St. Louis Cardinals Baseball Blog » Ryan Ludwick http://www.cardinalshomeplate.com A blog about St. Louis Cardinals Baseball Fri, 30 Jul 2010 12:01:25 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 Pineiro and the Cardinals eliminate the Diamondbacks http://www.cardinalshomeplate.com/pineiro-and-the-cardinals-eliminate-the-diamondbacks/ http://www.cardinalshomeplate.com/pineiro-and-the-cardinals-eliminate-the-diamondbacks/#comments Thu, 25 Sep 2008 21:52:57 +0000 HotStoveCardinals http://www.cardinalshomeplate.com/?p=73 The St. Louis Cardinals played the spoilers role on Thursday afternoon as they eliminated the Arizona Diamondbacks from the playoff race. The Cardinals hammered the D-backs by the score of 12-3 as Joel Pineiro and Albert Pujols both had huge days.

Pineiro improved his record to 7-7 as he tossed seven innings to pick up the win. Joel gave up three hits and three runs in the game. Adam Dunn took him deep for a solo home run and then he gave up a two-run single to Mark Reynolds but that was all the offense that the D-backs would get. Josh Kinney and Carlos Perez each tossed one inning of relief and held the D-backs scoreless during those two innings.

Pujols led the team at the plate as he went 3 for 3 wth a three run home run and a rbi sac fly to finish the game with four rbi. Ryan Ludwick also hit a solo home run and finished with two rbi. Felipe Lopez and Jason LaRue both had two rbi in the game as well. To finish out the scoring for the Cardinals, Cesar Izturis and Aaron Miles both had one rbi each.

The Cardinals will now play their final series of the 2008 season against the Cincinnati Reds. Friday and Saturday will be night games and then the season finale will be Sunday afternoon. Do your best to get out to the park one last time this season and catch the Cardinals play if you can.

Cardinals Blog

]]> http://www.cardinalshomeplate.com/pineiro-and-the-cardinals-eliminate-the-diamondbacks/feed/ 0 Cardinals lose a tough one to the Cubs http://www.cardinalshomeplate.com/cardinals-lose-a-tough-one-to-the-cubs/ http://www.cardinalshomeplate.com/cardinals-lose-a-tough-one-to-the-cubs/#comments Thu, 11 Sep 2008 14:07:09 +0000 HotStoveCardinals http://www.cardinalshomeplate.com/?p=71 The St. Louis Cardinals lost a tough game on Wednesday night to the visiting Chicago Cubs. Two errors really hurt the Cardinals and the cubs took advantage of the errors to win by the score of 4-3. The cardinals really needed to win this game as they come down to the last few weeks of baseball.

The cardinals gave up all four runs that the cubs scored in the second inning. Felipe Lopez sure didn’t help things out as he committed two errors in the inning. Braden Looper ended up taking the loss and is now 12-12 on the year. He tossed the ball a lot better then the outcome was.

The Cardinals made things interesting in the bottom of the ninth when Ryan Ludwick hit a two-run home run off of Cubs closer Kerry Wood. That brought the cards to within one run but then Aaron Miles struck out looking and Josh Phelps flew out to center field to end the game.

The cardinals can still win the three game series if they can beat Rich Harden and the cubs on Thursday night.

Cardinals Blog

]]> http://www.cardinalshomeplate.com/cardinals-lose-a-tough-one-to-the-cubs/feed/ 0 Cardinals rally to beat the Brewers 5-3 http://www.cardinalshomeplate.com/cardinals-rally-to-beat-the-brewers-5-3/ http://www.cardinalshomeplate.com/cardinals-rally-to-beat-the-brewers-5-3/#comments Thu, 28 Aug 2008 14:55:23 +0000 HotStoveCardinals http://www.cardinalshomeplate.com/?p=68 The St. Louis Cardinals picked up a must win on Wednesday night when they rallied with four runs in the eighth inning and defeated the Milwaukee Brewers 5-3. The win was crucial for the Cardinals as they are now 3.5 games behind the Brewers for the wild card position.

