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Cards Win; Rodon Sharp, But Not Good Enough

 width=>>Rodon Not Good Enough As Angels Beat Sox

Of the 104 pitches rookie left-hander Carlos Rodon threw in his first major league complete game, only two he would like to have had back.

Both ended up out of the ballpark.

Facing the Los Angels Angels for the second time in seven days, Rodon had another outstanding performance Monday night in a 2-1 loss.

The defending AL West champions had just two hits against him between Albert Pujols' leadoff homer in the second inning and C.J. Cron's tiebreaking homer with one out in the seventh.

The Angels, 1 for 32 with runners in scoring position during the White Sox's three-game sweep in Chicago last week, had two on and one out in the third when Shane Victorino flied out and Kole Calhoun fouled out. It was the last time they got a runner as far as second base until Cron's ninth homer of the season.

Angels lefty Andrew Heaney allowed a run and five hits through six innings and escaped a bases-loaded jam with his 100th and final pitch. The rookie left-hander lowered his ERA to 2.43 in 10 starts this season, but remained winless in four starts after winning five of his first six.

Heaney, who hit Jose Abreu on the left foot in the third inning, plunked Tyler Saladino with another low pitch in the sixth to load the bases after two-out singles by Trayce Thompson and Alexei Ramirez. But Tyler Flowers was called out on strikes by umpire Ed Hickox on a 3-2 pitch.

Fernando Salas (3-1) pitched one inning for the victory. Joe Smith got three outs in the eighth and Huston Street set down the White Sox 1-2-3 in the ninth for his for his 28th save in 32 attempts, after blowing a save opportunity on Sunday.

 width=>>Cards Edge Giants

Chris Heston didn't give the St. Louis Cardinals much to hit. The San Francisco Giants rookie pitcher couldn't find the strike zone.

Heston walked a season-worst five in 4 2-3 innings of a 2-1 loss on Monday night and departed after 104 pitches.

Rookie Stephen Piscotty tripled and scored the go-ahead run on Mark Reynolds' groundout in the eighth inning.

The run came a little too late for Michael Wacha, who allowed one run in seven innings with six strikeouts but missed a chance to become the majors' first 15-game winner. The right-hander faced the Giants for the first time since allowing an NL championship series-ending homer to Travis Ishikawa last fall in his first appearance of the postseason.

Yadier Molina hit his third homer off Heston leading off the fourth for St. Louis. The Giants tied it on Brandon Crawford's two-out RBI triple in the sixth.

The Cardinals have won nine of 12, ended the Giants' four-game winning streak, and lead Pittsburgh by six games in the NL Central. They're tops in the majors in overall record (76-42) and home record (45-18).

Kevin Siegrist (4-0) worked a perfect eighth against the top of the Giants order and Trevor Rosenthal earned his 37th save in 39 chances when pinch-hitter Buster Posey flied out to the wall in center.

Ryan Vogelsong (8-8, 4.15) will start Tuesday instead of Mike Leake (9-6, 3.52), who is not quite ready to be activated from the 15-day disabled list from a hamstring injury. The Cardinals' Lance Lynn (9-7, 2.95) is coming off the shortest outing of his career, lasting just two-thirds of an inning and surrendering seven runs - three earned - in a loss to Pittsburgh.

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