Rick Ankiel and Jason LaRue both hit two run home runs to lead the Cardinals at the plate. LaRue finished the game with a team high three rbi while Ankiel and Albert Pujols were right behind him with two rbi each. Pujols rbi’s came on a groundout and a double. Skip Schumaker, Ryan Ludwick, Troy Glaus, and starting pitcher Todd Wellemeyer all chipped in with one rbi each as well.

Wellemeyer got another victory as he pitched five innings. He improved his record to 11-4 as he gave up five hits and one run. Russ Springer, Jaime Garcia, Ryan Franklin, and Chris Perez all seen action out of the bullpen for the Cardinals.

Cardinals Baseball

Franklin took the loss and is now 3-4.  Cardinals starting pitcher Todd Wellemeyer threw the first five innings of the game while giving up five hits and two runs.  Wellemeyer had some control issues as he gave up five walks and only struck out two batters.

Rick Ankiel had a rbi single in the first inning and then Albert Pujols had a rbi sac fly in the third inning.  The Cardinals third run of the game came in the fourth inning when Wellemeyer single to deep right and Ryan Ludwick scored on an error by Corey Hart.

So now the Cardinals are four games behind the league leading Chicago Cubs and three games behind the MIlwaukee Brewers.  They need to get back on track before they find themselves down six or seven games after this weekend.  Cardinals Baseball Blog

Kyle McClellan gave up the game winning home run to Bill Hall in the top of the 9th inning and took the loss.  McClellan is now 2-5 on the season as he just hasn’t pitched that good.  Starting pitcher Kyle Lohse tossed the first seven innings of the game as he got the no decision.  Lohse allowed seven hits and three runs in the game while striking out seven batters.  It’s just too bad that Lohse and McClellan couldn’t hold the Brew Crew down to pull out the victory.

Ryan Ludwick, Yadier Molina, and Rick Ankiel all had one rbi each for the Cardinals.  Ludwick got the Cardinals scoring started in the first inning with a solo home run and then Ankiel added a rbi single to make it 2-0 after the first inning.  Molina added a rbi double in the third inning but that was all the scoring the Cardinals would get.

So will the Birds win on Wenesday as they face off against the Brewers once again?  Leave us a comment!

Cardinals Blog

Skip Schumaker had a rbi single in the 9th inning to tie the game for the Cardinals.  The other two runs for the Cardinals came in the first inning when Troy Glaus doubled and Albert Pujols and Rick Ankiel both scored.  That was it for the Cardinals at the plate as they just couldn’t push across many runs in the game.

Ryan Franklin gave up all three runs in the 11th inning to take the loss.  Franklin gave up a home run to Bill Hall as the Brewers scored their first run in the inning.  Jason Kendall then scored on a error by Aaron Miles and then J.J. Hardy singled to score Rickie Weeks.  Earlier in the game Weeks hit a three run shot off of Joel Pineiro.  Pineiro threw the first six innings but gave up ten hits and the three runs to get the no decesion.

The series is a big one but the Cards can’t get stressed out over one game.  Just come right back out there on Tuesday and try to even up the series.

Cardinals Blog

Rick Ankiel smashed a solo home run in the fifth inning and than Ryan Ludwick added a solo shot in the sixth inning for the Cardinals.  Those two runs were their only runs for the game.  It was a good thing that the offense threw the ball as well as they did.

Joel Pineiro tossed the first 6 1/3 innings of the game to get the win.  Pineiro improved his season record to 3-4.  Pineiro allowed five hits but zero runs while walking three and striking out three.  Ron Villone recorded the final two outs of the seventh inning after Pineiro left the game.  Kyle McClellan tossed the eighth inning without allowing a hit and then Ryan Franklin closed out the game in the ninth inning to record his 12th save of the season.

It was a huge win for the Cardinals as they try to keep pace with the Chicago Cubs.  I have to wonder if the Cardinals will try to make a big move after the Brewers traded for CC Sabathia and the Cubs just traded for Rich Harden.  What will the Cardinals do?

Cardinals Blog

Aaron Miles and Skip Schumaker both singled to set the table for the Cardinals in the top of the first, Schumaker would score on Rick Ankiel‘s single to center.  Also in the first, Troy Glaus hit his 12^th homerun of the season to give the Cardinals a 4-0 lead.  The game was stopped for rain in the third and play resumed 47 minute later.  Martinez did return to the mound; but seemed to be pitching better and more aggressively than he did in early innings.  After the runs he gave up in the first, the only other run he allowed was homer to Rick Ankiel, giving the Cardinals a 5-4 lead in the fifth inning.

Joel Pineiro started the game for the Cardinals.  He pitched 5 innings, giving up four runs on 11 hits, while striking out four and walking just one.  The Cardinal’s bullpen had some trouble as Kyle McClellan gave up one earned run in 1 2/3 innings of relief.  Mark Mulder allowed an inherited run to score as well as two earned runs in his 1/3 inning of work.  However, Springer, Perez and Franklin kept the Mets in check with Ryan Franklin getting the win. After the Mets took the lead 7-5 in the top of the seventh, Aaron Heilman entered the game in the bottom of the eighth and hit Ryan Ludwick with a pitch, Pedro Feliciano would come into the game and threw just one pitch to Chris Duncan that he sent over the fence in right field to tie the game at 7.  In the bottom of the ninth, it was Troy Glaus‘s walk off homer that won the game for the Cardinals 8-7.

