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St. Louis Cardinals eye seventh straight win

The St. Louis Cardinals will go for their seventh straight win when they start a two game series tonight against the Chicago White Sox. File photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI
The St. Louis Cardinals will go for their seventh straight win when they start a two game series tonight against the Chicago White Sox. File photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI | License Photo

The St. Louis Cardinals go after a seventh straight win on Tuesday when the open a two-game series with the Chicago White Sox at Busch Stadium.

St. Louis completed a three-game sweep of the Chicago Cubs on Sunday, as Carlos Martinez pitched six innings of one-run ball and the Cardinals rolled to a 4-1 win.

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The hottest team in baseball overcame more than two hours of delays to win their ninth straight home game for the first time since 2009.

Martinez (9-3) stayed warm during the delay by throwing practice pitches in the tunnel every 15 minutes, and he managed to get through six innings with just 84 pitches. He gave up a run on two hits with six strikeouts.

Getting the call for the Cards on Tuesday will be righty Lance Lynn, who is 5-4 with a 2.84 ERA. Lynn beat the Miami Marlins on Thursday, holding them to two hits over six scoreless innings. He also struck out six and walked four batters.

"To go out there and walk four and not give up any runs is a good feeling," said Lynn, who beat the ChiSox the only other time he faced them. "I was able to move the ball in and out and had good movement on all the pitches. I was able to mix it up when I needed to, so that was good."

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Chicago, meanwhile, dropped two of three to the Detroit Tigers over the weekend, falling 5-4 in Sunday's rubber match. Melky Cabrera belted a solo shot among his three hits for the White Sox, who have lost four of six.

Hoping to reverse their fortunes on Tuesday will be left-hander Chris Sale, who has lost his last two decisions. Sale was hit hard in a loss to Minnesota on Wednesday, as he allowed six runs (5 earned) and nine hits in 6 2/3 innings to fall to 6-4 with a 3.02 ERA.

Sale also struck out 10 batters, but failed in his quest to become the first pitcher in Major League history to strike out 12 or more batters in six consecutive games. He is, however, the first pitcher since Randy Johnson in 2001 to strike out at least 10 batters in seven straight starts.

"It's cool to toss around, but it'd be a lot better if we were winning more games, for sure," Sale said.

St. Louis took two of three from the White Sox the last time these teams met back in 2012.

[SportsNetwork.com]

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