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Ankiel, late rally propel Cardinals past Cubs

Jul 6, 2008 - 12:42 AM ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- Rick Ankiel gave a record-setting crowd at Busch Stadium plenty to cheer about.

Ankiel homered and hit a walk-off, two-run single to lift the St. Louis Cardinals to a 5-4 triumph over the Chicago Cubs on Saturday before 46,865.

The clutch hit by Ankiel came with two outs in the ninth after Kerry Wood surrendered an RBI double to Adam Kennedy to cut the Cardinals' deficit to 4-3.

"Just getting up there with the bases loaded and Kerry Wood is tough. He throws so hard and I was just looking for a pitch that I could drive up the middle," Ankiel said. "Unbelievable. Big series for us, big game. To come back like that is a lot of fun. I'm just glad we came out on top. It's a big motivator for us, and hopefully we can come back tomorrow and win the series."

Wood (4-2), whose last blown save came on May 24 against the Pittsburgh Pirates, walked Ryan Ludwick and Yadier Molina to lead off the ninth before Kennedy's hit. After an intentional walk to Chris Duncan loaded the bases, Wood got two outs before Ankiel stepped in.

"You get the first guy on, it never works out well usually," Wood said. "I made some pretty good pitches after that to give us a chance to get out of it and just hung a slider in and that's it. We were one pitch away from getting out of it. It seems to always be the case when you're in that role."

Wood has now blown five saves in 27 chances in his first season as the full-time closer.

"He almost worked himself out of it," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. "You walk the first two hitters of an inning, you get yourself in trouble right from the get-go. We weren't sure if Kennedy was going to bunt or not bunt and he hits the ball by the first baseman and the two-out hit by Ankiel. It was a tough loss."

In the eighth, Aramis Ramirez snapped an 0-for-28 slump with a two-run homer - his 15th of the season - to take a 4-2 lead against Cardinals reliever Ryan Franklin, erasing seven solid innings by starter Kyle Lohse.

"It was a big home run for us," Chicago's Derrek Lee said of Ramirez. "It gave us a two-run lead. Aramis is going to be fine. We're never really worried about Aramis. He's too good of a hitter and it's not like he's been swinging the bat that bad. He just hasn't got any hits. He's still dangerous in that situation."

Kyle McClellan (1-3) relieved Franklin and threw two scoreless innings to pick up his first major league win.

"It was a whole team effort," McClellan said. "I think it showed that we were down but didn't give up. The last inning was just unbelievable. We were down that whole game and for us to come back, it shows a lot about the character of this team."

Chicago starter Ted Lilly cruised through five scoreless innings before allowing two runs in the sixth. Ankiel connected on his 18th home run of the season and Ludwick hit an RBI double to tie the score.

Lilly, who was unbeaten in his five previous starts, has given up just six runs in his last four starts on the road.

Mark DeRosa smacked a solo shot in the third and Ryan Theriot singled home DeRosa in the fifth to give the Cubs a 2-0 lead - the only runs off Lohse.

Lohse tossed seven innings for the second straight start and allowed just six hits. He struck out six and walked two.

"I think you have to give a lot of credit to Lohse," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. "Talking about guys that are improving, he's improving."

The win brought the Cardinals (50-39) to within 2 1/2 games of the first-place Cubs (52-36) in the National League Central.

"I think we've played well for three months," La Russa said. "But we have to improve to stay in this thing. Our attitude has to be to get better, otherwise we don't have a chance."