Read More: Jake Westbrook (P – STL), Roy Oswalt (P – PHI), Kyle Lohse (P – STL), Carlos Beltran (RF – STL), Rafael Furcal (SS – STL), Albert Pujols (1B – ANA), Adam Wainwright (P – STL), Jaime Garcia (P – STL), St. Louis Cardinals

Starting pitching hasn’t really been a major target for the St. Louis Cardinals this offseason, but Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe is reporting that they’re showing interest in free agent Roy Oswalt. Oswalt is reportedly willing to accept a one-year contract, and teams like the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox have also shown interest.

Oswalt, 34, spent last season with the Philadelphia Phillies after being a career-long Houston Astro. He only made 23 starts as he battled back issues, but he was effective when he was able to get on the mound. In 139 innings, he posted a 3.69 ERA with solid peripheral statistics, so he can still be a high-quality option even if he’s no longer a top-of-the-rotation staple.

For the Cardinals, interest likely is based on their payroll flexibility. St. Louis has had an expectedly large amount of money to spend this offseason after Albert Pujols’ departure, and while they’ve spent some of it on the likes of Rafael Furcal and Carlos Beltran, there’s probably still a bit more to spend there. Their current rotation includes Chris Carpenter, Adam Wainwright, Jaime Garcia, Kyle Lohse and Jake Westbrook.

Stay tuned to SB Nation St. Louis for more information, and for in-depth analysis on the St. Louis Cardinals, be sure to visit Viva El Birdos or drop by Baseball Nation for more news and notes from around the league. Keep abreast of all MLB transactions and rumors at MLB Daily Dish.

Read More: Jake Westbrook (P – STL), Octavio Dotel (P – STL), Kyle Lohse (P – STL), Edwin Jackson (P – STL), Rafael Furcal (SS – STL), Albert Pujols (1B – STL), Adam Wainwright (P – STL), Arthur Rhodes (P – STL), Jaime Garcia (P – STL), St. Louis Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals have offered salary arbitration to franchise cornerstone Albert Pujols (Type A) and starting pitcher Edwin Jackson (Type B), but have declined to make offers to Rafael Furcal (Type B) and relief pitcher Arthur Rhodes (Type B), per a Twitter report from Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The only remaining player subject to arbitration is relief pitcher Octavio Dotel, but the team is not required to offer salary arbitration to Dotel because his compensation status was adjusted downward from Type A to Type B by the league on Tuesday.

The decision to approve or decline salary arbitration does not act as a proxy for the team’s interest in keeping each player in a Cardinals uniform, as MLB.com explains:

Of the four, the Cardinals retain some interest in return engagements with Dotel and Furcal, and possibly Rhodes, but Jackson isn’t expected to return. The Cardinals have five starting pitchers under contract for 2012 — Adam Wainwright, Chris Carpenter, Jaime Garcia, Kyle Lohse and Jake Westbrook — and traded for Jackson with the expectation that he would depart via free agency.    

As noted by Dan Moore of SB Nation St. Louis earlier in the week, Albert Pujols is not expected to accept salary arbitration, and the site will have timely updates on any decisions made the other players and all other off-season moves as well.

For more updates and analysis on the St. Louis Cardinals, check out Viva El Birdos. Stay tuned to SB Nation St. Louis for more breaking news on all matters St. Louis sports. For MLB Off-Season news make sure to visit MLB Daily Dish.

They did it! The most improbable ending to one of the most amazing comebacks in baseball history has given the St. Louis Cardinals a World Series Championship.

Chris Carpenter, the ace pitcher for a club that was 10 1/2 games out of the National League Wildcard lead in late August, gave up only two runs in six innings in Game 7 of the World Series as the Cardinals beat the Texas Rangers 6-2.

It was the third World Series championship for Manager Tony LaRussa, who has won two titles in the National League with St. Louis, and one in the American League with Oakland. ”This is what you dream about,” LaRussa said. There isn’t anybody on this team, too, that when you’re a young kid you don’t think about winning the World Series, and it’s always in Game 7. Truly a dream come true. It’s hard to imagine it actually happened.”

