Anthony Reyes was sharp in his Busch debut, and was in line for the win before the bullpen let it slip away. Rolen and Encarnacion went back to back in the 4th off Andy Pettitte. The game fell apart in the 7th when the Astros scored 5 runs capped by a Craig Biggio homer.

What started out as a pitchers duel quickly descended into a comedy of errors with Rolen, Pujols, and Eckstein all mysteriously botching routine plays. Carpenter didn’t allow an earned run before being pinch hit for with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 6th. The D-backs made their share of fielding blunders as well and it was back and forth all day. Edmonds made a spectacular diving catch in center to help keep it a 1-run deficit heading into the bottom of the 9th. Alas, the sweep was just not meant to be as Pujols hit a 9th inning long ball that would have flown over the fence on most days but fell a few feet short.

The Cardinals jumped out in front of the Diamondbacks with 3 straight singles and a sac fly to lead 2-0 in the 1st. Mulder was solid aside from a hiccup in the form of a 2-run homer allowed in the 5th. Edmonds put the Cards up for good with a 2-run bomb in the bottom half of the 5th following a Pujols HBP and the Cards cruised to a 5-3 win.