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Ludwick's big day leads Cardinals over Reds

Jul 1, 2007 - 9:50 PM CINCINNATI (Ticker) -- Ryan Ludwick homered twice and drove in four runs to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to an 11-7 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday.

Ludwick, starting just his 19th game this season, hit a 473-foot solo shot off Cincinnati rookie phenom Homer Bailey in the third inning. He added a three-run shot, his sixth of the season, against reliever Ricky Stone in the fourth to put the Cardinals ahead to stay.

Troy Percival (2-0) relieved Cardinals starter Mike Maroth with two on and none out in the fourth. He got the next three Reds in order, striking out one.

The tape-measure shot by Ludwick was the first to reach the newly constructed steamboat replica that was built on top of the batter's eye in center field. It was the ninth-longest hit in Great American Ball Park and six feet short of Albert Pujols' 2003 blast.

"I knew I hit it good," Ludwick said. "He is a power pitcher and supplied a lot of the power. I just put a good swing on it. He had fallen behind some hitters and I knew he'd be throwing a hard fastball."

Ludwick was in the lineup to give Juan Encarnacion a day off after a night game.

"That was a bomb," said Cardinals manager Tony La Russa of Ludwick's first home run. "The second one was clutch. They way the game was going we needed every bit of it."

Bailey (2-2) suffered his second consecutive loss, allowing six runs and seven hits while lasting just 3 2/3 innings. The 21-year old walked five and struck out two as his ERA rose to 8.10.

"He tried to go out there with one pitch (fastball)," Cincinnati manager Jerry Narron said of Bailey. "He wasn't getting anything else over. With young players, you know you're going to have ups and downs. You've got to be able to throw strikes with something other than your fastball."

Reds management, with the worst record in baseball, resisted pressure to bring Bailey to the major leagues until June. They were concerned that he hadn't developed enough confidence in other pitches and was accustomed to relying on his fastball.

"I was throwing, not pitching," Bailey said. "There were a few mechanical flaws me and Dick (pitching coach Pole) just found. When I came into ice, I said, 'I'm going to look at the video.' I was flying out, striding too long. When you're flying open, it's hard to make your pitches.

"I was standing right there. I knew something was wrong, but I couldn't figure out what it was. It's a small, mechanical thing. Everybody has it. We have an off-day tomorrow, which gives me an extra day to remember how bad today was."

Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 22nd home run of the season and the 585th of his career off Maroth to give the Reds a 5-4 lead after three frames.

But Bailey could not hold the lead. The righthander retired the first two batters in the fourth before walking Pujols and Chris Duncan.

Scott Rolen singled to score Pujols and chase Bailey. Stone, who had his contract selected from Class AAA Louisville on Friday, served up Ludwick's second homer on a 3-1 pitch to put St. Louis ahead, 8-5.

The Cardinals scored their final run in the eighth inning when Pujols grounded into a double play to plate So Taguchi, who led off the frame by reaching on shortstop Alex Gonzalez's error.

Taguchi, Rolen and Duncan had three hits apiece to pace St. Louis' 14-hit attack.

Maroth surrendered a first inning, two-run home run to Brandon Phillips - his 15th of the season - and lasted just three-plus innings. The lefthander was charged with five earned runs and six hits.

"The first-inning home run was on a tee," La Russa said. "He gave up five runs on two pitches. I'm sure he's going to pick us up another time. Today we had to pick him up."

"I got behind too many guys and had to come closer to the middle of the plate," Maroth said. "I needed to make my pitches and didn't do it."

David Ross hit his second home run in two days off Troy Cate in the sixth. It was his 14th homer of the year.

The Reds have dropped the deciding game of six straight series.