Dein erstes Forum » "He has a good changeup and a good curveball.

ST. LOUIS -- Mark Ellis knew that he might not see a whole lot of playing time when he signed a free-agent contract with the St. Louis Cardinals in December. "I figured theyd want me to come off the bench and Im fine doing that," he said. "I just want to be on a winning team." Ellis has gotten the best of both worlds. The 37-year-old infielder drove in two runs, including the go-ahead score with a bunt, and the Cardinals got a scoreless effort from their bullpen to beat the Philadelphia Phillies 5-3 Sunday. The Cardinals have won two in a row and seven of 10. Philadelphia has lost two straight after a season-high five-game winning streak. Ellis, who has received increased playing time due to injuries, broke a 3-all tie with a safely squeeze bunt in the fourth. He added an RBI single in the sixth. He is hitting .193 with 12 RBIs in 41 games. "We talked about it and the opportunity came up," he said of the bunt. "The ball up is an easier pitch to get that ball down. We were able to execute it." St. Louis manager Mike Matheny appreciates Ellis professional approach at the plate. "Two big at-bats," Matheny said. "Mark did a real nice job of getting that bunt down. He was thinking and really preparing ahead of time. Hes done a lot of good things in this game for a long time." Starter Carlos Martinez (1-3) allowed three runs over five innings. Martinez, who has 31 relief appearances, was making his second start of the season, replacing Michael Wacha in the rotation. "I just focused on throwing strikes, not throwing the ball so hard," Martinez said. "As a starter, Im learning to use all of my pitches." Nick Greenwood, Sam Freeman, Pat Neshek and Trevor Rosenthal combined for four innings of two-hit scoreless relief. Rosenthal got his 22nd save in 25 chances. Freeman struck out three in 1 2-3 innings. "I thought the pen was terrific, too," Matheny said. "Those guys are doing a good job getting through the game when our starters may not be able to go too deep." Cody Asche drove in all three Philadelphia runs with a bases-loaded double in the second. Asche, who grew up in nearby OFallon, was playing his first series in front of family and friends. "Its fun to step in and contribute," Asche said. "I wish we could have taken the last two games and completed the perfect road trip. But weve got some confidence." The Phillies won the first five games of the seven-game swing. Jimmy Rollins had a 15-game hitting streak snapped. Kyle Kendrick (3-7) allowed five runs and eight hits in six innings. He gave up just one hit over the first three innings before St. Louis scored four times in the fourth. "That one big inning hurt," Kendrick said. "They got some hits and I wasnt able to minimize the damage." Jon Jay got the inning going with an RBI single with the bases loaded. Jhonny Peralta followed with a tying, two-run single and Ellis bunted home the go-ahead run. "I like the way they went about putting together some tough at-bats," Matheny said. "Just nice consistent approaches at the plate, not trying to do too much." NOTES: The Phillies announced after the game that RHP Ethan Martin (0-0, 4.50) has been sent to Triple-A Lehigh Valley of the International League. RHP B.J. Rosenberg will be recalled. Rosenberg is 2-1 with a 2.63 ERA. Manager Ryne Sandberg said Martin just "needs to get some innings in."... Matheny had the No. 57 written on his left arm to honour former St. Louis pitcher Darryl Kile, who died 12 years ago Sunday. ... The Phillies begin an eight-game homestand Monday with the first of four games against Miami. Roberto Hernandez (3-5, 4.52) will face Nathan Eovaldi (4-3, 3.76) in the opener. ... St. Louis starts a 10-game road trip Monday with the first of three games in Colorado. Lance Lynn (7-5, 3.15) will take on Jhoulys Chacin (2-2, 4.65). ... The previous three St. Louis games prior to Sunday lasted exactly 2 hours and 48 minutes. This one took 2:54. ... St. Louis OF Matt Holliday hit in the No. 2 spot in the batting order for the first time this season. The Cardinals have used 11 different players in that slot this season. Adidas Josh Manson Jersey . A Swiss Federal Tribunal ruling published Friday said that FIFAs disputes panel and the Court of Arbitration for Sport correctly imposed the sanction for Nantes enticing Guinea forward Ismael Bangoura to break his contract with Dubai club Al Nasr in January 2012. Adidas Benoit-Olivier Groulx Jersey . -- Jacksonvilles offensive makeover is just getting starting. http://www.cheapducksjerseys.com/?tag=adidas-julius-nattinen-jersey . - All-Pro quarterback Aaron Rodgers looked spry enough in pregame warmups Sunday for Green Bays divisional playoff game against Dallas. Adidas Korbinian Holzer Jersey .Morse gets a $1 million signing bonus and salaries of $7 million next season and $8 million in 2016 under the agreement announced Wednesday. Adidas