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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
HOUSTON (AP) – Moises Alou went 2-for-2 with his wishes in his
first start of the season Friday night.
|  | | Rick Ankiel hangs his head after issuing one of his five walks. |
He had two hits, drove in three runs and a scored a run in the
Houston Astros' 10-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.
Alou was on the disabled list with a strained right calf since
the beginning of the season. His only previous appearance this
season had been Wednesday against Pittsburgh when he grounded out.
"It feels great to be out there," he said. "I just wanted to
do well and the team to have a good game because I wanted us to win
with me in the lineup. It's great to finally be doing the things
I'm supposed to be doing."
St. Louis starter Rick Ankiel (1-2), whose postseason wildness
last year put his future in doubt, lost for the second straight
time to Houston. He allowed three hits in three innings, but walked
five and hit two batters and left in the fourth with no outs. He
allowed five runs, three earned, and struck out two.
Ankiel declined to comment afterwards but manager Tony La Russa
isn't giving up on him.
"He struggled but he's got the guts of a burglar," La Russa
said. "In the fourth inning, if (reliever) Mike (James) gets the
ball down, it's a different game. But it wasn't a good start for
(Ankiel). I'm sure he's not happy."
Astros manager Larry Dierker was happy about having Alou in the
starting lineup.
"It's great to have him back," Dierker said. "You could get
used to having a guy drive in three runs a game. Even though the
one hit was a check swing, he still looked good."
The check-swing came in the fourth inning and resulted in a
bloop hit to left that drove in two runs. That led to a five-run
inning that broke the game open.
"Part of being a good hitter is getting some luck," Alou said
with a smile. "I was having a hard time picking the ball up from
(James) and was lucky the check swing just got on the top of my
bat."
Scott Elarton (3-1) beat the Cardinals for the second straight
time as he went seven innings, allowing one run and three hits. He
struck out seven. Elarton retired 13 of 14 batters from the first
to the fifth innings.
The win gave the Astros a 3-1 record already against St. Louis
this year.
"I don't know about making a statement or not," Dierker said.
"It's more about what you prove to yourself. The confidence
internally is the most important thing at this point. And beating
them is probably not as important as snapping a short (three-game)
losing streak."
Bobby Bonilla said the Cardinals, who have lost six of their
last eight, will get back on track.
"All we've got to do is get things together and settle down,"
Bonilla said. "Every team in major league baseball will go through
something like this. It's just happening to us early. We're getting
it out of the way."
Albert Pujols' single gave the Cardinals a 1-0 lead in the first
inning.
In the third, Craig Biggio walked. Jeff Bagwell's line drive to
left was caught by a fan leaning over the rail and ruled a ground
rule double by third base umpire Bill Welke. Biggio then scored on
a fielding error by Pujols and Bagwell scored on a sacrifice fly by
Alou to make it 2-1.
Ankiel then hit Lance Berkman with a pitch and walked Brad
Ausmus to load the bases. Chris Truby's sacrifice fly scored
Richard Hidalgo for a 3-1 lead.
Ankiel was lifted in the fourth after allowing a single to Julio
Lugo and hitting Biggio. James then gave up a single to Bagwell to
load the bases. One out later, Alou's bloop single made it 5-1.
Berkman hit his fourth home run of the year to make it 8-1 and
Lugo hit his third of the season in the fifth off Andy Benes for a
9-1 lead.
Orlando Merced hit a pinch-hit homer in the eighth off Jason
Karnuth, who was making his major league debut.
Game notes
Alou replaced Daryle Ward, who was hitting .324 with 10
RBI. ... Houston is 3-1 against the Cardinals this season. ...
Pujols extended his hitting streak to 13 games with a first-inning
single. ... Benes made his first appearance as a reliever this
season and the eighth of his career. The last was Sept. 10 at
Milwaukee.
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OTHER GAMES
Baseball Scoreboard
St. Louis Clubhouse
Houston Clubhouse
RECAPS
Cleveland 5
Detroit 4
NY Yankees 6
Boston 1
Baltimore 6
Tampa Bay 3
Minnesota 4
Chi. White Sox 1
Toronto 12
Kansas City 4
Texas 9
Oakland 6
Seattle 4
Anaheim 1
Cincinnati 9
NY Mets 5
Florida 5
Montreal 1
Philadelphia 8
Atlanta 3
Chicago Cubs 8
Pittsburgh 2
Houston 10
St. Louis 1
Arizona 3
Colorado 2
Los Angeles 3
San Diego 1
San Francisco 3
Milwaukee 1
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Tony La Russa confesses his admiration for Rick Ankiel.
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RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Scott Elarton hopes Rick Ankiel can get it together.
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RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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