Extended Box

ST LOUIS (8) VS CHICAGO CUBS (1) - FINAL (1ST GAME)

ST LOUIS               ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
F Vina 2b               4  2  2  1   1  0   1  .270
M Cairo ss              4  0  0  0   0  2   2  .247
J Edmonds cf            3  1  0  0   2  2   1  .308
A Pujols lf             4  1  3  1   0  0   0  .307
 R White p              0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
 b-E Perez ph           1  1  1  3   0  0   0  .208
 D Veres p              0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .333
S Rolen 3b              4  0  1  1   1  2   2  .263
T Martinez 1b           5  1  1  0   0  1   3  .262
E Marrero rf            4  2  2  1   0  1   2  .252
M Difelice c            3  0  1  1   0  2   3  .233
L Hackman p             2  0  0  0   0  1   2  .067
 a-J Drew ph            1  0  0  0   0  1   1  .259
 J Fassero p            0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .333
 K Robinson lf          1  0  0  0   0  0   0  .260

Totals                 36  8 11  8   4 12  17

a-struck out swinging for L Hackman in the 6th;  b-homered to left for R White
in the 9th.

BATTING: 2B - A Pujols (31, M Prior); E Marrero (16, M Prior); T Martinez (23,
J Borowski); F Vina (26, J Borowski). HR - A Pujols (32, 5th inning off M Prior
0 on, 2 Out), E Marrero (11, 8th inning off F Beltran 0 on, 1 Out), E Perez (9,
9th inning off F Beltran 2 on, 1 Out). S - M Cairo , E Marrero. SF - M
Difelice. RBI - S Rolen (90), A Pujols (108), M Difelice (18), F Vina (47), E
Marrero (48), E Perez 3 (21). 2-out RBI - S Rolen, A Pujols, F Vina. Runners
left in scoring position, 2 out - F Vina 1, T Martinez 1, M Cairo 1, S Rolen 2,
L Hackman 1. Team LOB - 8.

BASERUNNING: SB - E Marrero (13, 2nd base off J Borowski/J Girardi).


CHICAGO CUBS           ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
M Bellhorn 2b           5  1  3  1   0  1   1  .263
C Patterson cf          3  0  0  0   0  0   2  .259
 J Borowski p           0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .333
 a-B Hill ph            1  0  1  0   0  0   0  .206
 F Beltran p            0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
 b-C Hermansen ph       1  0  1  0   0  0   0  .207
M Alou rf-lf            4  0  0  0   1  2   4  .268
F McGriff 1b            3  0  0  0   2  0   4  .271
C Stynes 3b             4  0  2  0   0  0   2  .249
R Brown lf-cf           4  0  1  0   0  1   5  .209
A Gonzalez ss           4  0  1  0   0  2   2  .242
J Girardi c             4  0  0  0   0  0   4  .224
M Prior p               2  0  0  0   0  1   0  .171
 A Echevarria rf        2  0  0  0   0  0   0  .314

Totals                 37  1  9  1   3  7  24

a-singled to left for J Borowski in the 7th;  b-singled to center for F Beltran
in the 9th.

BATTING: HR - M Bellhorn (24, 7th inning off J Fassero 0 on, 1 Out). RBI - M
Bellhorn (50). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - C Stynes 1, F McGriff
1, J Girardi 2, R Brown 2. Team LOB - 12.

FIELDING: E - A Gonzalez (18, throw); C Stynes (5, throw).


----------------------------------------------------
    ST LOUIS        - 001 012 013   --   8
    CHICAGO CUBS    - 000 000 100   --   1
----------------------------------------------------

ST LOUIS                     ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
L Hackman (W, 4-4)            5       4   0   0   1   3   0   4.20
J Fassero                     1 2/3   3   1   1   2   2   1   6.13
R White (H, 12)               1 1/3   0   0   0   0   1   0   5.40
D Veres                       1       2   0   0   0   1   0   3.53

CHICAGO CUBS                 ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
M Prior (L, 6-6)              5       7   2   2   1   7   1   3.32
J Borowski                    2       2   2   1   0   2   0   2.61
F Beltran                     2       2   4   4   3   3   2  13.50

WP - L Hackman. IBB - J Edmonds (by F Beltran). Pitches-strikes: L Hackman
81-51; J Fassero 48-29; R White 11-7; D Veres 31-19; M Prior 98-63; J Borowski
33-21; F Beltran 53-32. Ground balls-fly balls: L Hackman 7-6; J Fassero 1-2; R
White 1-2; D Veres 2-0; M Prior 2-6; J Borowski 3-2; F Beltran 3-0. Batters
faced: L Hackman 21; J Fassero 10; R White 4; D Veres 5; M Prior 23; J Borowski
9; F Beltran 11.

UMPIRES: HP--Mike Reilly. 1B--Jim Wolf. 2B--Jerry Meals. 3B--Eric Cooper.

T--3:25. Att--37,874.
Weather: 74 degrees, sunny. Wind: 14 mph, in from
right.
 

How They Scored

ST LOUIS 3RD:   F Vina singled to right.  M Cairo flied out to right.
J Edmonds struck out swinging.  A Pujols singled to right, F Vina to third.
S Rolen singled to shallow right, F Vina scored, A Pujols to third.  T Martinez
flied out to left. (1 Run, 3 Hits, 0 Errors)  ST LOUIS 1, CHICAGO CUBS 0.

ST LOUIS 5TH:   M Cairo struck out looking.  J Edmonds flied out to deep
center.  A Pujols homered to left center.  S Rolen struck out swinging.
(1 Run, 1 Hit, 0 Errors)  ST LOUIS 2, CHICAGO CUBS 0.

ST LOUIS 6TH:   J Borowski relieved M Prior. M Alou in left field. R Brown in
center field. A Echevarria in right field. T Martinez doubled to right.
E Marrero sacrificed to third, T Martinez to third, E Marrero safe at first on
throwing error by third baseman C Stynes.  E Marrero stole second. M Difelice
hit sacrifice fly to left, T Martinez scored, E Marrero to third advancing on
throw.  J Drew hit for L Hackman. J Drew struck out swinging.  F Vina doubled
to left, E Marrero scored.  M Cairo flied out to center.
(2 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors)  ST LOUIS 4, CHICAGO CUBS 0.

CHICAGO CUBS 7TH:   A Echevarria flied out to center.  M Bellhorn homered to
left center.  B Hill hit for J Borowski. B Hill singled to left.  M Alou
grounded into fielder's choice to third, B Hill out at second.  F McGriff
walked, M Alou to second.  R White relieved J Fassero. K Robinson in left
field. C Stynes flied out to left. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors)
ST LOUIS 4, CHICAGO CUBS 1.

ST LOUIS 8TH:   F Beltran relieved J Borowski. T Martinez grounded out to
second.  E Marrero homered to left center.  M Difelice struck out swinging.
K Robinson grounded out to second. (1 Run, 1 Hit, 0 Errors)
ST LOUIS 5, CHICAGO CUBS 1.

ST LOUIS 9TH:   F Vina walked.  M Cairo sacrificed to pitcher, F Vina to
second.  J Edmonds intentionally walked.  E Perez hit for R White. E Perez
homered to left, F Vina and J Edmonds scored.  S Rolen walked.  T Martinez
struck out swinging.  E Marrero struck out looking. (3 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors)
ST LOUIS 8, CHICAGO CUBS 1.

Game Story

CHICAGO (Ticker) -- Mark Prior may have scared his team as
much as he has been intimidating opponents.

The rookie phenom suffered a hamstring injury while running the
bases and had to watch the final four innings as the St. Louis
Cardinals defeated his Chicago Cubs, 8-1, in the first game of a
doubleheader.

Albert Pujols fell a triple short of the cycle for the Cardinals
in a game rescheduled following the shocking death of St. Louis
pitcher Darryl Kile 2 1/2 months ago.

Pujols doubled in the first inning, singled in the third and
homered in the fifth - all off Prior - in a meeting between two
of the best rookies over the past two seasons.

"It's the first time I ever faced him," said Pujols, the
National League's reigning Rookie of the Year. "He has really
good stuff.  It's almost like facing Kerry Wood."

Prior (6-6), the second overall pick in last year's draft out of
Southern California, gave up two runs and seven hits in five
innings.  He struck out seven but left the game after straining
his left hamstring while running the bases.

After reaching first on a strikeout-wild pitch, then running to
second on a forceout, Prior tried to warm up for the sixth
inning.  But he could not continue.

"I definitely hurt it going down to second base," he said. "When
I was halfway there, I felt something tug at my leg.  When I
came out to warm up, after I threw a couple of pitches, I knew
it was going to be too stiff to stay in the game.

"We'll know more tomorrow.  Right now, we don't know if it's a
strain, pull or tear."

Outpitched by converted reliever Luther Hackman, Prior increased
his strikeout total to 154 in just 121 2/3 innings this season
but fell to .500 during his much-anticipated rookie campaign.

"With Mark Prior against Luther Hackman, we felt good about the
matchup today," Cubs manager Bruce Kimm said. "Prior threw well
while he was in there.  All he did was make one mistake to
Pujols."

Hackman (4-4) tossed five scoreless innings for the win.  He
gave up four hits with a walk and three strikeouts.

"I went in there just trying to throw strikes and trying to give
the team a chance to score runs," he said.  "My goal was not to
walk anybody.  I feel good that I was able to give them five
good innings."

Eli Marrero homered, doubled, stole a base and scored twice, and
pinch hitter Eduardo Perez made it a laugher with a three-run
homer in the ninth as the Cardinals picked up their fourth win
in five games following a four-game skid.

The victory was Tony La Russa's 1,902nd as a major league
manager, tying him for ninth on the all-time list with Gene
Mauch.

St. Louis opened the day with a 2 1/2-game lead over Houston in
the National League Central Division.  Chicago dropped 19 games
off the pace.

The lone bright spot for the Cubs was a solo homer by Mark
Bellhorn - his 24th of the season.

The Cardinals opened the scoring in the third inning.  Fernando
Vina led off with a single and Pujols and Scott Rolen put
together consecutive hits to make it 1-0.

Pujols made it 2-0 in the fifth when he belted Prior's 0-1 pitch
over the wall in left-center field for his 32nd homer of the
season.

"On the home run, I think he just missed a little bit with the
breaking ball," Pujols said. "I'm in a good zone right now as
far as my hitting goes."

"He's a guy that can carry us even though we have a great
lineup," La Russa said.  "Albert is our key RBI man.  He's
really locked in right now."

St. Louis scored twice off Joe Borowski in the sixth to build a
4-0 lead.  Tino Martinez led off with a double and Marrero
reached when third baseman Chris Stynes threw wild to first base
on a sacrifice.

Marrero then stole second and DiFelice followed with a sacrifice
fly.  Vina added a two-out RBI double.

Perez capped the scoring in the ninth, following a pair of walks
and a sacrifice with his ninth homer - third as a pinch hitter
- this season.

Hackman allowed two hits and a walk in the first but left the
bases loaded by getting Roosevelt Brown to ground out.  The
righthander allowed just two more runners the rest of the way -
both singles in the fourth inning.

Jeff Fassero gave up a run in 1 2/3 innings against his former
team but Rick White and Dave Veres combined for 2 1/3 scoreless
frames.

Bellhorn homered off Fassero in the seventh.

The Cubs received little help from their bullpen.  Borowski gave
up two runs - one earned - in two innings and rookie Francis
Beltran yielded four runs over the final two.