| St. Louis Post-Dispatch SAN DIEGO -- Before heading up Interstate 5 early Thursday morning, the St. Louis Cardinals left an indelible impression on the going-nowhere San Diego Padres. SAVE MONEY ON TRAVEL DEALS The Cardinals hung four crooked numbers on the Petco Park scoreboard before a crowd of 21,011 in a game memorable for the havoc first baseman Albert Pujols created during a game-changing third inning. With one plate appearance and the ensuing trip around the bases, the Cardinals first baseman took out the Padres' battery with a one-handed line drive off pitcher Chris Young's face and an ordinary-looking slide that took out catcher Josh Bard's left ankle. Pujols' run of terror came within a Cardinals three-run rally that erased a 2-0 deficit and positioned starting pitcher Braden Looper (6-3) for the decision in an 11-3 win. The Cardinals pushed their lead to 6-2 with a three-run fourth inning before the Padres made it 6-3 in the fifth. Center fielder Skip Schumaker stanched a potential breakout with a diving play on the warning track for the inning's third out. Schumaker finished with four of the Cardinals' 16 hits and reached base five times. Rick Ankiel made possible a comeback even within a blowout win. The Cardinals center fielder drove in his team's final two runs with an eighth-inning pinch home run off reliever Justin Germano. Ankiel's first-ever pinch home run, and his eighth overall this season, came in his first plate appearance since straining his right shoulder last Friday against the Tampa Bay Rays. The visitors' third three-run inning started them on their way to a 9-3 lead after 5 1/2 frames. Manager Tony La Russa called upon his bullpen to work the final 12 outs one night after starter Joel Pineiro survived only 5 2/3 innings in Tuesday's 3-2 loss. Pujols, however, defined Wednesday's game in the third inning. With one out and runners at first and second, Pujols turned an outside fastball back at Young, who could not prevent the ball from smashing into his nose. The impact broke and cut open Young's nose. Gushing blood caused several players to turn away as training staff rushed to the fallen pitcher, who never lost consciousness. Pujols and Padres first baseman Adrian Gonzalez briefly prayed together before Pujols crouched only feet from where Young was treated. After being escorted from the field, Young was taken to a hospital for further examination. Young remains winless against the Cardinals in four regular season starts. His lone win over the Redbirds came during the 2006 playoffs. Pujols' hit loaded the bases for right fielder Ryan Ludwick. Ludwick's grounder scored a run and advanced two runners into scoring position. Third baseman Troy Glaus gave the Cardinals the lead and initiated a second injurious play when he singled to right field. Bard tried to block Pujols off the plate by belatedly planting his left foot. Pujols' hard slide badly rolled Bard's ankle, leaving the catcher to twist in agony as Pujols received congratulations for scoring the go-ahead run. After several minutes, Bard was helped from the field with what was classified as a left ankle sprain. Pujols' damage was confined to the third inning, but his teammates piled on for a three-run fourth and a three-run sixth. Facing submarining righthander Cla Meredith, Glaus added a third RBI in the fourth inning immediately after Ludwick plated his second and third RBIs with a two-out single. Looper did enough to break a personal two-game losing streak before leaving for a sixth-inning pinch hitter. Gonzalez reached him for a two-run home run in the first inning, briefly leaving Looper with more home runs (four) allowed than strikeouts (three) for the month. Looper then steadied, striking out five in his last three innings. Gonzalez dented him for another run with a two-out single in the fifth. The 11 runs marked the most by the Cardinals in a nine-inning game since April 18. Kyle McClellan, Ron Villone, Mike Parisi and Ryan Franklin each contributed a scoreless inning to the win.
(c) 2008, St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Visit the Post-Dispatch on the World Wide Web at http://www.stltoday.com/ Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Related News Topics:
Top sports stories
General sports briefs
Other sports news
Mixed Sports News and Releases
News of Southern California
Sports photographs
Miscellaneous sports news
Miscellaneous sports news
News of Southern California
|
