A move to interleague play did nothing to stop the St. Louis Cardinals' free fall in the standings, as the Redbirds fell to the Cleveland Indians 6-2 at home in the first game of the teams' three-game set at Busch Stadium. The Indians jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning on a double from catcher Carlos Santana and a groundout by center Michael Brantley, and that would just about be enough.
The Indians put up a run in the fourth, another in the fifth and then two more in the top of the seventh to go up 6-0. Cardinals first basemen Matt Adams would bring the score to 6-2 with a single in the bottom of that inning, but the Cardinals would get no closer, despite their 10 hits.
Ex-Indian and current Cardinal Jake Westbrook was solid in facing his old team, giving up only three earned runs in six innings while racking up seven strikeouts and walking only one. But he was out-dueled by Cleveland starter Josh Tomlin, who allowed only two earned runs in seven full innings.
The Cardinals will look to get back in the win column on Saturday night at 6:15 p.m. CT.
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