Ryan Ludwick had a solo home run and a rbi double to lead the Cardinals with two rbi. The dramatic eighth inning saw Ludwick get this started with the rbi double which was then followed by a rbi single from Troy Glaus. Glaus then came around to score on an Aaron Miles fielders choice to shortstop. To add a little insurance, Felipe Lopez singled to center field and Miles came around to score the fifth and final run for the Cardinals.

On the mound it was Ryan Franklin getting the win as he pitched the eighth inning. Franklin is now 5-5 on the year. Chris Perez pitched the ninth inning and earned his sixth save of the season. Cardinals starting pitcher, Adam Wainwright tossed six innings and gave up eight hits and three runs to get the no decision.

The Cardinals are now off on Thursday and will start up a weekend series with the Houston Astros on Friday.

Cardinals Blog

]]> http://www.cardinalshomeplate.com/cardinals-rally-to-beat-the-brewers-5-3/feed/ 0 Cardinals pound the Pirates 11-2 http://www.cardinalshomeplate.com/cardinals-pound-the-pirates-11-2/ http://www.cardinalshomeplate.com/cardinals-pound-the-pirates-11-2/#comments Thu, 21 Aug 2008 13:09:40 +0000 HotStoveCardinals http://www.cardinalshomeplate.com/?p=67 The St. Louis Cardinals finished up a two game series with the Pittsburgh Pirates in old fashioned butt kicking style. The Cardinals evened the short series with an 11-2 victory on Wednesday night when they scored in five out out of the eight innings that they batted in. The win was big for the Cardinals as the Cubs lost and they are now 7.5 games out in the division.

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

]]> http://www.cardinalshomeplate.com/cardinals-pound-the-pirates-11-2/feed/ 1 Wellemeyer throws a gem as Cardinals shutout the Marlins 3-0 http://www.cardinalshomeplate.com/wellemeyer-throws-a-gem-as-cardinals-shutout-the-marlins-3-0/ http://www.cardinalshomeplate.com/wellemeyer-throws-a-gem-as-cardinals-shutout-the-marlins-3-0/#comments Fri, 15 Aug 2008 01:51:25 +0000 HotStoveCardinals http://www.cardinalshomeplate.com/?p=66 Todd Wellemeyer tossed a great game as the St. Louis Cardinals shutout the Florida Marlins on Thursday night by the score of 3-0. It was a big win for the Cardinals as the Brewers lost and the Cubs won. With the victory they also took three out of four games against the Marlins which is always nice to do.

Wellemeyer didn’t give the fish many opportunities to knock in any runs as he limited them to only three hits in 7 2/3 innings. Todd is now 10-4 on the season after getting the victory. Ryan Franklin pitched the ninth inning and gave up one hit before picking up ithe save.

Ryan Ludwick had all three rbi for the Cards as he had a rbi double that scored Cesar Izturis and then a two run home run that also scored Izturis. Ludwick now has 30 home runs on the season and 90 rbi.

The Cards will now fly to Cincinnati to play a weekend series with the Reds. I expect the Cardinals to have a lot of success against the struggling Reds.

Cardinals Baseball Blog

]]> http://www.cardinalshomeplate.com/wellemeyer-throws-a-gem-as-cardinals-shutout-the-marlins-3-0/feed/ 0 Cardinals beat the Braves once again http://www.cardinalshomeplate.com/cardinals-beat-the-braves-once-again/ http://www.cardinalshomeplate.com/cardinals-beat-the-braves-once-again/#comments Thu, 31 Jul 2008 02:30:32 +0000 HotStoveCardinals http://www.cardinalshomeplate.com/?p=64 The St. Louis Cardinals continue to play good baseball as they beat the Atlanta Braves for the third straight game.  On Wednesday night it was a 7-2 victory for the Cardinals and they have now won the first three games of the four game series against the Braves.

Chris Carpenter made is return and pitched the first four innings for the Red Birds.  Carpenter allowed five hits and one run before being taken out of the game.  Brad Thompson then tossed the next 2 2/3 innings and gave up three hits and one run.  After that, Russ Springer, Kyle McClellan, and Ron Villone finished things up without giving up a run.

Joe Mather led the Cards at the plate with two rbi with came on a two run home run in the eighth inning.  Cesar Izturis, Adam Kennedy, Ryan Ludwick, Troy Glaus, and Albert Pujols all added a rbi in the game as well.