St. Louis third baseman and hometown hero David Freese, who ended one the biggest games in Cardinals history with a walkoff home run in Game 6, was named the World Series Most Valuable Player. He batted .348 with three doubles, a triple, a home run, seven RBI and four runs scored during the Fall Classic.

KTTS News asked Freese about going from being injured while being on a rehab assignment with the Springfield Cardinals last season, to being on top of the world now. “I think you’ve got to kind of take a step back and understand all the work you’ve put into it, and then you realize how many people are the reason why you’re here, starting with my folks” Freese said. “You know, I quit out of high school, and they were the only two people that supported that decision. If I listened to everybody else, I wouldn’t be here right now.” 

Freese was a key player in the finale. After Texas jumped out to a 2-0 1st inning lead on back to back RBI doubles by Josh Hamilton and Michael Young, it was Freese’s two run double to left center that allowed the Cardinals to tie the game 2-2 before the second inning ever started.

Former Springfield Cardinal Allen Craig homered in the 3rd inning, giving St. Louis a 3-2 lead, and the Redbirds never looked back.

The Cardinals increased the lead to 5-2 in the bottom of the 5th without the benefit of a hit. They used three walks and two hit batters to begin to pull away from the Rangers.

Yadier Molina had an RBI single in the 7th to give the Cardinals a four run cushion, 6-2, and that’s all they needed. Arthur Rhodes, Octavio Dotel, Lance Lynn and Jason Motte shut down Texas’ mighty offense.

Matt Harrison, who gave up three runs on five hits in four innings for the Rangers, took the loss.

The contest marked what may have been the last game for slugger Albert Pujols in a Cardinal uniform. Pujols, who’s eligible to become a free agent at any time, was asked by outfielder Lance Berkman to “Come back. Let’s do this again.” And what did Pujols tell him? ”Just the same thing that I’m going to tell you,” Pujols said. “I was enjoying the moment. Look, I’m going to be prayerful about it. Whatever decision I make hopefully is the best decision I make for my family and the fans and everybody.”

On this night, at least, Pujols is a proud Cardinal who celebrated his second World Series title. We’ll see what tomorrow brings.

Times wires

In Print: Friday, October 28, 2011

The Cardinals’ Matt Holliday upends Rangers infielder Elvis Andrus in the fourth inning on Thursday night in Game 6.
	[Getty Images]

ST. LOUIS — Twice down to their last strike, the Cardinals kept rallying to win one of baseball’s greatest thrillers.

David Freese completed a startling night of comebacks with a home run leading off the bottom of the 11th to beat Texas 10-9 Thursday night, and suddenly fans all over got something they have waited a long time to see: Game 7 in the World Series.

“Man, that was incredible,” Freese said. “But we fought back, we made some mistakes early on, but the way we have been playing lately, you expect to come back like this. This is just a good feeling, and I’m pumped we’re playing (tonight).

“Just an incredible feeling, seeing all my teammates at the dish waiting for me.”

Freese, the hometown boy who made good, had already written himself into St. Louis lore in Game 6 with a two-strike, two-out, two-run triple in the ninth off Rangers closer Neftali Feliz that made tied the score at 7.

“Initially I was like ‘Are you kidding me? My first (at-bat) off Feliz in this situation ever,’ ” Freese said. “I just beared down, got a pitch to hit. Initially I thought I hit it pretty good, I thought (rightfielder Nelson Cruz) was going to grab it, so just a lot of emotions on that one.”

After banged-up Josh Hamilton hit a two-run homer in the Texas 10th, St. Louis again tied it when Lance Berkman hit a two-out single on a 2-and-2 pitch from Scott Feldman.

Busch Stadium was still in frenzy when Freese opened the 11th with a leadoff shot over the centerfield wall off Mark Lowe. Freese thrust his arm in the air as he rounded first base, and the crowd was delirious.

