Joel Pineiro goes 8 innings to win 7th straight decision, leading Cardinals past Astros 3-2

Pineiro wins 7th straight as Cards beat Astros 3-2

ST. LOUIS — St. Louis Cardinals pitchers have been so stingy lately, any cushion is enough.

Joel Pineiro worked eight strong innings and Ryan Franklin earned his NL-leading 34th save in 36 chances in a 3-2 victory over the Houston Astros on Wednesday night. Behind Adam Wainwright and Franklin, St. Louis shut out Houston 1-0 in the series opener on Tuesday.

“You want to score more runs for them and give them room to breathe,” Mark DeRosa said. “But they seem to eat it up when they’re in a nail-biting situation.”

Pineiro (13-9) allowed two runs on seven hits to win his seventh straight decision, struggling only in the fourth when the Astros opened with four straight hits and had RBI singles by Lance Berkman and Carlos Lee. The Cardinals have won Pineiro’s last 10 starts and 11 of the last 12.

“He had some great late movement,” the Astros’ Hunter Pence said. “And tonight, that’s all he needed.”

The right-hander, who is 7-0 with a 2.65 ERA since July 3, relied heavily on his sinker. He struck out five and walked none.

“I was attacking the strike zone, trying to make them put the ball on the ground,” Pineiro said. “I just keep telling myself, ‘Why did I wait eight years to learn a sinker like this?’”

DeRosa’s two-run double capped a three-run first for the NL Central leaders, 15-3 in their last 18 games. Matt Holliday added an RBI single and Albert Pujols had two hits after entering the game only 5 for 33 against Houston this season.

St. Louis is 28-3 since July 3 in games started by Adam Wainwright (15-7), Chris Carpenter (14-3) and Pineiro. The Cardinals are a season-best 20 games above .500 (74-54).

“It is one of the magical numbers if you want to have a chance to play in October,” manager Tony La Russa said. “We’ve played ourselves into the race and now we need to work every series to get to the finish line.”

Lee had three hits and an RBI and Berkman was 2 for 4 for the Astros, who have lost 14 of 18 on the road. Roy Oswalt (7-5) allowed 10 hits in six innings as the Astros dropped their 11th in their last 14 games in St. Louis.

“You’ve got to come out here and give everything you’ve got,” Oswalt said. “If you don’t, you’re cheating the fans. We’ve got to come here and play, liven it up a bit and play hard.”

At Denver, Andre Ethier hit two of Los Angeles’ three home runs and the Dodgers restored their lead over the Rockies in the NL West to three games.

The Rockies, who had won eight of 10, trailed Los Angeles by 15½ games on June 3.

Randy Wolf (9-6) scattered five hits over 7 1-3 innings. He walked two and struck out five.

Ethier hit his 26th and 27th homers off spot starter Josh Fogg (0-2), who allowed six runs and four hits in three-plus innings.

At Pittsburgh, Ryan Howard hit a three-run home run in the 10th inning after Philadelphia’s bullpen blew yet another lead.

The Phillies, who won their 12th in 15 games, led 1-0 going into the ninth before Brandon Moss tied it with the Pirates’ first pinch-hit homer of the season.

Ryan Madson’s fifth blown save in nine opportunities cost Cole Hamels his first victory since July 28.

At Miami, Josh Johnson (13-3) gave up three runs and nine hits in six innings and improved to 7-0 in his career against New York.

Three relievers combined for three scoreless innings and Leo Nunez earned his 16th save to send the Mets to their fifth straight loss.

Mike Pelfrey (9-9) fell to 1-6 in 10 starts against Florida, with six losses in a row.

At Atlanta, San Diego had a six-run sixth inning, and Kevin Kouzmanoff finished off Atlanta with a two-run homer.

The last-place Padres won their second straight and on Thursday go for their first series sweep since late May.

Atlanta’s Brian McCann hit a three-run homer off Tim Stauffer (2-6) in the first inning.

At Chicago, Milton Bradley homered and had three RBIS and the Cubs scored six runs in the eighth inning.

Bradley hit a two-run homer in the third and broke a 2-2 tie in the seventh with a run-scoring fielder’s choice off reliever Jason Bergmann (2-3).

Koyie Hill and Derrek Lee had two-run doubles and Mike Fontenot added an RBI double.

Angel Guzman (3-3) got the win with an inning of relief.

At Milwaukee, pinch-hitter Darnell McDonald hit a double to drive in the winning run in the 10th inning for Cincinnati.

McDonald, who threw out Ryan Braun trying to score the winning run in the ninth inning Tuesday night, hit a liner that Braun misjudged in left field.

At San Francisco, Bengie Molina had a pinch-hit three-run home run in the eighth inning for the Giants.

Arizona starter Doug Davis took a four-hitter into the eighth. He recorded the first two outs before he walked Edgar Renteria and gave up a single to Randy Winn. Reliever Chad Qualls (2-2) came in and gave up Molina’s third career pinch-hit homer.

Justin Miller (3-3) pitched the eighth for the win. Brandon Medders went one inning for his first save.