ST. LOUIS - A blustery day at Busch Stadium made the ballpark seem a whole lot smaller. In the end, the wind was blowing the St. Louis Cardinals' way.
Ryan Ludwick got plenty of carry on his game-winning drive off Dan Wheeler in the 10th inning of the St. Louis Cardinals' 9-8 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday.
"I'm sitting on slider, he threw it and I hit it kind of straight up in the air," Ludwick said. "But I knew the wind was blowing out pretty good, and I got lucky.
"It got out of the ballpark and thank goodness, it's a 'W.' "
Center fielder B.J. Upton might have jammed his shoulder at the wall, grabbing it after coming down emptyhanded, but Manager Joe Maddon said he was OK.
"It was the first question I asked him, and he said he was fine," Maddon said.
Carlos Pena's three-run shot in the seventh inning on a ball to center that seemed destined for the warning track helped the erase the Rays' four-run deficit.
Ludwick also homered in the fourth and drew a bases-loaded walk and Albert Pujols homered with two RBI a day after his 42-game streak of reaching base ended, helping the Cardinals win for only the third time in 11 games. The AL East-leading Rays lost for just the second time in 10 games.
ATHLETICS 5, BRAVES 4
In Atlanta, Jack Cust hit a home run and Ryan Sweeney added a three-run shot, and Oakland held on to beat Atlanta. Rich Harden (2-0) pitched seven strong innings in ending Atlanta's eight-game home winning streak.
BLUE JAYS 6, PHILLIES 3
Rod Barajas hit two home runs, including a grand slam, A.J. Burnett (North Little Rock) pitched 6 1 /3 impressive innings and visiting Toronto beat Philadelphia. Burnett (4-4) allowed two runs and four hits, striking out eight.
DODGERS 6, ANGELS 3
In Los Angeles, BlakeDeWitt hit a two-run home run in the second inning to put the Dodgers ahead to stay, and they went on to hand Ervin Santana his first loss of the season.
MARLINS 7, ROYALS 3
In Miami, Wes Helms hit a three-run, pinch-hit home run and Mike Jacobsadded a two-run shot in the seventh inning, helping Florida beat Kansas City.
METS 7, YANKEES 4
Johan Santana (5-2) pitched into the eighth inning and the Mets got home runs from Jose Reyes and David Wright to top the host Yankees in the opener of a rain-shortened Subway Series. Billy Wagner got four outs for his ninth save in nine chances.
ORIOLES 6, NATIONALS 5
Nick Markakis hit a home run and drove in three runs, Brian Burres (4-4) pitched four-hit ball into the seventh inning and Baltimore held on to beat visiting Washington.
RANGERS 6, ASTROS 2
Milton Bradley and Marlon Byrd hit two-run home runs early and Texas clinched their seventh consecutive series by beating visiting Houston. Bradley homered in the first and Byrd followed an inning later to make it 4-1 against Roy Oswalt (4-4). Vicente Padilla (6-2) matched his victory total from last season.
REDS 4, INDIANS 2
In Cincinnati, Adam Dunn hit a three-run home run in the ninth off Masa Kobayashi (2-1), rallying Cincinnati to its season-high fifth consecutive victory.
RED SOX 5-7, BREWERS 3-6
In Boston, Mike Lowell hit a two-run home run and doubled in a pair of runs, and the Red Sox defeated Milwaukee to complete a sweep of their day-night doubleheader. In the opener, Daisuke Matsuzaka held Milwaukee to a pairof unearned runs pitching into the seventh inning, and David Ortiz.
ROCKIES 3, TWINS 2
Ryan Spilborghs hit a tiebreaking single in the eighth inning and Colorado overcame Livan Hernandez's strong outing to end a six-game losing streak with a 3-2 victory over visiting Minnesota.
TIGERS 3, DIAMONDBACKS 2
In Phoenix, Carlos Guillen hit a two-run single and Matt Joyce hit a home run to lead visiting Detroit to a victory over Arizona.
WHITE SOX 3, GIANTS 1
In San Francisco, Mark Buerhle won the matchup of struggling starters, pitching into the seventh inning to lead Chicago to a 3-1 victory over the Giants. Buerhle (2-5) ended a five-game losing streak by allowing one run on seven hits in 6 2 /3 innings.
National League PIRATES 7, CUBS 6 In Chicago, Nate McLouth hit a tie-breaking two-run home run off Carlos Marmol (1-1) in the ninth to lift Pittsburgh to a victory over Chicago even though Alfonso Soriano hit two home runs for the second consecutive day. The Pirates had lost 10 consecutive games to the Cubs and were 0-7 against them this year before McLouth came through with the big hit.
Saturday's games NATIONAL LEAGUE Pittsburgh 7, Chicago Cubs 6 INTERLEAGUE NY Mets 7, NY Yankees 4 St. Louis 9, Tampa Bay 8, 10 innings Boston 5-7, Milwaukee 3-6 Cincinnati 4, Cleveland 2 LA Dodgers 6, LA Angels 3 Texas 6, Houston 2 Toronto 6, Philadelphia 3 Baltimore 6, Washington 5 Oakland 5, Atlanta 4 Florida 7, Kansas City 3 Colorado 3, Minnesota 2 Detroit 3, Arizona 2 Chicago White Sox 3, San Francisco 1 San Diego at Seattle, (n)
Sports, Pages 37 on 05/18/2008