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The Leading Logic In Sports Handicapping |
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ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- Rick Ankiel gave a record-setting crowd at
Busch Stadium plenty to cheer about.
Ankiel homered and hit a walk-off, two-run single to lift the
St. Louis Cardinals to a 5-4 triumph over the Chicago Cubs on
Saturday before 46,865.
The clutch hit by Ankiel came with two outs in the ninth after
Kerry Wood surrendered an RBI double to Adam Kennedy to cut the
Cardinals' deficit to 4-3.
"Just getting up there with the bases loaded and Kerry Wood is
tough. He throws so hard and I was just looking for a pitch that
I could drive up the middle," Ankiel said. "Unbelievable. Big
series for us, big game. To come back like that is a lot of
fun. I'm just glad we came out on top. It's a big motivator
for us, and hopefully we can come back tomorrow and win the
series."
Wood (4-2), whose last blown save came on May 24 against the
Pittsburgh Pirates, walked Ryan Ludwick and Yadier Molina to
lead off the ninth before Kennedy's hit. After an intentional
walk to Chris Duncan loaded the bases, Wood got two outs before
Ankiel stepped in.
"You get the first guy on, it never works out well usually,"
Wood said. "I made some pretty good pitches after that to give
us a chance to get out of it and just hung a slider in and
that's it. We were one pitch away from getting out of it. It
seems to always be the case when you're in that role."
Wood has now blown five saves in 27 chances in his first season
as the full-time closer.
"He almost worked himself out of it," Cubs manager Lou Piniella
said. "You walk the first two hitters of an inning, you get
yourself in trouble right from the get-go. We weren't sure if
Kennedy was going to bunt or not bunt and he hits the ball by
the first baseman and the two-out hit by Ankiel. It was a tough
loss."
In the eighth, Aramis Ramirez snapped an 0-for-28 slump with a
two-run homer - his 15th of the season - to take a 4-2 lead
against Cardinals reliever Ryan Franklin, erasing seven solid
innings by starter Kyle Lohse.
"It was a big home run for us," Chicago's Derrek Lee said of
Ramirez. "It gave us a two-run lead. Aramis is going to be
fine. We're never really worried about Aramis. He's too good
of a hitter and it's not like he's been swinging the bat that
bad. He just hasn't got any hits. He's still dangerous in that
situation."
Kyle McClellan (1-3) relieved Franklin and threw two scoreless
innings to pick up his first major league win.
"It was a whole team effort," McClellan said. "I think it
showed that we were down but didn't give up. The last inning
was just unbelievable. We were down that whole game and for us
to come back, it shows a lot about the character of this team."
Chicago starter Ted Lilly cruised through five scoreless innings
before allowing two runs in the sixth. Ankiel connected on his
18th home run of the season and Ludwick hit an RBI double to tie
the score.
Lilly, who was unbeaten in his five previous starts, has given
up just six runs in his last four starts on the road.
Mark DeRosa smacked a solo shot in the third and Ryan Theriot
singled home DeRosa in the fifth to give the Cubs a 2-0 lead -
the only runs off Lohse.
Lohse tossed seven innings for the second straight start and
allowed just six hits. He struck out six and walked two.
"I think you have to give a lot of credit to Lohse," Cardinals
manager Tony La Russa said. "Talking about guys that are
improving, he's improving."
The win brought the Cardinals (50-39) to within 2 1/2 games of
the first-place Cubs (52-36) in the National League Central.
"I think we've played well for three
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