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Ludwick hits walk-off home run to lift Cardinals over Royals

Jun 21, 2007 - 7:28 AM ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- Ryan Ludwick hit a walk-off home run to center field in the 14th inning to cap a long night as the St. Louis Cardinals posted a 7-6 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday.

Ludwick hit a 2-2 pitch from Jorge De La Rosa (4-8) for his first career walk-off homer to end the 5-hour, 21-minute affair.

"I knew I definitely got that one," said Ludwick, whose blast traveled 434 feet. "I don't have any words for it, it's just a tremendous feeling."

For De La Rosa it will be quick turnaround. He is tommorow's scheduled starter and will not be forced to miss his turn despite the relief appearance.

Kip Wells (3-11), who was demoted to the bullpen after struggling mightily as a starter, threw two scoreless innings and worked around a one-out triple by David DeJesus in the 14th to earn the win.

"It feels pretty good," said Wells, who had recorded only one win in his last 12 appearances. "To be sitting down there most of the game knowing you're not going to get in unless this kind of a situation transpires. Hopefully it's something to we can build off on, it's probably our biggest win of the year as far as our morale is concerned."

Both teams wasted plenty of opportunities, and also exhausted their bullpens, using a combined 13 relievers.

Royals' manager Buddy Bell lamented his club's offensive effort.

"It wasn't a good night for us offensively," Royals manager Buddy Bell said. "With the exception of a few innings, we pitched well enough to win, there are some nights where you just have to get after it offensively and we weren't able to do that tonight."

Meanwhile, the Cardinals had several chances to win the game way before Ludwick's blast. St. Louis left the bases loaded in the ninth and 12th innings and wasted another golden opportunity in the 13th when Albert Pujols was thrown out at third by DeJesus for the second out of the inning.

"We had a lot of chances," Ludwick said. "Fortunately it worked out for us."

Despite the gaffe on the bases, Pujols was a big reason the Cardinals were even around to see the 13th frame. He tied the game in the ninth with an RBI double off Royals closer Octavio Dotel, who blew his first save in seven chances.

Another key contributor was Aaron Miles, who scored the tying run on Pujols' hit. Miles went 5-for-7 to record his second career five-hit game; he also had five hits against San Diego on April 4, 2005.

"It was not a normal game," Miles said. "We showed a lot of heart tonight and I think this is something the team can look at and say this team has a lot of fight in them."

After Pujols' RBI double in the ninth, the Cards loaded the bases with one out, but Joel Peralta struck out the final two batters.

The Cardinals also loaded the bases in the 12th with one out, but David Riske struck out So Taguchi and got Miles to fly out to get out of the jam.

Pujols and Ludwick ruined an outstanding performance by Kansas City rookie Alex Gordon, who went 4-for-6 with a run scored.

The lefthanded hitter singled to lead off the sixth inning and scored on Tony Pena's RBI single off Cardinals reliever Andy Cavazos for a 5-4 lead. The Royals added an insurance run when DeJesus singled in Shealy.

After posting a .185 batting average over the first two months of the season, Gordon has had six multi-hit performances over his last nine games.

"The hits are starting to come and I feel comfortable," Gordon said. "We just didn't get the big hit. We knew we had our chances."

Scott Rolen, who hit a two-run single in the fifth to tie the game at 4-4, brought home another run when he grounded into a double play in the seventh to cut the Cards' deficit to 6-5.

Royals starter Gil Meche was chased after 4 2/3 innings, giving up four runs and eight hits with two walks and six strikeouts.

Cardinals starter Todd Wellemeyer yielded four runs - two earned - and five hits with three strikeouts over five innings against his former team.