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Schumaker comes through late to lead Cardinals past Brewers

Apr 22, 2008 - 4:31 AM By Dave Cotey PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

MILWAUKEE (Ticker) -- The St. Louis Cardinals doubled their fun against the Milwaukee Brewers.

Skip Schumaker's RBI double scored Brian Barton in the top of the ninth inning to give the Cardinals a 4-3 win at Miller Park on Monday.

Barton led off the top of the inning with a double off reliever Derrick Turnbow (0-1) and scored two batters later when Schumaker did the same.

"Barton did the job getting on with a leadoff double," Schumaker said. "I was just looking for a good pitch out over the plate and was fortunate to get the barrel on it. It was a big at-bat for the team."

Brewers manager Ned Yost defended his decision to call on Turnbow in a tie game. The righthander entered the game with a 9.82 ERA in three appearances, all of which he made with the Brewers trailing.

"He was the freshest arm that we had out there," Yost said. "He had been throwing the ball decent and hasn't been given much of an opportunity. He's an All-Star pitcher."

Closer Jason Isringhausen pitched a perfect ninth to pick up his seventh save in eight chances for the Cardinals, who won for just the second time in five games.

In a bizarre eighth inning, both teams scored thanks to miscues by each club's respective right fielder.

In the top of the frame, the Brewers' Corey Hart misplayed Ryan Ludwick's fly ball that led off the inning. By the time Hart recovered, Ludwick was standing on third before scoring on Adam Kennedy's sacrifice fly to snap a 2-2 tie.

In the bottom of the eighth, Hart and Ludwick were at it again, only this time, Ludwick was on the wrong end.

Ryan Braun led off the inning with a double off reliever Ryan Franklin (1-1) and moved to third on a wild pitch. Hart then hit a fly ball to Ludwick, who lost it in the lights, resulting in a triple.

Franklin, however, was able to get out of the inning. Hart was thrown out at the plate following Bill Hall's ground ball and Craig Counsell grounded out.

"We had some tough situations, but nobody lost their composure," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. "We've had a lot of games like this already. It was an important win to get us back on the plus side."

The defensive miscues overshadowed solid pitching performances from both starters.

St. Louis' Adam Wainwright allowed four hits and struck out six in seven innings. The righthander lowered his ERA to 2.73 after four starts.

Wainwright's only blemish came in the bottom of the third.

Jason Kendall led off the third with a double and scored when Rickie Weeks broke an 0-for-11 skid with a double to left. Two batters later, Weeks scored from second on Braun's single that snapped his own 0-for-11 streak.

"I wasn't sharp early on," Wainwright said. "I was erratic, but I was still getting outs. You've got to be able to flip a switch, start over from scratch. I was able to do that."

Though not as sharp as Wainwright, Brewers starter Carlos Villanueva finished with a season-high four walks but allowed a season-low three hits over seven innings. He retired 13 of the last 14 batters he faced after allowing a two-run double to Troy Glaus in the third.

"I felt good; I felt like I pitched the way I could pitch," Villanueva said. "I slowed down everything after that (third) inning. I got the ball down and I got the quick innings."

Braun and Gabe Gross each had two hits for the Milwaukee, which has dropped two straight after a three-game winning streak.