Brad Penny belted a grand slam but was unable to reap the benefits as he injured himself in the process as the St. Louis Cardinals held on for a 9-5 win over the Los Angeles Angels in Friday’s Interleague matchup.
Penny’s blast gave the Cardinals a 9-4 lead in the third inning that they would not relinquish, but a back injury that resulted from the swing didn’t allow him to return to the mound to start the fourth.
Penny wasn’t pitching particularly well in the process, allowing four runs on five hits. After Mitchell Boggs worked two innings, Jason Motte (2-1) picked up the win with two scoreless frames.
Felipe Lopez homered and drove in two runs and Colby Rasmus drove in a pair of runs for the Cardinals, who have won four of five.
Los Angeles starter Joel Pineiro (3-5) was tagged for nine runs on nine hits in three innings of work.
Mike Napoli hit a two-run homer to highlight a four-run second as the Angels jumped to a 4-2 lead.
St. Louis tied it up in the bottom half with a pair of runs via Lopez’s run-scoring triple and Ryan Ludwick’s ensuing single.
LA Angels | St. Louis | |
Joel Pineiro | Player | Brad Penny |
Loss | W/L | No Decision |
3.0 | IP | 3.0 |
1 | Strikeouts | 1 |
9 | Hits | 5 |
27.00 | ERA | 12.00 |
LA Angels | St. Louis | |
Mike Napoli | Player | David Freese |
2 | Hits | 2 |
2 | RBI | 0 |
1 | HR | 0 |
6 | TB | 3 |
.667 | Avg | .667 |