Final
Ludwick helps Cards outslug Diamondbacks
Apr 16, 2009 - 12:16 AM PHOENIX (AP) -- Ryan Ludwick has picked up where he left off last year -- on a tear.After ending the 2008 season on an 11-game hitting streak, the Cardinals outfielder has opened 2009 by hitting in his first seven games. Ludwick extended the streak with a two-run homer and an RBI single to help the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks, 12-7, on Wednesday afternoon.
"It's two different years," Ludwick said. "I'm just trying to go up there and get good pitches to hit and get a good part of the bat on the ball."
Ludwick, who is batting .407, made the Diamondbacks pay when they intentionally walked slugger Albert Pujols in the third. Ludwick followed with an RBI single to keep a five-run inning rolling.
"He's one of the best hitters in the game," Ludwick said. "You've got to have some protection for him or they're just going to walk him constantly."
Ludwick later added a two-run homer off Yusmeiro Petit as the Cardinals tacked on four runs in the sixth.
The Cardinals bounced back from a disheartening 7-6 loss in 10 innings Tuesday night -- a game in which starting pitcher Chris Carpenter strained his left ribcage while swinging the bat. The club put Carpenter on the 15-day disabled list on Wednesday and said he could be out four to eight weeks.
"I've said from day one to all of our fans, you're never going to question whether this club is ready to play," manager Tony La Russa said.
Chris Duncan added a single, double and triple and two RBIs for the Cardinals, who have won six of seven.
St. Louis benefited from eight walks and three Arizona errors. The Cardinals batted around twice, scoring five runs in the third and four more in the sixth.
"It was really a difficult day for pitchers," La Russa said. "Everybody that pitched struggled."
St. Louis starter Joel Pineiro (2-0) was credited with the victory despite giving up five runs in five innings and allowing nine hits, including six doubles and a homer. He walked three and struck out three.
Pineiro said he had trouble commanding his sinker.
"It was a struggle from the first pitch to the last pitch," he said. "I couldn't put the ball wherever I wanted to most of the time."
Pineiro was better than Arizona's Jon Garland (1-1), who allowed seven runs on seven hits and five walks in 3 2-3 innings.
"Flat-out missed my spots, walking guys and putting them on base," Garland said. "Then when they tack on a couple of hits, it's leading to more runs."
The Chase Field roof was open on a blustery, 72-degree afternoon. Garland said the windy conditions didn't affect his command, but he added, "I will vote to have (the roof) closed every time I'm out there."
The Diamondbacks wrapped up their season-opening homestand 3-6, losing three-game series to Colorado, the Los Angeles Dodgers and St. Louis.
"Not what we were looking for," Arizona manager Bob Melvin said. "But you have to keep encouraged."
The Cardinals jumped ahead early.
Already leading 1-0 on Yadier Molina's second-inning single, St. Louis added five runs in the third on RBI doubles by Colby Rasmus and Duncan and run-scoring singles by Ludwick and Molina to take a 6-0 lead.
But Pineiro promptly gave most of the lead back. With one out in the third, he gave up a run on back-to-back doubles by Felipe Lopez and Conor Jackson.
One out later, Chad Tracy hit an RBI double, and then Mark Reynolds homered into the center field overhang to cut the Cardinals' lead to 6-4. Reynolds, who hit a pinch homer on Tuesday night, homered for the second time in three at-bats.
The Cardinals made it 7-4 on Pujols' grounder to score Skip Schumaker, who led off with a double. Garland was gone after issuing back-to-back four-pitch walks to Ludwick and Duncan.
St. Louis put the game away with four runs in the sixth on an RBI double by Pujols, Ludwick's homer and Joe Thurston's RBI single.
