Cardinals

San Diego manager Bud Black said his team caught St. Louis starter Adam Wainwright on the wrong night. Wainwright threw a four-hitter and the Cardinals beat the San Diego Padres 4-0 on Tuesday. It was his first shutout victory since Aug. 6, 2010, and third in his career. Wainwright (3-5), who missed 2011 with elbow ligament replacement surgery, struck out nine and walked one while throwing 111 pitches. He retired the first eight batters and allowed just one runner to reach third base.

A streaker who ran naked onto the field during a Cardinals game says he did so because he lost a bet. Twenty-two-year-old Collin Grundstrom of Jefferson City was captured at Busch Stadium after shedding his clothes before the start of the seventh inning Thursday night. Officers retrieved his shorts from the stands and made him put them back on before leading him away. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch ( http://bit.ly/LmQZa2) reports that Grundstrom is charged with violating two city ordinances — being a spectator running on the playing field, and lewd and lascivious behavior.

SAN DIEGO -- The St. Louis Cardinals surrounded Reggie Sanders in the clubhouse and chanted, "MVP! MVP! MVP!" They drenched him in so much champagne that he sprinted into the trainer's room for refuge, eventually reemerging with a towel around his head. Sanders and the Cardinals seem to be in a hurry to return to the World Series, and they weren't about to be slowed by the San Diego Padres. Baseball's best team in the regular season, the Cardinals brushed aside San Diego just as almost everybody thought they would, winning, 7-4, Saturday night for a three-game sweep of their first-round...

Hunter Pence hit a two-run homer in the 10th inning off Jason Motte and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the St. Louis Cardinals 5-3 on Friday night. The Phillies won their third in a row after surviving a fourth inning in which Pence, the right fielder, and Shane Victorino, the center fielder, lost balls in the lights. The winning runs came too late for Cliff Lee, a 17-game winner last season still seeking his first win of 2012. Juan Pierre singled to start the 10th against Motte, working his second inning.

ST. LOUIS -- Mike Matheny, Edgar Renteria, and the St. Louis Cardinals can win with singles, doubles, and triples, too. After tying a postseason record with five home runs in the opener, the Cardinals stayed in the ballpark in Game 2 last night. The result was the same: another 8-3 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers. Only this time, the hitters at the bottom of the St. Louis order did as much damage as MVP candidates Albert Pujols, Scott Rolen, and Jim Edmonds. "It's always nice to take a little pressure off those guys and make them feel like they don't have to carry us every game," Matheny said.

St. Louis Cardinals general manager Walt Jocketty looked at the price of pitching on the free agent market and decided to throw his money at a guy he already had. The Cardinals announced a five-year deal with 2005 National League Cy Young Award winner Chris Carpenter yesterday, locking him up through the 2011 season for about $65 million. The deal also includes a club option for 2012 that would bring the total value to $77 million. "It was important for us to show what we think of him," Jocketty said on the first day of baseball's winter meetings, in Lake...

Peyton Manning had another marathon session during the second stop in his search for a new team. The free agent quarterback spent nearly 6 ½ hours at the Cardinals' headquarters in Tempe, Ariz., on Sunday in meetings designed to lure the superstar to the desert. The session was even longer than the nearly six hours Manning spent at the Broncos' facility in Denver on Friday. Manning waved and smiled at cheering fans as he walked from the building to coach Ken Whisenhunt's white SUV. With the coach at the wheel, Manning waved again as the car pulled through the security gate and...

ST. LOUIS -- The last two weeks of the regular season were agonizing for Jim Edmonds, robbed of enthusiasm once the St. Louis Cardinals clinched the NL Central. One of the team's trio of MVP candidates, his average dipped to .301 after a finishing 1-for-29 slump. Edmonds is happy to be playing games that count again after contributing to a record five-homer barrage in Game 1 of the NL Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers Tuesday. "It's nice when you have a lot of energy in the stadium," Edmonds said yesterday.

ST. LOUIS — Albert Pujols held the followthrough on his swing for a couple extra seconds, the bat extended like a lightning rod, then high-stepped it to home plate. The St. Louis Cardinals may be accustomed to his winning hits, but the All-Star slugger still gets pretty excited. “It’s a big game and a big win,’’ Pujols said after hitting a game-ending homer in extra innings for the second straight day, beating the Chicago Cubs with a leadoff shot in the 10th inning of a 3-2 victory yesterday.

INDIANAPOLIS - Rick Pitino enjoyed watching last night's game almost as much as his players enjoyed celebrating. Fun-loving forward Terrence Williams danced on the sideline. Guard Edgar Sosa posed for the television camera. Even backup Kyle Kuric dunked. For Louisville, the top-seeded team in the NCAA Tournament, this was more fun than a team scrimmage or pickup game. Earl Clark scored 19 points and had nine rebounds and the Cardinals delivered one of the most crushing blowouts in regional history with a 103-64 victory over Arizona.

