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Cardinals clip Bucs by slimmest of margins

Coverage of today's Cards and Pirates game can be heard on Newstalk 97.3 WTIM beginning at 2:30pm.

St.  Louis, MO (SportsNetwork.com) - Matt Holliday finished 3-for-3 and plated 
the game's only run with a double in the first, while Shelby Miller spun 5 2/3 
strong  frames,  as  the St.  Louis Cardinals  claimed  a  1-0 win  over  the 
Pittsburgh Pirates in the opener of a three-game set Friday at Busch Stadium. 

Miller (2-2) struck out four and scattered three hits with four walks over his 
scoreless outing. 

Four  St. Louis  relievers combined  to keep  the Pirates  off the  board from 
there,  culminating  in Trevor Rosenthal's  perfect ninth inning that gave the 
right-hander his seventh save of the season. 

Jhonny  Peralta added  a pair  of hits  for the Cardinals, who  had lost  two 
straight and four of their last five games. 

Gerrit  Cole (2-2) took the hard-luck loss, giving up just one run on six hits 
and three walks over seven innings. 

Jose  Tabata collected two of the four hits for the Pirates, who dropped their 
fourth straight game after going 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position. 

The Cardinals manufactured the lone run of the game in the first inning, which 
Matt Carpenter opened with a bunt single down the third-base line. 

After  Carpenter  moved to second on  a groundout, Holliday ripped a double to 
center, scoring the St. Louis second baseman easily for a 1-0 lead. 

Pittsburgh  loaded the bases  with one out in the third, but Miller got Andrew 
McCutchen  to  ground into  an inning-ending  6-4-3 double  play to escape the 
frame unscathed. 

St.  Louis mounted  a threat of its own  in the home half, as Jon Jay worked a 
one-out  walk  before moving to third  when Holliday followed with a single to 
right. Jay slid into third head-first and was originally ruled safe. 

However,  the  Pirates challenged  the call, which  was overturned after video 
review showed third baseman Pedro Alvarez tag Jay's hand before it reached the 
bag.  Matt  Adams then singled  to keep the inning  alive, but Cole got Yadier 
Molina to ground out weakly to third to end the inning. 

Pittsburgh  put  together its only  other threat  in the eighth against Carlos 
Martinez. Martinez hit pinch-hitter Starling Marte to begin the frame and then 
served up a single to Tabata before Neil Walker slapped one back to the mound. 

Martinez alertly fired behind Marte to third, and after a short rundown, Marte 
was retired for the first out. 

Martinez then uncorked a wild pitch and intentionally walked McCutchen to load 
the  bases, but the St. Louis right-hander fanned Alvarez and Chris Stewart in 
succession to keep the Pirates off the board. 

Rosenthal struck out the side in the ninth to close out the victory. 

                                   Game Notes 

Pittsburgh  took two of  three at home from the Cardinals earlier in April ... 
Miller  entered  the game 0-5  over five  career starts against Pittsburgh ... 
Molina  singled in the eighth to extend his hitting streak to 15 games ... St. 
Louis went 1-for-11 with RISP and left 10 men on base. 

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