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Schumaker, bullpen lead Cardinals over Reds

Apr 26, 2007 - 11:59 PM ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- Perhaps the St. Louis Cardinals have figured out their troubles at home.

Skip Schumaker had a career-high three hits and the Cardinals' bullpen was superb en route to a 7-5 victory over the Cincinnati Reds in the rubber game of a three-game set.

Aaron Miles, Scott Spiezio and Albert Pujols had two hits each for St. Louis, which has won two straight at Busch Stadium after losing seven of its first eight home contests.

"Everybody contributed, and we strung together hits," Miles said. "It was not the bases-clearing double. That one inning we had four or five hits in a row. The pitchers shut them down when we came back, and that was a big key."

With the aid of homers by David Ross and Brandon Phillips against St. Louis starter Randy Keisler, Cincinnati jumped to a 4-0 third-inning lead and it appeared safe with hot starting pitcher Kyle Lohse on the mound.

The Reds righthander had yielded just a run and 10 hits in 15 innings while striking out 16 batters in his last two starts against Chicago and Philadelphia, respectively.

"I don't think anything really was as good as normal," Lohse said. "It was one of those games where I was still getting ahead in the count but they weren't chasing at all. They just did a good job of being patient."

Lohse worked three scoreless innings before the Cardinals started their biggest comeback of the season. Miles drew a two-out walk in the fourth and Schumaker followed with a double to right field. Pujols followed with a base hit to right, but Cincinnati rookie right fielder Josh Hamilton threw out Schumaker at the plate.

Lohse still looked in command after a perfect fifth, but the Cardinals did more damage in the sixth with five straight hits. Adam Kennedy led off with a double and advanced to third on a base hit by Gary Bennett. Pinch hitter So Taguchi plated Kennedy with a run-scoring single and Miles loaded the bases with a base hit to left.

"It's fun to play that way, for everybody to have good at-bats," Kennedy said. "We just did not sit around and wait for the big home run or the one big hit. Everybody was putting good at-bats together. When the lineup runs together well like that, it makes it fun to play. Hopefully, you get a roll for a couple weeks at a time playing like that."

Schumaker then plated Bennett with a base hit to left. A double-play grounder by Pujols brought home the tying run but averted any more damage until the next frame.

The 27-year-old Schumaker entered in an 0-for-9 skid, but finished 3-for-4 with two RBI. On the Cardinals' Opening Day roster for the second straight year, Schumaker delivered a game-winning sacrifice fly in the 12th inning against Pittsburgh on April 12.

"When you don't get too many starts (Thursday was his fourth), you want to do something," Schumaker said. "Maybe I had less time to think about it, and maybe it helped me out a little bit. Three hits, you can't really beat that for me."

Consecutive doubles by Scott Spiezio and Kennedy off Lohse gave St. Louis a 6-4 lead.

Lohse (1-1) left after six innings, yielding five runs and 11 hits in six innings. He walked one and struck out three.

"We went from sliders to changeups to fastballs to curveballs," Ross said. "Whatever we threw, they were right on it."

The Cardinals tacked on an insurance run in the seventh on an RBI single by Spiezio and another in the eighth on a sacrifice fly by Miles for a 7-5 lead.

While the Cardinals' offense was giving the club a chance, the bullpen picked up for starter Randy Keisler, who got knocked out in the fourth inning.

Making his third start of the season, the lefthander was tagged for four runs and six hits in 3 1/3 innings. However, four relievers combined to allow one run and no hits and closer Jason Isringhausen worked a perfect ninth for his sixth save in seven chances.

After retiring the first batter, Isringhausen had to withstand a 49-minute rain delay before closing out the Reds.

"I did not make quality pitches, and I paid for it," Keisler said. "Other than me, we had a heck of a day."

Brad Thompson replaced Keisler with a runner on third and one out in the fourth and escaped. He departed after working a spotless fifth in favor of Russ Springer (1-0), who worked a scoreless sixth.

Ryan Franklin yielded a run in his two frames - Ryan Freel walked and eventually scored on a wild pitch in the eighth - before handing it off to Isringhausen.

"If the bullpen has a tough day, we are not going to outscore them from there to the end," La Russa said. "Brad Thompson deserves a lot of credit. Russ has a scoreless inning, and then they get one off of Ryan. That was really clutch relief."

Cincinnati played without right fielder Ken Griffey, Jr., who sat out with a sore chest.

St. Louis left fielder Chris Duncan was scratched from the starting lineup but pinch hit, singled and scored in the eighth.

Duncan bumped his head in his apartment, and we did not arrive at the park until 15 minutes before game time, La Russa inserted Schumaker into the lineup.

"It was bleeding and I knew something was wrong. It kind of just split open. I felt like I could play, I just could not get here in time."