Cards win, don't plunk

Craig Biggio saw 15 pitches last night, but none of them hit him and none of them were turned into his 2,978th hit. And, the Cardinals worked the Astros bullpen to turn a 1-1 tie at the end of the 8th inning into an 8-1 Astros loss.

The rest of the weekend will feature two more Cardinals pitchers who have plunked Biggio. Today, Kip Wells takes the mound. He's hit 2 batters this year, 55 in his career, and plunked Craig Biggio on July 12, 2003. That was Biggio's 29th plunk recorded in the 5th inning of a game.

Tomorrow, Braden Looper is scheduled to start for the Cards. He plunked Biggio on April 13, 2005 and that was the only time Craig Biggio has ever been hit by a pitch in the ninth inning of a scoreless game. The next latest inning Biggio has ever been plunked in while the score was tied at 0 was the 7th inning (Carlos Zambrano on May 31, 2003). Both of those games ended in extra-innings losses for the Astros.

June 2nd and 3rd are 2 of only 5 dates in June on which Craig Biggio has never been hit by a pitch.