- NL
FINAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
ST LOUIS 0 1 5 1 0 4 0 1 0 12 13 1
ARIZONA 0 0 4 0 1 2 0 0 0 7 10 3 (FINAL)
BATTERIES: STL - JOEL PINEIRO, TREVER MILLER (6TH), CHRIS PEREZ (7TH), JASON
MOTTE (9TH) AND YADIER MOLINA
ARI - JON GARLAND, DOUG SLATEN (4TH), YUSMEIRO PETIT
(5TH), BOBBY K
Apr 15 7:04 PM - NL
AT ARIZONA - SCORING UPDATE
SACRIFICE FLY BY SKIP SCHUMAKER SCORED YADIER MOLINA.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, B BARDEN ON FIRST, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: ST LOUIS 12
ARIZONA 7 TOP, 8TH
DUE UP FOR ST LOUIS: C RASMUS (.259, 1-FOR-4, BB, RBI)
Cardinals 12, Diamondbacks 7 Top 8, 0 OutsApr 15 6:42 PM - NL
AT ARIZONA - SCORING UPDATE
SACRIFICE FLY BY CHAD TRACY SCORED FELIPE LOPEZ.
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, 0 LEFT ON, 3 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: ST LOUIS 11
ARIZONA 7 END BOTTOM, 6TH
Cardinals 11, Diamondbacks 7 Bot 6, 0 OutsApr 15 6:16 PM - NL
AT ARIZONA - SCORING UPDATE
SOLO HOME RUN BY ERIC BYRNES (1) TO LEFT WITH 0 OUT IN THE
6TH OFF TREVER MILLER.
CURRENT SCORE: ST LOUIS 11, ARIZONA 6
DUE UP FOR ARIZONA: F LOPEZ (.378, 2-FOR-3)
Cardinals 11, Diamondbacks 6 Bot 6, 0 OutsApr 15 6:15 PM - NL
AT ARIZONA - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY JOE THURSTON SCORED KHALIL GREENE.
SITUATION: 4 RUNS IN, J THURSTON ON FIRST, Y MOLINA ON SECOND, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: ST LOUIS 11
ARIZONA 5 TOP, 6TH
DUE UP FOR ST LOUIS: J PINEIRO (.000, 0-FOR-1, BB, SAC)
Cardinals 11, Diamondbacks 5 Top 6, 0 OutsApr 15 6:00 PM - NL
AT ARIZONA - SCORING UPDATE
TWO-RUN HOME RUN BY RYAN LUDWICK (3) TO LEFT WITH 0 OUT IN
THE 6TH OFF YUSMEIRO PETIT SCORED ALBERT PUJOLS.
CURRENT SCORE: ST LOUIS 10, ARIZONA 5
DUE UP FOR ST LOUIS: C DUNCAN (.333, 2-FOR-2, BB, 2 RBI)
Cardinals 10, Diamondbacks 5 Top 6, 0 OutsApr 15 5:53 PM - NL
AT ARIZONA - SCORING UPDATE
DOUBLE BY ALBERT PUJOLS SCORED COLBY RASMUS.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, A PUJOLS ON SECOND, 0 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: ST LOUIS 8
ARIZONA 5 TOP, 6TH
DUE UP FOR ST LOUIS: R LUDWICK (.417, 1-FOR-2, BB, RBI)
Cardinals 8, Diamondbacks 5 Top 6, 0 OutsApr 15 5:50 PM - NL
AT ARIZONA - SCORING UPDATE
DOUBLE BY JUSTIN UPTON SCORED CHRIS YOUNG.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, J UPTON ON SECOND, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: ST LOUIS 7
ARIZONA 5 BOTTOM, 5TH
DUE UP FOR ARIZONA: C SNYDER (.118, 0-FOR-1, BB)
Cardinals 7, Diamondbacks 5 Bot 5, 0 OutsApr 15 5:43 PM - NL
AT ARIZONA - SCORING UPDATE
GROUND OUT BY ALBERT PUJOLS SCORED SKIP SCHUMAKER.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, NONE ON, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: ST LOUIS 7
ARIZONA 4 TOP, 4TH
DUE UP FOR ST LOUIS: R LUDWICK (.417, 1-FOR-2, RBI)
Cardinals 7, Diamondbacks 4 Top 4, 0 OutsApr 15 5:00 PM - NL
AT ARIZONA - SCORING UPDATE
TWO-RUN HOME RUN BY MARK REYNOLDS (2) TO CENTER WITH 2 OUT
IN THE 3RD OFF JOEL PINEIRO SCORED CHAD TRACY.
