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Wainwright, Ludwick lift Cardinals over Dodgers

May 24, 2008 - 8:32 AM LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- Adam Wainwright pitched seven strong innings and Ryan Ludwick provided the offense with a two-run home run as the St. Louis Cardinals claimed a 2-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday night.

Wainwright (4-2) allowed just one run and five hits, walking two while striking out five to earn his first win in five starts on the road this season.

"I was working behind the counts and a little up in the zone to start the game off, Wainwright said. "I felt really comfortable on the mound, had a really good curveball going tonight. I still need to work down a little better on my fastball."

Despite allowing baserunners in five of his seven innings, the 26-year-old righthander surrendered his only run in the bottom of the seventh inning after Mark Sweeney's sacrifice fly plated Chin-lung Hu, who led off the frame with a triple.

"I felt in control, even when guys were in scoring position," Wainwright said. "I was very confident in the way I was throwing the ball that I would get out of it."

Ron Villone and rookie Chris Perez combined to pitch a perfect eighth inning before closer Ryan Franklin was summoned for the ninth.

However, some sudden inclement weather caused the game to be delayed 65 minutes with one out in the final frame.

"I was upset they stopped the game because I was two pitches away from getting out of the inning, but it was the right call," Franklin said. "I was slipping all over the place out there and my feet were sliding. I was trying to stay focused and think what I had to do to make my pitches"

Franklin walked Matt Kemp when the game resumed, but struck out rookie Blake DeWitt as Kemp stole second.

After Delwyn Young walked and Kemp advanced to third on a wild pitch, Franklin struck out pinch-hitter Andruw Jones to earn his third save of the season.

"I was pretty warm, I didn't need many pitches to get going again," said Franklin about returning to the mound following the delay.

"Its harder to get back up mentally than physically for me. I tried to stay away from everybody during the rain delay and try to focus as much as I could and try not to get anything in my head that would affect me on the mound."

Ludwick's blast off Dodgers' starter Derek Lowe (2-5) in the third inning proved to be all the offense the Cardinals needed.

After Lowe retired Adam Kennedy and Chris Duncan to open the frame, Albert Pujols drew a walk before Ludwick belted his team-leading 13th homer of the season to center field.

"I'm just trying to go up there and get a good pitch to hit hard," Ludwick said. "I've been in situations where there have been runners on base and its worked out all right I guess."

Ludwick finished with three hits on Friday and ranks among the National League leaders in several offensive categories on the strength of a recent hot streak. He has belted five homers with 12 RBI over his last six games.

"It's confidence," Ludwick said. "I finally have proved to myself that I can play at this level and I feel like as you get older your game plan and approach at the plate gets better and better.

"Everything has kind of come into place at once and things are going well."

Lowe allowed just the two runs and five hits in seven innings for Los Angeles, walking two while striking out five. The veteran righthander has lost each of his last four decisions with his last win coming on April 23.

"These games happen, all in all it's a much better game than the previous five or six," Lowe said. "I just came up a little short there."