“You had to be here to believe it,” Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said.

The collapse was unprecedented. No team had ever come from behind twice in the ninth inning and later to tie a World Series game or take the lead.

“I understand it’s not over till you get that last out,” Texas manager Ron Washington said. “I was just sitting there praying we got that last out. We didn’t get it.”

A night that started off terribly for both teams turned terrific for everyone watching.

After it was over, La Russa, a Tampa native, wasn’t willing to announce his starter for Game 7 — many believe it will be ace Chris Carpenter on three days’ rest. Matt Harrison is set to start for Texas.

Home teams have won the last eight Game 7s in the World Series, a streak that started with the Cardinals beating Milwaukee in 1982.

Texas trudged off the field as Freese circled the bases after connecting off Lowe, having been so close to that elusive title.

Much earlier, team president Nolan Ryan was high-fiving friends in the stands as Adrian Beltre and Cruz opened the seventh inning with home runs that helped Texas take a 7-4 lead.

Allen Craig’s solo homer in the eighth began the Cardinals’ comeback. Jake Westbrook wound up with the victory.

Hardly the ending anyone imagined in a game that started out with a bevy of errors and bobbles — none more surprising than the routine popup that Freese simply dropped at third base.

“I’m just glad I had a chance after I looked like an idiot on that popup,” Freese said.

The Cardinals made it 4-all in the sixth when Alexi Ogando relieved starter Colby Lewis and walked Yadier Molina with the bases loaded.

Then came a key play — catcher Mike Napoli and Beltre teamed up to pick off Matt Holliday at third with the bases loaded.

With one out, Napoli zipped a throw to Beltre, who neatly used his cleat to block the diving Holliday from reaching the base. That also ended Holliday’s night with a severely bruised right pinkie.

Texas wasn’t quite out of trouble as Nick Punto walked to reload the bases. But Derek Holland, the star of Game 4 with shutout ball into the ninth inning, trotted in from the bullpen and retired Jon Jay on a comebacker.

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St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa made two key mistakes in Game 5 of the 2011 World Series , both of which he admitted. First was that LaRussa miscommunicated with his bullpen . The wrong pitchers were warming up and facing the wrong batters. Then he let superstar Albert Pujols(notes) call a hit-and-run situation from the batter’s box. Unfortunately, Allen Craig(notes) was caught stealing as Pujols failed to swing at the pitch.

Tony LaRussa.
SD Dirk, Wikimedia Commons

Watching the game, I was aghast that St. Louis unraveled so thoroughly in two innings after commanding much of Game 5. The normally solid bullpen choked.

Hopefully LaRussa won’t make critical errors in Game 6. His club has to win two games in a row to win a world championship. Although not out of the realm of possibility, the way St. Louis lost two games in the World Series is startling. Game 2 saw the bullpen collapse and give up a 1-0 lead to lose 2-1. The same thing happened in Game 5 when Chris Carpenter had a 2-0 lead and then gave up two solo home runs to tie it. The bullpen lost it in the eighth.

After losing two close games, the franchise is on the brink of elimination during one of its greatest late-season runs into the playoffs. Frankly, Cardinals fans deserve this World Series in the final year of Pujols’ contract. The most feared hitter in Major League Baseball may be with another team next year. With his meteoric numbers in 11 seasons, it has been a joy to watch Prince Albert play in St. Louis.

Luckily the World Series isn’t over yet. St. Louis can learn from its mistakes. Winning at home has been a specialty of the Cardinals this year, especially in August and September. The team’s magical comeback to end the season was surreal even to get to this point.

Earlier in the World Series and throughout the NLCS, fans saw the brilliance of LaRussa who is sure to be a hall of fame manager. Yet for two ugly innings Oct. 24, the Cardinal skipper looked like a rookie.

