Kile Gets Victory This Time Around

Darryl Kile knew exactly what he needed to do against the Arizona Diamondbacks. He had done it the week before.

One start after a heartbreaking outing against Arizona, Kile got the run support he needed Wednesday night to earn his first victory this month as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Diamondbacks, 8-4.

“If you throw a game where you throw the ball well, you can pick up on some things they are trying to do against you,” Kile said. “Hopefully, you’ll be able to repeat the things you did well.”

Kile had done well last week, when he faced the minimum number of batters through five innings in a 3-2 loss. Kile held the Diamondbacks to three hits and one run--a homer--in that game, earning a no-decision when Arizona rallied in the ninth.

On Wednesday, he gave up 10 hits, striking out four and walking two in eight-plus innings.

“This team has a lot of character,” Kile said of bouncing back to beat the Diamondbacks at St. Louis. “Every time it looks like we’ve got our backs up against the wall, we come out fighting. To win two games against a team like that, it’s good for us.”

At 12-6, Kile joins the Diamondbacks’ Randy Johnson (15-3) and the Atlanta Braves’ Tom Glavine (12-5) and Greg Maddux (12-4) as the fourth 12-game winner in the National League.

Arizona and San Francisco are in a virtual tie for the NL West lead, with the Giants ahead by two percentage points (.556-.554).