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Ludwick, Cardinals derail Diamondbacks

Sep 24, 2008 - 3:07 AM By Thad Kemlage PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- Ryan Ludwick smacked his 35th home run and Albert Pujols added two RBI to give the St. Louis Cardinals a bittersweet 7-4 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday.

The New York Mets eliminated the Cardinals from postseason play with their win over the Chicago Cubs earlier, leaving the 2006 World Series Champions out of the playoffs for the second year in a row.

The loss was a major blow for the Diamondbacks (79-78), who are chasing the Los Angeles Dodgers (81-75) in the National League West. Arizona came into the game two games behind Los Angeles, which faced San Diego in a late game.

The Cardinals tagged Randy Johnson early, scoring four runs in the first inning, paced by a three-run homer from Ludwick. Pujols drove in his team-leading 107th RBI prior to Ludwick's blast.

Felipe Lopez added three hits and drove in the fifth St. Louis run in the fifth. Lopez has hit safely in 18 of 20 games in the month of September and is batting .366 since coming over from Washington on August 6.

In the fourth, Chris Young hit his 21st home run, a two-run shot. Miguel Montero added his fifth as the Diamondbacks closed within 5-3 in the sixth.

The Cardinals added insurance in the seventh on RBI singles from Pujols and Troy Glaus to make it 7-3.

Kyle Lohse (15-6) set a career-high in wins with the victory, going six innings and giving up three runs and six hits. The righthander has won back-to-back games.

Manager Tony La Russa used four relievers with Ryan Franklin going the final 1 1/3 innings to pick up his 16th save.

Johnson (10-10, 4.11 ERA) gave up seven hits and five runs in six innings. The Big Unit has not won a game since August 12 - a span of seven starts.