LaRussa himself said he had never seen anything like the phone incident ever in his managerial career. If St. Louis loses the World Series, he may never get a chance to rectify his mistake. The best thing he can do is win two for the fans over the next two nights. His job may even depend upon it.

William Browning was born in St. Louis and is a lifelong St. Louis Cardinals fan. He currently resides in Branson, Mo.

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

The St. Louis Cardinals are now just three wins away from a World Series championship after beating the Texas Rangers 3-2 Wednesday night in Game One of the Fall Classic at Busch Stadium.

Chris Carpenter pitched six solid innings, allowing two runs on five hits, striking out five. Then, the bullpen took over and slammed the door on the Rangers’ dangerous offense.

Fernando Salas, Marc Rzepczynski, Octavio Dotel, Arthur Rhodes and Jason Motte combined to allow only one hit in the final three innings. Motte retired the Rangers in order in the 9th inning to earn his first World Series save.

C.J. Wilson gave up all three of the Cardinals’ runs in his 5 2/3 innings pitched, allowing four hits and striking out four.

St. Louis jumped in front 2-0 in the bottom of the 4th. Albert Pujols was hit by a pitch, then Matt Holliday hit a double down the right field line, sending Pujols to third. Both runners scored on Lance Berkman’s single.

The lead didn’t last long because Mike Napoli hit a two run homer over the right field wall in the top of the 5th to tie the game 2-2.

But pinch hitter Allen Craig came up big for St. Louis in the bottom of the 6th, scoring David Freese on a base hit to right field, putting the Cardinals back in front 3-2. They’d never look back.

Craig says he appreciates the confidence Manager Tony LaRussa has in him. “Having Tony having confidence in me as a player and wanting me in that big spot definately means a lot,” Craig said. “I’ve worked hard over the past year and a half, two years to kind of earn that trust and for him to believe in me.  It’s just a cool experience to have that trust and have him want me up there in that situation.”

LaRussa says what Craig did in Game One is pretty impressive. “Cold weather game, sitting on the bench. World Series, (Rangers reliever) Ogando. It’s not a very good situation, but he’s got a history in our system. That’s why we like him so much. He’s got a good history of taking great at-bats, especially with runners in scoring position, so he should have a really great career.”

Pujols says with a Rangers team that can score runs in bunches, it’s important for the Cards’ offense to get to the opposing pitcher. “Obviously, you look at the lineup and it’s pretty dangerous up and down,” Pujols said. “I’m pretty sure it’s the same way with them. They look at the lineup (for St. Louis) and there’s not really an easy out. Even our pitchers can hit.”

More than 46,000 fans, each given a rally towel on their way into the ballpark, made a lot of noise to inspire the home team.

The Cardinals will try to keep it going Thursday night in Game Two at 7:05 as Jaime Garcia takes the mound for the Redbirds. He’ll be opposed by the Rangers’ Colby Lewis.

We’ll have complete coverage from Busch Stadium on 94.7, Today’s KTTS and online at KTTS.com.

World Series Notes: 

The winner of the first game of the World Series has gone on to win the Fall Classic 65 times out of the previous 106 series. Since 1993, every home team to win Game One has gone on to win the World Series.

The eighth career postseason win by Carpenter sets a new Cardinals all-time postseason mark, surpassing the seven career wins by Bob Gibson.

Games three and four of this best of five series will be played Tuesday and Wednesday in St. Louis.

The Phillies jumped on starter Chris Carpenter for a 4-0 lead after two innings, and Carpenter was done following the third.

In most instances, the Phillies or any other team would take their chances at getting hacks at the Cardinals bullpen.

“You can throw stats out the window – everybody talks about how bad they have been all year,” Phillies centerfielder Shane Victorino said of the Cardinals’ bullpen. “You don’t look at what has happened. They pitched well and shut the offense down, and did a good job keeping their team in the game.”

Still, it would be difficult not to look at the statistics, even from Game 1 – when the Phillies won 11-6 and scored five runs in 2 2/3 innings against four St. Louis relievers.