CURRENT SCORE: ST LOUIS 6, ARIZONA 4
DUE UP FOR ARIZONA: C YOUNG (.219, 0-FOR-1)
Cardinals 6, Diamondbacks 4 Bot 3, 0 OutsApr 15 4:49 PM - NL
AT ARIZONA - SCORING UPDATE
DOUBLE BY CHAD TRACY SCORED CONOR JACKSON.
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, C TRACY ON SECOND, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: ST LOUIS 6
ARIZONA 2 BOTTOM, 3RD
DUE UP FOR ARIZONA: M REYNOLDS (.280, 0-FOR-1)
Cardinals 6, Diamondbacks 2 Bot 3, 0 OutsApr 15 4:47 PM - NL
AT ARIZONA - SCORING UPDATE
DOUBLE BY CONOR JACKSON SCORED FELIPE LOPEZ.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, C JACKSON ON SECOND, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: ST LOUIS 6
ARIZONA 1 BOTTOM, 3RD
DUE UP FOR ARIZONA: S DREW (.267, 0-FOR-1)
Cardinals 6, Diamondbacks 1 Bot 3, 0 OutsApr 15 4:43 PM - NL
AT ARIZONA - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY YADIER MOLINA SCORED CHRIS DUNCAN.
SITUATION: 5 RUNS IN, Y MOLINA ON SECOND, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: ST LOUIS 6
ARIZONA 0 TOP, 3RD
DUE UP FOR ST LOUIS: J THURSTON (.450, 0-FOR-1)
Cardinals 6, Diamondbacks 0 Top 3, 0 OutsApr 15 4:33 PM - NL
AT ARIZONA - SCORING UPDATE
DOUBLE BY CHRIS DUNCAN SCORED ALBERT PUJOLS AND RYAN
LUDWICK.
SITUATION: 4 RUNS IN, C DUNCAN ON SECOND, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: ST LOUIS 5
ARIZONA 0 TOP, 3RD
DUE UP FOR ST LOUIS: K GREENE (.265, 0-FOR-1)
Cardinals 5, Diamondbacks 0 Top 3, 0 OutsApr 15 4:30 PM - NL
AT ARIZONA - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY RYAN LUDWICK SCORED COLBY RASMUS.
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, R LUDWICK ON FIRST, A PUJOLS ON SECOND, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: ST LOUIS 3
ARIZONA 0 TOP, 3RD
DUE UP FOR ST LOUIS: C DUNCAN (.310, 1-FOR-1)
Cardinals 3, Diamondbacks 0 Top 3, 0 OutsApr 15 4:28 PM - NL
AT ARIZONA - SCORING UPDATE
DOUBLE BY COLBY RASMUS SCORED JOEL PINEIRO.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, C RASMUS ON SECOND, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: ST LOUIS 2
ARIZONA 0 TOP, 3RD
DUE UP FOR ST LOUIS: A PUJOLS (.353, 0-FOR-1)
Cardinals 2, Diamondbacks 0 Top 3, 0 OutsApr 15 4:23 PM - NL
AT ARIZONA - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY YADIER MOLINA SCORED CHRIS DUNCAN.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, Y MOLINA ON FIRST, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: ST LOUIS 1
ARIZONA 0 TOP, 2ND
DUE UP FOR ST LOUIS: J THURSTON (.474, 0 HR, 5 RBI)
Cardinals 1, Diamondbacks 0 Top 2, 0 OutsApr 15 4:02 PM
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