After coming back from a six-run deficit to tie the game, the Cardinals let it slip away. Cardinals manager Mike Matheny wanted to make sure his players remembered to focus on all the good work they did just to get back into the game before losing 10-9 to the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday night. "I just went in there, went around the room and told them I was real happy with the way, especially our offense and defense went about that game," Matheny said. "There's a whole lot of positives.

PHILADELPHIA - A Roman Catholic church official conceded that a 1994 list he compiled of 35 priests suspected of sexually abusing children in the Philadelphia archdiocese included some "pretty sick individuals. " Monsignor William Lynn took the stand in his own defense Wednesday in a groundbreaking child-endangerment and conspiracy case. Prosecutors blame Lynn for helping keep those priests and many more in ministry, where they had access to countless children. Lynn, 61, is the first Roman Catholic church official in the United States charged with a crime for...

Maybe later, Jeff Suppan will savor the send-off. The Cardinals beat up on the former St. Louis postseason star, chasing the 37-year-old right-hander in the fifth inning of a 6-3 victory Wednesday night that gave them a three-game sweep. Suppan tipped his cap a few steps from the dugout after a nice ovation from fans who hadn't forgotten his feats. "It was very nice, I was very grateful," Suppan said. "I was still in the moment of my outing, so I wasn't able to take it all in. I'm trying to keep my team in the game.

Aramis Ramirez hit a three-run double in a six-run first inning, Jonathan Lucroy added a two-run homer in the second and the Milwaukee Brewers rocked Barry Zito again at Miller Park in an 8-5 win over the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday. Zito (3-2) gave up eight runs — four earned — five hits and four walks in three innings, dropping to 0-4 with a 7.67 ERA in eight starts at Miller Park. Jose Veras (3-1) struck out three over two hitless innings in relief of Marco Estrada, who left after injuring his right hip while running out a first-inning double.

As Memorial Day approaches, Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of ­Boston are asking parishioners to remember and pray for the priests who serve as military chaplains. "Our nation is blessed to have priest chaplains continuing the longstanding tradition of serving the men and women of our military," O'Malley said in a statement. "Recognizing the great need for chaplains, the Archdiocese of Boston is proud to be able to provide priests for this important ministry.

Adam Wainwright threw a four-hitter and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the San Diego Padres 4-0 on Tuesday night. It was his first shutout victory since Aug. 6, 2010, and third in his career. Wainwright (3-5), who missed the 2011 season with elbow ligament replacement surgery, struck out nine and walked one while throwing 111 pitches. He retired the first eight batters and allowed just one runner to reach third base. Carlos Beltran had two hits and two RBIs and Matt Holliday added two hits and an RBI for the Cardinals.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Somebody’s going to see Colby Rasmus had only one at-bat in St. Louis’s 9-8 victory over Kansas City and wonder how long he was in the game. “I’ll tell them about 4 hours and 30 minutes’ worth,’’ deadpanned the weary center fielder. St. Louis drew 13 walks in the 4-hour, 9-minute affair and Rasmus had five, each one off a different pitcher. In the 10th inning of the wacky afternoon game with the bases loaded in a 7-7 tie, Tim Collins threw him four straight balls.

The St. Louis Cardinals have activated third baseman David Freese and utilityman Nick Punto from the 15-day disabled list. Freese played only four games for Triple-A Memphis during a rehab assignment from a broken left hand that has sidelined him since May 1. Punto played in seven games with Double-A Springfield while rehabbing from a right forearm strain. Infielder Pete Kozma and outfielder Andrew Brown were optioned to Triple-A Memphis. The Cardinals have lost 12 of 15 heading into six-game interleague trip to Baltimore and Tampa Bay. Freese was batting...

San Diego manager Bud Black said his team caught St. Louis starter Adam Wainwright on the wrong night. Wainwright threw a four-hitter and the Cardinals beat the San Diego Padres 4-0 on Tuesday. It was his first shutout victory since Aug. 6, 2010, and third in his career. Wainwright (3-5), who missed 2011 with elbow ligament replacement surgery, struck out nine and walked one while throwing 111 pitches. He retired the first eight batters and allowed just one runner to reach third base.

Jesus Guzman was the hero for about five minutes. Guzman's two-run double off St. Louis Cardinals closer Jason Motte with two outs in the eighth inning gave the San Diego Padres a one-run lead Monday night. But Guzman was trumped in the bottom half by Tyler Greene, who hit a two-run homer that held up for a 4-3 victory. The Cardinals ended a four-game losing streak and denied the Padres their first three-game winning streak of the year. "When I hit that double, I think we're going to win," Guzman said.