First pitch is scheduled for 8:15 p.m.  Mitchell Boggs will pitch for the Cardinals and the Mets will counter with Mike Pelfrey

Cardinals Blog

The Cardinals scored in the bottom of the first, Aaron Miles doubled to lead off the inning and then Rick Ankiel long homerun to.  In the second inning, Yadier Molina lead off the inning with a single to center, he would advance to second on a sac bunt by the pitcher, and score on a double by Skip Schumaker.  Down 7-3 in the sixth inning the Cardinals looked as if they might start a rally; Troy Glaus doubled to lead off the inning, and would take third a single to right by Chris Duncan.  Glaus would score on a sac fly by Molina that was caught by Ryan Church in foul territory.  However, pitcher Brad Thompson popped up a bunt attempt,why they didn’t use a pinch hitter there is beyond me, but worked out for the Mets, as Brendan Ryan popped to second to end the innings. 

Todd Wellemeyer did not have his good stuff.  In his five innings of work, he gave up 12 hits, 6 earned runs, while walking two and striking out two.  Brad Thompson pitched four innings in relief allowing two hits, and homerun to David Wright.

First pitch is scheduled for 8:05 p.m.  Joel Pineiro will pitch for the Cards and the Mets will have Pedro Martinez on the mound.   

Cardinals Blog

Kyle Lohse got his 10^th win of the season.  He pitched well against the Mets, holding them scoreless through five.  He allowed only one run off five hits in seven innings of work.  He walked two, and struck out four. 

The Cardinal’s offense took advantage of John Maine early, scoring in each of the first five innings.  The Mets made three errors in the game and the Cardinals took advantage, scoring two runs on errors. 

Skip Schumaker walked to lead off the first, he advanced to third on a single to right by Aaron Miles.  Schumaker would score, and Miles would take second on a single to right by Albert Pujols.  Miles would score, but Troy Glaus did not get credit for an RBI because he hit into a double play.  The Cardinals scored again in the second, Yadier Molina lead off the inning with a single to right, he advanced to second on a ground out by Brenden Ryan and would score on a fielding error by Luis Castillo.  The Cardinals tacked another run in the third when Rick Ankiel singled to lead off the inning and came around to score on a one out double by Troy Glaus.  In the fourth inning, with two out, Aaron Miles hit a single to third baseman David Wright, and took second on Wright’s throwing error.  Miles would score on a single by Pujols.  In the fifth inning, with John Maine out of the game and Carlos Muniz on the mound, Glaus was hit by a pitch to lead of the inning and would score when Chris Duncan hit his fifth homer of the season. 

 Tuesday night’s game is scheduled for an 8:05 p.m. start.  Todd Wellemeyer will be on the mound for the Cardinals and Tony Armas will make his for start for the Mets.

Cardinals Blog

Kyle McClellan gave up the game winning hit to Gary Sheffield in the bottom of the ninth inning and took the loss.  McClellan is now 0-3 on the season.  Jason Isringhausen and Randy Flores were both charged with giving up runs as well.  Cardinals starting pitcher Kyle Lohse pitched the first four innings of the game and gave up 11 hits and five runs.  Chris Perez pitched the fift and sixth inning and did a very good job.

Rick Ankiel belted two home runs to lead the Cardinals at the plate with three rbi.  Ankiel now has 14 home runs on the season and 35 rbi.  Skip Schumaker also added a solo home run for the Cardinals.  Aaron Miles and Yadier Molina both contributed with one rbi each.

In the end, the bullpen let the team down and that was the reason they lost this game.  The Cardinals and Tigers will turn right back around and play again Thursday as Todd Wellemeyer will take the mound for the Cardinals.

Cardinals Home Plate

Our offense was also superb, scoring 10 runs on 10 hits and drawing 8 walks.  It’s nice to see our LOB numbers finally coming down after it seemed like we were leaving 10+ men on base every game for the first two months of the season.  Our lineup has gotten especially good at drawing walks this year. Kudos to Hal McRae.  The Cardinals lead the majors with 392 walks, and are 26th in the majors in strikeouts!  Hal McRae does a great job of getting hitters to see the zone.

Rick Ankiel(10), Ryan Ludwick(16) and Jason LaRue(1) all hit dingers, this being the second game in a row for both Ankiel and Ludwick.  Ankiel’s three-run shot in the first lifted the weight off of Looper’s shoulders allowing him to get into the groove for the rest of the game.

Obviously the performance of the game was Looper.  After seeing three of our starters and Albert hit the DL, a game like this is just what the team needed.  If our interim starters and offense continue to perform we should be in great shape while Wainwright and Pujols recover from their injuries.

The cardinals improved their record to 40-27, 13 games over .500 and just 2.5 games behind the Cubs.  We keep winning games but the Cubbies just seem to be unbeatable lately.  This many games into the season last year, the Cardinals were 30-37.

Joel Piniero makes his first start since coming off the DL Thursday night to pitch against Bronson Arroyo.  Hopefully we can head home fresh off a sweep of the Reds. Remember to vote your Cardinals into the All-Star Game!!!!!!

Cardinals Blog