Want a bigger sample?

The Cardinals ranked second in baseball in blown saves with 26, one fewer than the Washington Nationals. By contrast, the Phillies had eight blown saves, the fewest in the majors.

Cardinals relievers surrendered 49 home runs, the third highest total in the National League.

St. Louis manager Tony La Russa loves to mix and match, and he used six pitchers to finish the final six innings on Sunday.

Fernando Salas began things with two scoreless innings. He was followed by winning pitcher Octavio Dotel (1 1/3 innings); Marc Rzepczynski (2/3 of an inning); Mitchell Boggs (1/3 of an inning); veteran Arthur Rhodes (another 1/3 of an inning); and finally Jason Motte, who earned the save with 1 1/3 innings of work.

Rhodes, who appears to be older than AstroTurf, came in to face Ryan Howard with a runner on first and one out in the eighth inning. The lefthander, who turns 42 on Oct. 24, struck Howard out on three pitchers – the third a 79-mile per hour slider.

“What the bullpen did was go out there and throw strikes and get guys out, and we tried to hold things down until our team could come back and score,” Rhodes said.

It seems so simple, throwing strikes, but Carpenter was having trouble commanding his pitches and only threw 34 of his 64 pitches for strikes.

Contrast that with the bullpen which threw 48 of its 66 pitches for strikes.

“What the bullpen did was give a boost to everybody,” Rhodes said. “We were able to hold them down.”

The only Phillies to get a hit off the bullpen was Jimmy Rollins, who singled with two outs in the seventh inning, but then was picked off base.

“They were throwing strikes and it was like (Kyle) Loshe early yesterday,” Rollins said, referring to the Cardinals Game 1 starter who allowed one unearned run in the first five innings before surrendering five in the sixth. “You go up there saying you are going to be aggressive and then make some quick outs and then you say you are going to work some pitches and you are down 0-2.”

The Phillies eventually solved the problem in Game 1, but couldn’t duplicate the feat in Game 2.

“It’s important for a bullpen to go out and be aggressive and be ahead,” Rollins said. “Specialty guys in the bullpen, when they get ahead, they can get to their special stuff and it can be a long night for the other team.”

It sure was for the Phillies, who insist their confidence isn’t dented. But there has to be some sense of deflation when a dominating pitcher such as Cliff Lee is staked to a 4-0 lead and ends up taking the loss.

Just don’t suggest to the Phillies that they will be traveling to St. Louis with their heads down.

“Never use the word disappointed with us,” Victorino said. “We have to keep playing – it’s part of the game. Now we go back to St. Louis and see what happens.”

Contact staff writer Marc Narducci at 856-779-3225, mnarducci@phillynews.com, or @sjnard on Twitter.

The St. Louis Cardinals faced a difficult task on Sunday night, down a game in their NLDS matchup with the Philadelphia Phillies and facing Cliff Lee in Game 2. St. Louis was facing the very real possibility of heading back home down 0-2, but came up big after falling behind early by crawling back to take the second game of the series by a 5-4 margin.

While the Cardinals and Phillies were battling it out on the field, the Baseball Nation staff was hammering away at the live-blog, providing updates and tidbits throughout the game. Below are some of the highlights.

Cliff Lee’s night didn’t get off to the best start as he gave up a leadoff triple to Rafael Furcal. But this is Cliff Lee we’re talking about, and a runner on third with nobody out simply didn’t phase him. Lee struck out Allen Craig, induced a pop-out by Albert Pujols and suddenly a runner on third with nobody out became a runner on third with two down. It was all up to Lance Berkman.

It went to waste. Berkman grounded out, Lee worked around the triple, and now the Cardinals have a half-inning they might come to really regret in an hour or two.

After wasting the opportunity, the Cardinals put themselves in an early hole, with Chris Carpenter struggling in the first inning. Carpenter was pitching on short rest, which may not have been the best idea.