The Cardinals will now be going for the four game sweep against the Braves on Thursday.  I will not be around to blog about it however as I will be out of town until August 12 as I attend a conference out of town.  If there is possibly a Cardinals fan out there that would like to give a try at blogging and writing some game recaps please email by clicking the contact us link at the top!

Thanks

]]> http://www.cardinalshomeplate.com/cardinals-beat-the-braves-once-again/feed/ 0 Ryan Franklin gives up two run home run and Cardinals lose 4-3 http://www.cardinalshomeplate.com/ryan-franklin-gives-up-two-run-home-run-and-cardinals-lose-4-3/ http://www.cardinalshomeplate.com/ryan-franklin-gives-up-two-run-home-run-and-cardinals-lose-4-3/#comments Fri, 25 Jul 2008 15:56:01 +0000 HotStoveCardinals http://www.cardinalshomeplate.com/?p=62 Ryan Franklin once again gave up a home run in the 9th inning and the St. Louis Cardinals lost.  On Thursday night, Ryan Braun hit a two run home run to put the Brewers up by one and they went on to beat the Cardinals 4-3.  The Cardinals were swept in the four game series against the Brewers.  It was definitely not the way the Cards wanted to play that is for sure.

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

]]> http://www.cardinalshomeplate.com/ryan-franklin-gives-up-two-run-home-run-and-cardinals-lose-4-3/feed/ 1 Cardinals blow late lead and lose to the Brewers 4-3 http://www.cardinalshomeplate.com/cardinals-blow-late-lead-and-lose-to-the-brewers-4-3/ http://www.cardinalshomeplate.com/cardinals-blow-late-lead-and-lose-to-the-brewers-4-3/#comments Wed, 23 Jul 2008 03:14:46 +0000 HotStoveCardinals http://www.cardinalshomeplate.com/?p=60 The St. Louis Cardinals lost to the Chicago Cubs for the second straight night as they lost 4-3 on Tuesday night.  Once again the game came right down to the end and once again the Cards were on the losing end of the game.  Not the way the Cardinals were hoping to play especially at home in such a big series.

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

]]> http://www.cardinalshomeplate.com/cardinals-blow-late-lead-and-lose-to-the-brewers-4-3/feed/ 0 Cardinals get by the Phillies 2-0 http://www.cardinalshomeplate.com/cardinals-get-by-the-phillies-2-0/ http://www.cardinalshomeplate.com/cardinals-get-by-the-phillies-2-0/#comments Wed, 09 Jul 2008 01:31:37 +0000 HotStoveCardinals http://www.cardinalshomeplate.com/cardinals-get-by-the-phillies-2-0/ The St. Louis Cardinals kicked off their three game series with the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday evening with a 2-0 win.  It was a very good quality win for the Cardinals as they shut out the potent Phillies offense to improve to 51-40 on the season.

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

]]> http://www.cardinalshomeplate.com/cardinals-get-by-the-phillies-2-0/feed/ 0 Looper Pitches First Career Shutout as Cards Top Reds 10-0 http://www.cardinalshomeplate.com/looper-pitches-first-career-shutout-as-cards-top-reds-10-0/ http://www.cardinalshomeplate.com/looper-pitches-first-career-shutout-as-cards-top-reds-10-0/#comments Thu, 12 Jun 2008 22:50:20 +0000 Robert.Cards http://www.cardinalshomeplate.com/looper-pitches-first-career-shutout-as-cards-top-reds-10-0/ Braden Looper pitched a gem giving up only 3 hits and NO walks on 98 pitches in Wednesday night’s game at the Great American Ballpark.  His performance was definitely something Cardinal fans needed after seeing our star, Albert Pujols, headed to the DL for at least three weeks.  This was Looper’s first shutout in his 44 career starts.  His start last night has definitely shown baseball fans that he has officially made the transition as a true middle of the rotation starter after spending the his first nine seasons in the bullpen as a reliever.  His ERA dropped from 4.86 to 4.34, improving his record to 8-5, being the first Cardinal this year to reach the 8 win mark.

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

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