some bad pitches and they put good swings together.”

The Cardinals chased Cain (0-1) while scoring nine times in the fourth inning. The last two runs came home on Carlos Beltran’s single off reliever Jose Mijares.

”He was great the first time through the order and then I thought we did a good job the second time being aggressive,” Carpenter said. ”Guys were battling up there and things started to roll for us and a couple of balls fell in. We did a good job of swinging at good pitches.”

According to research by the Elias Sports Bureau provided by the team, Cain was the first Giants pitcher to give up so many runs in a single inning since John Cronin on Sept. 27, 1902, in the second game of New York’s doubleheader against Brooklyn.

”It’s one of those innings we couldn’t stop the bleeding and the game got out of hand there,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. ”I can’t say there was anything different he was doing. They just threw out some pretty good at-bats.”

Adam Wainwright (1-1) pitched seven innings, giving up two runs on seven hits for his first win since signing a rich new contract at the end of spring training. He struck out six and walked none.

”Pitching against Matt you have to take that 0-0 mentality,” Wainwright said. ”I cracked first and I thought I had to keep it there for us to have a chance. Our offense did an amazing job. Against a pitcher like that you never expect anything like that.”

Cain pitched a perfect game last year and helped the Giants win their second title in three seasons. The pregame ceremony included the presentation of rings to Giants Hall of Famers Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Orlando Cepeda, Juan Marchial and Gaylord Perry.

Cain retired the first nine batters, then gave up seven hits while getting just two outs in the fourth. Beltran, Carpenter and Matt Adams each drove in two runs during the outburst. Cain left after Carpenter’s two-run single.

”I don’t know what it is, every at-bat has been tough against him,” said Carpenter, who is 6 for 7 lifetime against Cain. ”All I can say he comes at me, gets ahead and I have to fight back into the count. He’s as good as there is in the league.”

Back in 2008, the Cardinals scored nine runs against Cain spread out over 3 2-3 innings.

Adams finished with three hits, including a two-run double in the fourth.

”I can’t get over the two-strike, two-out hits we were putting together,” Cardinals’ manager Mike Matheny said. ”If you’re looking for a kind of offense, that’s what we can be. It was a nice run there.”

The Giants gave up their most runs in an inning since 2004 when Cincinnati scored 10 in the eighth.

The Cardinals’ team record is 12 in an inning, accomplished last July.

Carpenter added an RBI double in the eighth. Allen Craig, Pete Kozma and John Jay also drove in two runs apiece.

Brandon Belt singled with two outs in the Giants’ ninth to end an 0-for-12 streak and Nick Noonan followed with a single for his first major league hit.

— Associated Press —

Carlos Beltran is a realist. The St. Louis Cardinals’ season has just begun, so there’s not a lot that can be told from one lousy game – like Friday – or one in which the offense clicks up and down the order as it did a day later.

Yet he is pretty sure the latter provides a better glimpse of what this team can be.

Beltran hit a go-ahead two-run single in the fifth against his former team and Shelby Miller beat the reigning World Series champion San Francisco Giants in his second career start, spoiling Buster Posey’s MVP party at AT&T Park with a 6-3 win on Saturday.

”I feel good, man,” Beltran said. ”This is a good team, a good lineup. We have guys from top to bottom who can do the job. It’s fun. As a player, you just want to go out there and be part of it.”

Pete Kozma had three hits, drove in a run and scored for St. Louis from the No. 8 spot in the order, Matt Holliday singled in a run and Matt Carpenter added an RBI single in the ninth.

Beltran also hit an RBI single in the first against Ryan Vogelsong (0-1) in a matchup of the teams that won the past three World Series – and a rematch of last fall’s NL championship series won in seven games by the Giants.

Hunter Pence hit a solo homer in the second and Pablo Sandoval homered and hit an RBI single. He also played more strong defense for San Francisco on a day Vogelsong (0-1) struggled to consistently command the strike zone.

Posey received his NL MVP plaque in another highlight-filled pregame ceremony, and the Giants will have yet another day of celebrating before Sunday’s game with the World Series ring presentation.

Posey also was honored for his batting title and Silver Slugger award. Kevin Mitchell, the 1989 NL MVP, and 2000 MVP Jeff Kent took part, along with former MVP winners and Hall of Famers Willie Mays and Willie McCovey.

”It was definitely a different pregame for me than normal but it was nice to be able to celebrate that with the fans,” Posey said.

St. Louis’ pitchers faced baserunners every inning but limited the damage.

Miller (1-0) walked Pence with one out in the sixth, then Randy Choate relieved and walked Brandon Belt on four pitches before pinch-hitter Joaquin Arias lined the first pitch he saw into a double play to first baseman Allen Craig.

Miller, the Cardinals’ top pitching prospect, allowed four hits and two runs in 5 1-3 innings. He struck out four and walked four in the first road start of his career.

He went 2-0 with a 3.94 ERA in three spring training starts and five overall appearances, and faced San Francisco twice in relief during last fall’s NLCS.

Miller credited catcher Yadier Molina for his guidance to stick with his off-speed pitches even when he left them up in the zone and the Giants made contact.

”That’s just the lessons I’ll have to work on, trusting my curveball,” he said.

Mitchell Boggs, filling in for injured closer Jason Motte, finished for his first save after blowing his initial chance.

The Cardinals earned their second win of the year, giving their pitchers plenty of offense a day after getting three-hit by Barry Zito and two relievers in a 1-0 loss.

After Jon Jay’s foul popup to start the game, Carpenter reached on an infield single and advanced on a passed ball during Holliday’s strikeout. Carpenter reached third on a wild pitch as Craig batted. Craig, who had two of his team’s three hits Friday, walked and Beltran singled home Carpenter.

The earned run ended a stretch of 26 straight innings without allowing one to begin the year for San Francisco’s starters. Vogelsong needed 28 pitches to get through the inning.

After that, Vogelsong allowed Kozma’s one-out single in the second before retiring the next eight St. Louis batters in order.

World Series MVP Sandoval homered leading off the eighth for his second of the year. Posey followed with a double for his lone hit of the game on a day the first 40,000 fans received his bobblehead doll – just about everybody in the sellout crowd of 41,402.

Sandoval said he is still finding his timing after missing 13 games late in spring training with an inflamed nerve in his right elbow.

”You want me to tell you the truth?” he said. ”A little bit lost.”

— Associated Press —