After a visit from pitching coach Dave Duncan, Carpenter did escape with Placido Polanco’s double-play grounder. But starting on short rest, Carpenter has put his team in a three-run hole against one of the four or five best pitchers on earth.

Hey, it might work!

After St. Louis shot itself in the foot again in the second, Grant Brisbee had a few helpful tips for cracking the Phillies’ code.

1. Acquire Jose Bautista
2. Hope Cliff Lee gets tired
3. Make sure that Charlie Manuel doesn’t pull Lee after he gets tired

Somehow, the Cardinals were able to get to Lee in the fourth, turning a 4-0 deficit into a 4-3 deficit. But still, St. Louis wasn’t doing itself any favors, as this handy gif shows.

Probably should’ve been a tie ballgame.

In the sixth, the Cardinals did manage to tie it up on a Ryan Theriot single that score Jon Jay. After holding the Phillies’ offense at bay, St. Louis finally broke through in the seventh, thanks in large part to Allen Craig’s triple. This was how close Allen Craig came to not having a triple.

Pujols singled to drive in Craig and the Cardinals took a 5-4 lead. While it was the slimmest of margins, the St. Louis pitching held, keeping the Phillies off the scoreboard for the rest of the game. Along the way, Chase Utley almost killed a guy. But the Cardinals survived and lived to fight another day, evening the series with a 5-4 win in Philadelphia.

For more from this game, check out the rest of the live-blog and Rob Neyer’s recap.

Can the St. Louis Cardinals’ good fortune against the Philadelphia Phillies continue in the National League Division Series?

The Phillies finished with a major league-best 102-62 record this season, yet the Cardinals were 6-3 against them and outscored them 34-32.

A recap of the teams’ meetings in 2011:

May 16 in St. Louis

Cardinals 3, Phillies 1

Jake Westbrook threw one of his best games of the season in outdueling control artist Cliff Lee, who walked a season-high six batters. The Phillies scored their only run against Westbrook in the second on Ben Francisco’s RBI single, but the Cardinals scored two in the fourth and one in the seventh against Lee. Nick Punto and Ryan Theriot had RBI singles in the fourth before Jon Jay’s RBI single in the seventh ending Lee’s outing.

May 17 in St. Louis

Cardinals 2, Phillies 1

Lance Berkman singled against J.C. Romero with the bases loaded and one out in the ninth to score Jay with the winning run. Yadier Molina’s RBI single in the fourth gave St. Louis a 1-0 lead against Roy Oswalt, but the Phillies tied the game with an unearned run against Jaime Garcia in the eighth. Garcia yielded just five hits in eight innings, with one walk and five strikeouts, but did not earn a decision.

June 21 in St. Louis

Phillies 10, Cardinals 2

The Cardinals led 2-1 entering the eighth, but the Phillies scored nine runs against relievers Trever Miller, Jason Motte, Brian Tallet, Miguel Batista and Maikel Cleto and cruised to the one-sided win. Motte hit two batters and forced in a run, and Batista walked in a pair of runs in what turned out to be his final appearance with the Cardinals. He was released the next day.

June 22 in St. Louis

Phillies 4, Cardinals 0

Lee blanked the Cardinals on six hits and benefited from fourth-inning home runs by Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard, both against Kyle Lohse. Howard’s came with a man aboard. The only extra-base hit the Cardinals had against Lee was a double by Lohse.

June 23 in St. Louis

Cardinals 12, Phillies 2

This time, it was the Cardinals’ turn for a big eighth inning. Already leading 6-1, they scored six times against Danys Baez to blow open the game. Jay drew a bases-loaded walk, Matt Holliday had a two-run single and Berkman hit a three-run homer. Jay also homered in the first against Oswalt, and Theriot had a two-run single to highlight a three-run second.

