Mark Grudzielanek became the first St. Louis Cardinal to hit for the cycle since John Mabry did it in 1996 and led the Redbirds to a 6-3 win over the Brewers at Busch Stadium on Wednesday afternoon. Grudzielanek got the Cardinals on the board with a solo home run in the sixth inning to make it 1-0.
Grudzielanek singled and scored in the second inning thanks to an RBI single from Albert Pujols. In the fourth, Grudzielanek drove in a run with a ground rule double, to give St. Louis a 3-0 advantage. Then in the sixth inning, he conquered the tallest order by blasting a triple to right field. