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Cardinals win first game since pitcher's death
2007-05-05
Albert Pujols's two-run double helped the St Louis Cardinals defeat the Houston Astros 3-2 on Friday for their first win since the death of relief pitcher Josh Hancock. The World Series champions had lost five straight since Hancock was killed in a vehicle accident on Sunday. "I think guys just wanted to go out there and turn this season around a little bit," winning pitcher Adam Wainwright told reporters. "You can't do that in one game, but this is a good start. "We wanted to win for Josh, too. I did, anyway," Wainwright added. The team paid tribute to Hancock with a moment of silence and a display on the stadium video board. Hancock was drunk, talking on a cell phone and not wearing a seatbelt when he slammed into the back of a tow truck stopped beside a highway, killing him, police said on Friday. Pujols's game-winning double capped a three-run fifth inning for the Cardinals. "The pitch previous to that was a pretty good pitch low and away," Pujols told reporters. "I think if he (Astros pitcher Woody Williams) would have thrown that pitch again, he would have struck me out. But he hung the breaking ball." The hit extended his hitting streak to 12 games. Chris Duncan singled home the Cardinals' first run, then scored along with Preston Wilson on Pujols's double. Wainwright gave up seven hits and two runs in evening his record at 2-2. *Rookie Troy Tulowitzki's two-out 11th-inning single gave the Colorado Rockies a 6-5 road win over the Cincinnati Reds. Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 567th career home run for the Reds. *John Smoltz pitched seven shutout innings to record his first win over the Los Angeles Dodgers in eight years as the Atlanta Braves won 4-0 on the road. *J.J. Hardy's four hits and Claudio Vargas's four-hit pitching for six innings powered the Milwaukee Brewers to a 10-0 home win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. *Paul Lo Duca and Julio Franco homered against Arizona's Randy Johnson and the New York Mets took a 5-3 victory for their 12th straight win in the Diamondbacks' home park. Johnson was tagged for five runs and nine hits in seven innings. He struck out seven. *Eliezer Alfonzo's three-run double in the seventh inning helped rally the San Francisco Giants to a 6-2 home win over the Philadelphia Phillies. Barry Bonds went 0-for-2 but scored twice off walks.
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