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Final Score: St. Louis 2 - Philadelphia 0

Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - Joel Pineiro and three St. Louis relievers combined on a six-hit shutout, while Rick Ankiel and Ryan Ludwick each homered, as the Cardinals topped Philadelphia, 2-0, in the opener of a three-game set at Citizens Bank Park.

Pineiro (3-4) blanked the Phillies over 6 1/3 innings, allowing just five hits and three walks while striking out three. The right-hander snapped a nine- start winless streak stretching back to an April 29 win over the Reds. Ryan Franklin tossed a scoreless ninth for his 12th save.

Adam Kennedy added a double for the Cardinals, who have won two of their last three. St. Louis won despite picking up just five hits, thanks largely to three timely double plays in the field.

"Give their guys some credit for shutting us out, but we didn't generate very much offense," said Phillies manager Charlie Manuel. "We hit into three double plays when we had chances to score."

Cole Hamels (9-6) was the hard-luck loser, allowing both runs on just three hits in seven innings, striking out eight without walking a batter. Pat Burrell went 2-for-3 with a double for the Phillies, who have lost four straight after a four-game win streak.

Neither team pushed a run across until the fifth, when Ankiel belted Hamels' second pitch of the inning over the wall in left-center. Ludwick tacked on another run an inning later, as he belted a two-out, 0-2 fastball deep into the seats in center.

The Phillies couldn't muster much offense against Pineiro, but chased him when they put runners on first and second with one out in the seventh. However, Ron Villone came on and got pinch-hitter Chris Coste to ground into a rally- killing double play.

"Our offense is generated from the top of our order," Maneul said. "We're not getting too much from the bottom of our lineup, either."

St. Louis had a chance to widen the gap in the eighth when Chris Duncan led off with a single, was bunted to second and moved to third on a Ryan Madson balk. However, Cesar Izturis flew out to right, and Jayson Werth threw out Duncan at the plate to keep the deficit at 2-0.

Kyle McClellan retired the side in order in the home eighth, and Franklin worked around a one-out single by Ryan Howard in the ninth to complete the shutout.

"We didn't hit too many balls hard tonight," Manuel said.