• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Cardinals rally past Padres

Jul 19, 2008 - 4:57 AM By James Walsh PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- Yadier Molina's two-run single sparked a four-run eighth inning as the St. Louis Cardinals busted open a back-and-forth contest en route to an 11-7 victory over the San Diego Padres on Friday.

With runners on first and second and the game tied at 7-7, Rick Ankiel hit a grounder that was fielded by second baseman Edgar Gonzalez, who looked toward second for the force on Albert Pujols but had no play. When Gonzalez turned to first, no one was covering the bag, giving Ankiel an infield single.

"I'm not quite sure what happened," Padres manager Bud Black said. "It was one of those grounders in a spot where even with a pretty quick runner you'd like to think you can get an out. We didn't."

Molina followed with his base hit to right field off Heath Bell (6-4) that made it 9-7. Chris Duncan and Aaron Miles added RBI singles to cap the rally for the Cardinals, who won their third straight game.

"I was just swinging to make contact," Molina said. "I didn't want to strike out in that situation, I just wanted to make contact and hopefully find a hole."

"I just think he is immune to pressure," St. Louis manager Tony La Russa said. "He hit a nice breaking ball, the guy is one of the best in the league, he's got a beautiful stroke and he knows how to use it."

Kyle McClellan (2-4), the fifth of six pitchers for St. Louis, tossed a scoreless eighth to gain the victory.

The teams combined for 29 hits in a game that saw the lead change four times and was tied on three occasions.

"It was a hard-fought game on both sides," Black said. "We came out swinging, kept putting pressure on them. We got 12 hits, they just out-hit us, it was a good game until they broke it open in the eighth inning."

It looked like Padres starter Greg Maddux had a solid chance to record his 351st career victory as Jody Gerut's two-run homer in the fourth gave San Diego a 6-3 lead.

But All-Star Ryan Ludwick erased those hopes in the bottom of the frame, when he sent a first-pitch changeup from the four-time Cy Young Award winner over the wall in left-center field for a three-run blast, evening the game at 6-6.

"I just knew I had gotten a changeup the previous at-bat," Ludwick said. "I knew he might go to that in that situation and he did. He left it up a little bit and I was lucky to get a pitch up and just got enough to get it out of the ballpark."

Maddux was replaced to start the fifth after surrendering six runs and eight hits. It was the 13th consecutive start without a win for the 42-year-old righthander, matching his career high set in 1990 with the Chicago Cubs.

"It was the first time I had a lead in a while and I made it last five minutes," Maddux said after his shortest outing of the year. "I didn't do my part. The guys scored and I didn't hold up my side of the deal."

San Diego climbed back in front in the sixth on an RBI single by Brian Giles, his third hit of the night.

Ankiel provided the game's third tie with a leadoff home run in the seventh. The 437-foot blast came on the 12th pitch of the at-bat, knotting things at 7-7.