St. Louis Cardinals Pitcher Kyle Lohse saw his first game action since being sidelined one month ago with a strained right forearm as the Frisco Roughriders beat the Springfield Cardinals 4-3 in 10 innings Thursday night at Hammons Field.
Lohse threw 79 pitches, allowing two runs on two hits with four walks and three strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings. Lohse says it was good to be facing live hitters instead of just throwing in the bullpen. "My fastball was pretty good at times, and then sometimes when I was really trying to spot it, it would sail up and away. That's something I fight regularly. Offspeed stuff felt really good. My curve ball was probably better than what it has been."
The Cardinals trailed 2-0 before banging out three runs in the bottom of the 5th. Shortstop Pete Kozma had a sacrifice fly, followed by a two run homer off the bat of second baseman Daniel Descalso, who was called up to Triple-A Memphis following the game.
Springfield held onto that 3-2 lead until a home run by Frisco's Manny Pina in the 8th inning. The Roughriders won it in the 10th on a base hit by pinch hitter Adam Fox.
The Cardinals, who won the Texas League North Division's first half title, drop to 3-4 in the second half. They'll take on the Roughriders Friday night at 7:10 at Hammons Field.
Updated 10:50 p.m. 7-2-09