ST. LOUIS -- When it comes to being a hitter, St. Louis rookie Michael Wacha would rather talk about his pitching. Wacha threw seven innings and drove in two runs with a single, helping the Cardinals to a 5-3 victory Thursday over the Chicago Cubs. The 6-foot-6 Wacha (3-3) had lost his last three decisions since an April 13 win over the Cubs. The 22-year-old right-hander allowed seven hits, including a homer, but did not walk a batter. He struck out five. "I was able to pound the strike zone down in the zone and it was pretty effective," Wacha said. "I kept them off-balance, which means its a pretty good day. Its definitely nice to go deep into a ballgame and get a win. It definitely gets your confidence going in the next start thats for sure." Trevor Rosenthal pitched 1 2-3 innings for his 11th save. Rosenthal, who blew a save Tuesday, inherited a one-out, bases-loaded situation and gave up a sacrifice fly, but closed out the inning and retired the side in the ninth. The Cubs have lost nine of their last 11 and are off to the worst start in 39 games (13-26) since 2002. Jason Hammel (4-2) gave up five runs on five hits and two walks in 5 1-3 innings, raising his ERA to 3.06. Hammel had six strikeouts. St. Louis scored four runs in the second inning on Wachas two-run single in between a run-scoring groundout by Yadier Molina and Matt Carpenters RBI double. It was Wachas first hit and RBIs of the season. "Its nice to finally have a batting average," Wacha said. St. Louis manager Mike Matheny noted it was a timely hit. "Mike was good and obviously getting that hit there to drive in a couple runs it was kind of a huge boost to us at that point," Matheny said. With two outs, Hammel might have escaped with little damage but he had to throw a strike on a 3-2 count to Wacha and the bases loaded. "I got behind Wacha with two wild ones," Hammel said. "I came in with a fastball and he hit it." Chicago got two runs back in the fourth on a home run just inside the left-field foul pole by Starlin Castro. He drove in No. 3 hitter Anthony Rizzo, who beat the St. Louis shift to the right side with his second bunt to the left side in two at-bats. Rizzo has three career bunt singles with the Cubs with one coming in his previous 285 games. "If theyre going to give me that, I might as well take it," Rizzo said. "We were able to cash in once. I almost make them pay twice for it. Wacha is a great pitcher but you get him on the stretch and try to get him off his game a little bit. "You know if teams are going to give me that, for the most part, Im going to take it every time." When Rizzo came to bat in the fifth and seventh, St. Louis did not shift. "Rizzo took advantage of the shift until they changed their defence on him," Chicago manager Rick Renteria said. "That led to our first two runs when Starlin drove the ball out of the ballpark. Hes really looking at the game from a lot of different angles. Think about it, youre down four runs and a solo home run is not going to do a whole lot for you." The Cardinals made it 5-2 when Molina lined a 3-2 pitch just inside the line in left for a one-out RBI single. Junior Lake hit a sacrifice fly for a run in the eighth, but Rosenthal got out the jam. St. Louis lost a challenge in the third when Matt Holliday was called out on a close play at first after hitting a grounder to shortstop. The time of the review was 2 minutes, 54 seconds. NOTES: Missouris new basketball coach Kim Anderson threw out the first pitch. "It was an honour to throw the first ball out," he said. "I was nervous out there, but its something I will never forget." ... The Cardinals announced the time for making up Wednesdays game with the Cubs that was rained out. It will be played at 1:15 p.m. Aug. 30 as part of a split doubleheader. The second game will start at 7:15 p.m. instead of 6:15 p.m. ... The Cardinals recalled 2B Kolten Wong on Wednesday from Triple-A Memphis and optioned infielder Greg Garcia back to the club. Wong was optioned April 27 after hitting .225 in 20 games. He hit .344 in 10 games at Memphis. He was not in the starting lineup as he was still battling the effects of a stomach virus. Fake Balenciaga Shoes . -- The Windsor Spitfires were left with just one goaltender Tuesday after having their starter walk out on them midway through Game 3 of their Ontario Hockey League playoff matchup with the London Knights. Wholesale Balenciaga . During the furious first few hours of free agency Tuesday, the team agreed to terms with strong safety Donte Whitner, a Cleveland native who cant wait to play in his hometown. https://www.fakebalenciaga.com/. LUCIE, Fla. Fake Balenciaga .Inter Milan and Napoli also advanced to ensure there will be at least three Italian clubs in the last 32 of Europes secondary competition.Spurs victory, secured by Benjamin Stamboulis 49th-minute winner, was overshadowed by a succession of pitch invasions that forced the referee to halt the game after 41 minutes. Fake Balenciaga From China . And it showed Thursday night. The