Matt Carpenter and David Freese picked up three hits apiece, Jake Westbrook pitched seven innings and the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-4 at Busch Stadium on Thursday afternoon.
Related: checking in on the bullpen
St. Louis took a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning thanks to RBI singles from Carpenter and Tony Cruz, but the Dodgers came back with four in the fifth. The Cardinals scored four runs of their own in the bottom of the fifth, giving them a lead they would never relinquish.
Westbrook allowed four runs on seven hits while striking out six and walking one. The Dodgers' Chris Capuano did not make it through the fifth inning and finished the day having allowed six runs on 11 hits.
For updates, stay tuned to SB Nation St. Louis. For more in-depth coverage of this series, visit St. Louis Cardinals blog Viva El Birdos and Dodgers blog True Blue LA. And for more from around baseball, check out MLB Daily Dish and Baseball Nation.