Ryan Ludwick was clearly not a fan of splitting time in the Cardinal’s outfield earlier this year and has firmly entrenched himself both in the starting outfield and in the cleanup spot behind Albert Pujols with the absolute tear he has been on for the past month or so.
Ludwick was 3-4 with 3 RBI and his team-leading 12th home run last night as the Cardinals beat down the San Diego Padres 8-2. Albert Pujols is also benefitting from having that type of protection behind him as he went 3-5 with 2 RBI on 2 solo home runs, the first of which traveled over 400 feet. Cesar Izturis added to the barrage with his first homer of the year in his 2-5 effort from the 9 spot. Leadoff man Skip Shumaker was 2-6 on the day and Troy Glaus was 2-4. Todd Wellemeyer continued to queitly be one of the Cardinals’ most consistant starters, giving up only 2 runs on 6 hits over 6 innings.
The Cardinals will try to keep their 1st winning streak in a while alive tonight in San Diego as Joel Piniero (2-2, 4.46 ERA) faces the great Greg Maddux (3-4, 3.98 ERA) at 9:05pm (Central time).
