Cardinals 2, Mariners 1
Cardinals 2, Mariners 1
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Jeff Suppan pitched four-hit ball into the eighth inning and Jim Edmonds threw out a runner at the plate in the fourth, helping the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Seattle Mariners 2-1 Sunday to complete a three-game sweep.
The NL Central-leading Cardinals have swept five three-game series, including two of the last three, and this one came after they lost three in a row at Pittsburgh. They finished 11-1 in interleague play, the best in the majors in the eight years that the AL and NL have been playing, edging a 16-2 record by the Oakland A's in 2002.
Randy Winn had an RBI double in the eighth off Ray King for the Mariners, who have been swept five times and have lost 10 of 13. Seattle was outscored 21-4 in the series.
Scott Rolen and Reggie Sanders drove in a run apiece in a two-run sixth against Joel Pineiro (4-9) that snapped a scoreless tie. Rolen leads the majors with 78 RBIs.
Edmonds, who returned to center field Saturday after a week-long absence due to a groin injury, made the defensive play of the game to end the fourth. He charged the ball on Jolbert Cabrera's two-out single and threw to the plate on the fly, catching Bret Boone trying to score from second by about two steps.
Catcher Mike Matheny absorbed a collision from Boone, hanging on to the ball.
Suppan (7-5) departed after walking pinch-hitter Dave Hansen with one out in the eighth. After King got an out, Winn hit a drive to the gap, which left fielder So Taguchi, a defensive replacement in the seventh, got his glove on but could not hold on to the ball.
Suppan matched a season high with seven strikeouts and walked two. The Mariners got runners into scoring position only twice on Pineiro's one-out double in the third and Boone's leadoff double in the fourth.
Suppan entered the game 1-4 with a 7.59 ERA against the Mariners. He's 5-0 with an NL-leading 1.93 ERA on the road, but won for only the second time in seven decisions at home.
Pineiro, 3-0 with a 2.79 ERA in his previous four starts, lasted seven innings and gave up two runs on six hits with three strikeouts and three walks. His only trouble came in the sixth when Albert Pujols and Rolen started the inning with doubles to break the scoreless tie.
Rolen went to third on a groundout and scored on Sanders' sacrifice fly.
Jason Isringhausen got the last four outs for 18th save in 22 chances and first in eight days. He's pitched in only two games since then.
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