Jean-Sebastien Giguere Jersey . Saskatchewans Darian Durant is expected to miss the rest of the Roughriders season with a torn tendon in his right elbow. The 32-year-old, who will undergo surgery in the next couple days to repair the injury, was added to the teams six-game injury list Tuesday.CLEVELAND -- Yordano Venturas dominating performance Friday night produced plenty of superaltives. "He was extraordinary," Kansas City manager Ned Yost said after the rookie right-hander pitched 8 1-3 stellar innings in the Royals 7-1 win over the Cleveland Indians. Ventura (6-7) blanked the Indians on four hits until Michael Brantley hit a leadoff homer in the ninth. He was pulled after Jason Kipnis one-out single. Ventura allowed six hits and struck out four in the longest outing of his career. Indians centre fielder Michael Bourn had one of the hits off Ventura, a double in the eighth. "Well he throws 100 (mph), first of all," Bourn said. "He has a good changeup and a good curveball. We had a couple chances but for the most part he was on tonight." Mike Moustakas, who hit a three-run homer in the sixth gave Kansas City a 5-0 lead, was also impressed with Ventura. "Hes got such electric stuff," Moustakas said. "Thats what hes capable of doing." Salvador Perez and Christian Colon, making his first major-league start, had three hits apiece while Lorenzo Cain snapped an 0 for 11 skid with an RBI single in the third and a run-scoring double in the fifth. The Royals, who are a major league-best 11-2 on the road since June 2, rode Ventura to their latest win away from home. He retired the first 10 hitters before Brantley singled with one out in the the fourth. Carlos Santanas single moved Brantley to third, but Kipnis bounced into a double play. Ventura entered the ninth with 103 pitches, making it an easy decision for Yost to let him start the inning. "I wanted to throw the complete game shutout, but I couldnt do it," Ventura said through teammate Bruce Chen, who translated for the pitcher, "I was getting ahead of the hitters early in the game. They made some really good plays behind me and that gave me a lot of energy." Ventura, who finished with 113 pitches, came within two outs of recording Kansas Citys first complete game of the season. "I wasnt going to take him past 120 pitches," Yost said. "After the home run it was like, OK the next guy who gets on thats it. He pitched very well." Josh Tomlin (5-6), coming off a one-hit, no-walk, 11-strikeout performance against Seattle, allowed five runs and 11 hits in 5 2-3 innings. Mousstakas homer to right on a 3-2 pitch broke the game open.ddddddddddddThe rally began on singles by Perez and Alcides Escobar. Colon, a late addtion to the lineup when second baseman Omar Infante was scratched with lower back tightness, was 3 for 4, including a triple in the second for his first major league hit. Colon added a double in the fifth and an RBI double in the ninth. "That was a lot of fun," he said. "I was taking my ground balls (in pregame activities) and was told I was going to play." Ventura has allowed three runs in 21 innings in three career starts against Cleveland. He held the Indians to one run in seven innings in a 4-1 win on June 11 in Kansas City. Ventura gave up two runs and seven hits in four innings Los Angeles Angels in his last start, an outing that was cut short by a four-hour rain delay. He had pitched seven innings in each of his previous three starts. The Royals, who are second in the AL Central, are 3-1 on a nine-game road trip and lead third-place Cleveland by four games. The Indians, who opened a 10-game homestand, have lost four straight at home after winning 11 of 12 at Progressive Field. Cleveland was swept by Detroit in a three-game series June 20-22. Tomlin turned in the best performance of his career against the Mariners last Saturday. He retired the first 12 hitters before allowing a leadoff single to Kyle Seager in the fifth, Seattles only baserunner. Tomlins gem marked the sixth time an Indians pitcher recorded 11 strikeouts with no walks in a shutout over the past 100 years. It was also only the third time since 2002 that a pitcher has recorded a one-hit shutout with at least 11 strikeouts and no walks. Kansas City left fielder Alex Gordon was hitless in four at-bats and is in a 2-for-36 slump. Indians shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera was 0 for 4 and is in a 4 for 35 skid. NOTES: The Indians announced the game as a sellout, their third of the season. ... Indians C Yan Gomes, a native of Brazil, wore his countrys soccer jersey during batting practice. He kept an eye on the scoreboard, which showed Brazils 2-1 win over Colombia in the World Cup. ... Raul Ibanez, signed by the Royals on Monday, started in right field. He made an awkward sliding catch on Gomes line drive in the fifth. ... Royals RHP Jeremy Guthrie (5-6) faces LHP T.J. House (0-2) on Saturday. ' ' '