Canadiens, playing in their second game in as many days, however, got a good performance in the end from their backup goaltender as he filled in for an injured Olympic gold medallist .BUFFALO a€“ It was more than a dozen years ago, but Henrik Tallinder a€“ now pushing toward the creakier age of 36 a€“ remembers just about every detail. He remembers the score (3-1). He remembers the opponent (Washington). He remembers the matchup with one of the gamea€?s greatest players (Jagr). He remembers how very anxious he was that day in mid-April when he made his NHL debut in this very building a€“ then named HSBC Arena. a€?Youa€?re a rookie,a€? he said of the experience, a€?youa€?re nervous, and you dona€?t really know what to expect.a€? Tallinder is again auditioning for a spot in the NHL, only this time with 678 career games under his belt a€“ his chances damaged in his preseason return to Buffalo on Friday night. Hea€?s too old to change now, he says. His game is what it is. His experience, which includes an Olympic silver medal, speaks for itself. He is jostling for a job in Toronto with the same type of young, hopeful defender he once was. That bid, which appeared strong at the outset of training camp, is suddenly in major doubt. Tallinder was driven into the end boards by former teammate Mike Weber midway through the middle frame of Fridaya€?s game. His left shoulder took the brunt of the impact and afterward it was diagnosed as dislocated. His NHL career is suddenly in jeopardy in the same place that it all began. Back in the fall of 2002 when that career was just beginning, he was an untried, unheralded 22-year-old Sabres second-round pick simply trying to make his start in the league. Grinding away in Rochester during his first dance through North America, Tallinder, a Stockholm native, was given two NHL games at the conclusion of the 2001-02 campaign. He spent the summer that followed back in Sweden and it was the offseason of his life in many ways. He knew he had to get bigger and stronger to play in the league and spent the warmer months of that year endeavouring to do so. a€?I dona€?t think Ia€?ve ever worked so hard my whole life that summer to be able to get a spot in Buffalo,a€? he said, recalling 10 painstaking workouts each week. a€?It was such a big difference between the American Hockey League and NHL.a€? He was a different defenceman then; quicker, spryer, more energetic, but less nuanced in the game the way he would become over 11 seasons. He had more jump in his body then, a certain and ever-present excitement to join the rush wherever and whenever possiblee.dddddddddddd All that evolved with age and games logged, most of them here in Buffalo with the Sabres. a€?Ia€?m not maybe as fast as I used to be,a€? Tallinder said, a€?but you compensate with experience.a€? a€?You learn where to be on the ice,a€? he continued. a€?Thata€?s something you dona€?t get to start with. Thata€?s experience. Thata€?s learning.a€? And that will be the choice in some ways for the Leafs in the coming days, (a choice that gets a lot easier if his injury is as serious as it appears) whether to lean with an experienced defender like Tallinder, who might not have much left, or opt for untested youth, the kind in Korbinian Holzer, Stuart Percy and Petter Granberg, that Tallinder once was 12 years earlier. Having a veteran depth defender around a€“ Stephane Robidasa€?s status for the start of the regular season notwithstanding a€“ may be attractive for a team fortunate enough to skate through last season without any serious injuries to its defence. a€?Ia€?m just going out with my business, trying to do what I can do, trying to get better and trying to prove that I can play on this team,a€? says Tallinder, who played more than 500 games as a Sabre. a€?Ia€?m too old now to change anything that Ia€?m doing. Ia€?m going to play my kind of game that Ia€?ve been successful with. Nothing has really changed for me.a€? That game, according to Leafs head coach Randy Carlyle, includes a€?lots of moxiea€? and a cool kind of poise that comes with experience. a€?There is a possibility that he could make our hockey club and play against some top lines,a€? Carlyle observed early in camp. a€?He was a steady defenceman and a really good teammate,a€? former Devils teammate, David Clarkson, says of Tallinder. a€?He brings that stuff, but he also poises you at the back-end. Hea€?s not a guy to make very many mistakes. Hea€?ll get the puck and move it quick. a€?I think therea€?s a lot of things he can do for this team and this organization.a€? Carlyle couldna€?t say how long Tallinder might be sidelined (he missed about a month with a right shoulder injury in 2009), but in any case, whatever hopes he had are now dangling precariously with Holzer, Granberg and Percy pushing for the same job. It would be an unfortunate end for a player who still believes in his ability to play in the NHL. a€?I know I can still play in this league,a€? he said before the game, a€?so ita€?s not that.a€? ' ' '