Sept. 16 in Philadelphia

Cardinals 4, Phillies 2, 11 innings

Rookie Adron Chambers’ first major-league hit, a single against Michael Schwimer, drove in the go-ahead run in the 11th inning and Tyler Greene followed with an RBI double. The Phillies had tied the game at 2 in the ninth when Corey Patterson dropped a two-out fly ball. Molina’s home run in the eighth against Antonio Bastardo gave the Cardinals a 2-1 lead.

Sept. 17 in Philadelphia

Phillies 9, Cardinals 2

Philadelphia plated six runs in the eighth to run away with the win. Raul Ibanez had the big blow, a two-out grand slam against Marc Rzepczynski. St. Louis had just cut a 3-0 deficit to 3-2 in the eighth on RBI singles by Berkman and David Freese against Michael Stutes.

Sept. 18 in Philadelphia

Cardinals 5, Phillies 0

Chris Carpenter threw eight shutout innings, Albert Pujols hit a two-run homer in the first and Allen Craig connected for a two-run shot in the sixth to power the Cardinals. Both homers came against Cole Hamels. All eight Philadelphia hits against Carpenter were singles. Carpenter walked one and struck out five.

Sept. 19 in Philadelphia

Cardinals 4, Phillies 3

Lohse outdueled Cy Young Award candidate Roy Halladay, who surrendered Berkman’s two-run homer in the first. Berkman also had an RBI single in the third, and Pujols rifled an RBI double in the seventh. Lohse allowed seven hits and one unearned run in seven innings, walked one and struck out five. Octavio Dotel got the final out, stranding the tying run at first after the Phillies had scored twice against Motte.

– David Wilhelm

The St. Louis Cardinals’ improbable run toward the National League Wildcard took another big step backward Friday night as the Chicago Cubs scored four runs in the final two innings to win 5-1 at Busch Stadium.

The Cards’ loss, coupled with Atlanta’s 7-4 win over Washington, pushed the Cardinals three games behind Atlanta in the wildcard race with five to play.  It also means Milwaukee, with its 4-1 win over Florida, has clinched its first National League Central Division crown and its first division championship since 1982 (when the Brewers played in the American League).

The Redbirds jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the 2nd when starting pitcher Chris Carpenter laid down a bunt on a suicide squeeze play, scoring Skip Schumaker from third. It was the first time St. Louis squeezed home a runner at Busch Stadium since the final weekend of the 2010 season.

The Cubs tied the game 1-1 in the top of the 6th on Carlos Pena’s RBI double. It was the only run Carpenter gave up. The Cards’ starter also allowed five hits in seven innings, striking out five while allowing two walks.

In the 8th, Chicago’s Darwin Barney started the inning with a triple off reliever Kyle McClellan (12-7). After Bryan LaHair grounded out to Albert Pujols, Carlos Pena was walked intentionally, setting the stage for the shot that silenced the crowd of just over 40,000. Alfonso Soriano belted a three run homer over the left field wall, giving his team a 4-1 lead.

The Cubs added another run in the 9th off reliever Mitchell Boggs. Starlin Castro singled in Tony Campana, making the score 5-1.

Jeff Samardzija (8-4) pitched one scoreless inning in relief of Cubs’ starter Ryan Dempster to earn the win.

The Cardinals continue their final home series of 2011 Saturday afternoon, with first pitch at 12:10 against the Cubs. Kyle Lohse (14-8) will pitch for St. Louis against Chicago’s Rodrigo Lopez (6-6).

Game Notes:

The Cardinals grounded into three double plays Friday night, giving them 165 for the year. The next twin killing the Cards hit into will tie the National League record of 166, set by the 1958 Cardinals.

Friday’s announced attendance of 40,335 put the Cardinals over three million fans for the eighth consecutive season and the 15th time in club history.

Lohse threw six scoreless innings on eight days’ rest and the Cardinals got home runs from Jon Jay and Matt Holliday in the third, slicing into the Brewers’ formidable NL Central lead with a 4-2 victory Tuesday night.

“I think I said about a month ago when I started getting moved around and skipped, I’d take the ball when Tony (La Russa) says it’s my turn and go as long as I can until he says that’s enough,” Lohse said. “I try not to worry about all the other stuff, because then you’re going to be distracted. I try not to get upset.”

