The Cardinals had been having a hard enough time beating teams from their own league at Busch Stadium this season, winning 15 and losing 16. But at least they generally scored against their National League foes.
Since American League teams Houston and Texas came to town this week, the well has gone almost completely dry. Three games, three losses, three runs.
In succession, the Cardinals scored two runs, one and then none as lefthander Cole Hamels (7-1), who posted the last playoff win for the Philadelphia Phillies five years ago here, stopped the Cardinals on three hits, two by Matt Carpenter, for 7 2/3 innings Friday night in a 1-0 Texas victory.