St. Louis Cardinals Score 12 Runs In 7th, Beat Cubs 12-0 - KTTS

By Don Louzader

CREATED Jul. 21, 2012

The St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs were locked in a scoreless pitchers dual going into the home half of the 7th inning Saturday night at Busch Stadium, but before the Cubs could bat again, the Cardinals made an assault on the record books, scoring 12 runs in the inning and going on to win 12-0. 

The Cardinals sent 17 batters to the plate and banged out ten hits, including a major league record-tying seven doubles. Throw in a triple, and it tied a big league record with eight extra base hits in an inning. 

Two players for St. Louis, Skip Schumaker and Allen Craig, got two extra base hits each in the inning (Schumaker a triple and a double, Craig a pinch-hit double and another double). 

By the time pinch hitter Tony Cruz struck out to end the bottom of the 7th, the crowd at Busch Stadium was on its feet for a standing ovation to an historic inning.

Right after the record 7th frame came to a close, both teams spent the eighth and ninth innings emptying their benches.

St. Louis starter Jake Westbrook (8-8) pitched seven innings of three hit ball, striking out five to get the win. Justin Germano (0-1), who came on in relief of Cubs starter Matt Garza in the 4th inning, took the loss.

Westbrook says he never grumbles about run support, and he sure didn't need to Saturday night either. "Going to the bottom of the seventh zero-zero and for us to get some runs is great. The way those guys swung the bat there in that inning was good to see." 

Westbrook says going into the home half of the 7th, he knew he was likely not going back to the mound for the 8th. "My spot was coming up hitting so I knew I was probably done and just wanted to hopefully get some runs there. And we did. So it was good to see. It was a fun inning." 

Cardinals Manager Mike Matheny says while he's been behind the plate for a couple of games that have felt like a dozen runs, he's never seen anything like the 7th Saturday night. "You look at this offense and this is the kind of offense we have. They can come in bundles. It's nice to see the guys just keep putting good at bats together no matter how many runs we have or how many hits they've had already. Just to keep putting their head down and not taking anything for granted and realizing the next at bat is going to lead to the following." 

The Cardinals improve to 49-45 on the season and stay five games behind the first place Cincinnati Reds in the National League Central. 

The home team will go for the sweep Sunday afternoon at Busch Stadium. Lance Lynn (11-4, 3.27 ERA) will pitch for St. Louis. He'll be opposed by Chicago's Travis Wood (4-3, 3.86 ERA). 

Game Notes:

The only other time the Cardinals scored 12 runs in an inning was on September 12th, 1926 against Philadelphia (Game one of a doubleheader, 3rd ining).

The seven doubles in an inning tied the Major League Baseball record set by the Boston Bees on August 25th, 1936 against the Cardinals at the Sportsman's Park in St. Louis.

The eight extra base hits for St. Louis in the 7th inning (seven doubles and a triple) tied a major league record. It happened three times previously, most recently by Colorado against the Chicago Cubs on July 30th, 2010 in the 8th inning.

The last time the Cardinals had nine doubles in a game was on July 12th, 1931 vs. Chicago when they had 13 two base hits.