Dodger Stadium Los Angeles, California
| Team | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | St. Louis Cardinals | 7 | 12 | 0 |
 | Los Angeles Dodgers | 9 | 11 | 1 |
Highlights
For those of us who observed Derek Lowe at the end of his stay with the Red Sox, this was eerily reminiscent. However, due to the more than inefficient pitching of the Redbirds, he was able to pick up his fourth victory despite leaving the game after throwing100 pitches with only 1 out in the top of the sixth. He breezed thru the first inning and two-thirds with only 1 harmless single allowed to the number 2 hitter Chris Duncan, but then with 2 outs in the second he seemed to lose his concentration as he often did during the 2004 regular season with the Bosox. He then surrendered a walk to the number 7 hitter Yadier Molina and a single to the number eight hitter David Eckstein. He was able to get out of the inning by getting the pitcher to hit a weak grounder in front of the plate that was handled easily but the catcher. The brain cramp continued into the third when he issued a leadoff double to Adam Kennedy but then retired Chris Duncan on a grounder to second. He then allowed the next four batters to reach on a single, a walk, a double and another single that plated four runs for the inning. Then he regained consciousness and retired 8 of the next nine batters (the 9th—Albert Pujols reached on an error on third baseman Andy LaRoche with 1 out in the 5th). Then the fog lowered itself down around his ears again as he gave up 2 singles to the 7 & 8 hitters again. Grady Little perhaps having learned a lesson the hard way had seen enough and lifted Lowe before any more damage could be done. Joe Beimel came in to record the final 2 outs of the inning but the Cards made it interesting by scoring 3 runs in the top of the 7th of reliever Hong-Chih Kuo. Jonathan Broxton & Takashi Saito finished up the game without any more runs being scored. The Dodgers offense was spread around to everyone as they scored all 9 of their runs while they batted around the order twice in the first 3 innings. Most notably however, was shortstop Rafael Furcal’s 4 for 5 effort including a bases loaded triple accounting for his 3 RBI. It was his third straight game with 4 hits, which increased his average from .228 to .297 during the three-day span. The catcher Russell Martin was 2 for 3 with 2 RBI as well.