By David Cotey
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer
MILWAUKEE (Ticker) -- Ryan Ludwick's kept the St. Louis
Cardinals from their second straight late-inning collapse.
Ludwick's two-run single in the top of the ninth inning off Eric
Gagne gave St. Louis a 5-3 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on
Saturday at Miller Park.
The Cardinals, who snapped a three-game losing streak, blew a
3-0 lead Friday against the Brewers and lost, 4-3, on Rickie
Weeks' walk-off two-run single.
"Any time you come back the next day after they get you, to have
some clutch hitting like that, it's a big high," Ludwick said.
Gagne (1-2) gave up back-to-back singles to Brendan Ryan and
Skip Schumaker to lead off the ninth. After a groundout and an
intentional walk to Albert Pujols to load the bases, Rick Ankiel
fouled out before Ludwick delivered a two-run hit to left field
to snap a 3-3 tie.
"I love that situation," Ludwick said. "I've been blessed with
that opportunity a lot since I've been here and I've been
fortunate enough to come through in a lot of those situations.
That's what baseball is all about, being in that moment. I feel
more relaxed in that situation than any other, actually."
Ryan Franklin, who has assumed part-time closer duties with
Jason Isringhausen receiving a temporary break from the role,
gave up one hit in the ninth for his second save.
"I just treat it like the eighth inning," Franklin said. "I
just have to get three outs. It doesn't matter to me what
inning (manager Tony La Russa) puts me out there.
"Hopefully, we can handle the ninth inning until (Isringhausen)
is back. He just needs to work through a few things and he'll
be back before we know it."
La Russa was non-committal to Franklin as the closer, saying he
will call on various relievers depending on late-inning
matchups.
"We're going to play the game as it goes," La Russa said. "No
matter what inning he pitches, he's got the weapons to get the
outs."
Meanwhile, Gagne, who signed a one-year, $10 million deal in the
offseason, continues to struggle. He has a 6.89 ERA in 17
appearances this season, including five blown saves.
"I'll keep going out there and keep fighting, but it's
embarrassing," Gagne said. "It's not discouraging, it's just
embarrassing. I know what I'm supposed to do, I know what I'm
capable of doing and I'm not doing it. I've got to get people
out and I'm not doing it. I don't deserve the ninth inning
right now."
Brewers manager Ned Yost did not follow La Russa's lead and
remained committed to Gagne - at least for the time being.
"Gagne's my closer right now, but I don't make decisions after a
tough ballgame," Yost said. "I take a long time to analyze
things."
Prince Fielder's home run off reliever Ron Villone to lead off
the bottom of the eighth inning tied the score at 3-3.
The Cardinals dodged a major bullet later in the eighth. With
the bases loaded and one out, Bill Hall took off for home from
third base as reliever Russ Springer (1-0) delivered a pitch to
Jason Kendall.
Kendall, however, did not swing or bunt and Hall was caught in a
rundown. Kendall then grounded out to end the inning.
"I missed a sign," Kendall said. "You can't do that. It's
unacceptable. I cost us the game. Tomorrow's a new day, but I
screwed up."
Cardinals starter Joel Pineiro cruised through six innings, at
one point retiring 10 straight batters before loading the bases
with one out the seventh inning. Reliever Kyle McClellan
replaced him and forced in two runs with bases-loaded walks
before getting Ryan Braun - who had three hits - to fly out.
Brewers starter Ben Sheets struck out six and became the
franchise leader in the category with 1,086, surpassing Teddy
Higuera (1,081), as the Brewers lost for the seventh time in
eight games.
Chris Duncan, who entered the game 7-for-12 with a .583 batting
average and two home runs lifetime against Sheets, belted a
two-run home run in the fourth that gave the Cardinals a 3-0
lead.
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