The Brewers thought wind blowing in from center robbed them of three homers against Lohse. But they didn’t get upset, either.

“The elements played their part,” said Nyjer Morgan, who had three hits. “It’s all good. we’ll come back tomorrow and bring it to them.”

Lohse (13-8) gave up four hits, struck out six and walked three. He was pushed back two days behind Chris Carpenter and Jake Westbrook after giving up four runs in five innings in a win against Pittsburgh in his last start.

“I don’t think he enjoyed it and was upset because he got bumped,” manager La Russa said. “But the difficulty today was that he was pitching against a good team and he did great.”

La Russa left shortly after the game to catch a Santana concert.

Yovani Gallardo (15-10) gave up three runs in six innings, and has allowed six home runs in 10 2-3 innings over his last two starts, both losses to the Cardinals. He gave up only three his previous seven starts combined.

Gallardo dropped to 1-7 with a 5.66 ERA for his career against the Cardinals, the lone victory on May 7 in St. Louis when he took a no-hitter into the eighth of a 4-0 victory.

“Good or bad, you don’t look at those things,” Gallardo said. “Every game’s a different game, every start’s a different start. You’ve just got to go out there and give your team a chance to win.”

Jonathan Lucroy had an RBI double in the eighth for the Brewers, who lead the Central by 9½ games with 19 to play after their four-game winning streak was snapped. Corey Hart extended his hitting streak to 18 games for Milwaukee, which is a major-league best 40-16 since July 6 — with six of the losses against the Cardinals.

Hart flied out twice to the warning track in center and Ryan Braun also flied out to the track in center in the fifth, all against Lohse.

“Oh yeah, we would have had a lot of runs if we were in our ballpark,” Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said. “Braunie really crushed his, but then again Holliday hammered his ball, too. The elements sometimes work against you.”

Jason Motte allowed three hits and Prince Fielder’s RBI single in the ninth before earning his third save in six chances in a September shot at closing. The run ended a streak of 21 consecutive scoreless appearances for Motte, and also was the first earned run he allowed in 34 appearances since June 24. Fernando Salas, who has 23 saves in 28 chances, got the first two outs in the seventh.

“I’m sorry it’s over, but kind of glad,” Motte said. “I don’t have to worry about you guys coming up and asking me about it every day.”

Lance Berkman, who struck out three times against Gallardo the last meeting, gave the Cardinals the lead with an RBI in the first — also his 100th career RBI against the Brewers. Jay hit his 10th homer with one out in the third and Holliday hit his 22nd just inside the right-field foul pole with two outs.

“The home run to Jay, that ball is far in off the plate. I threw the pitch where I wanted to and he turned on it,” Gallardo said. On Holliday’s homer: “That ball was up. He goes that way pretty good and put a pretty good swing on it.”

The Cardinals had three straight singles off Kameron Loe with one out the seventh with Jay getting the RBI before Albert Pujols hit into his major-league leading 26th double play. The Cardinals lead the majors with 151 — 15 shy of the major league record held by the 1958 Cardinals.

NOTES: Zack Greinke (14-5) opposes Chris Carpenter (8-9) in the finale of a three-game series. Carpenter is 5-6 with a 5.05 ERA in 14 career starts against Milwaukee and is 1-2 with a 5.68 ERA in three starts this year. … Pujols has one more double play ball than Boston’s Adrian Gonzalez. Holliday and Yadier Molina are in a three-way tie for second in the NL along with Atlanta’s Alex Gonzalez. The double play all was Pujols’ first in 28 games. … Lohse beat the Brewers for the first time in four decisions at home. … Hart doubled to lead off the game and singled to start the ninth and is batting .359 (28-for-78) with five homers and nine RBIs. … Brewers rookie Taylor Green is 4-for-4 as a pinch hitter after singling in the eighth. …

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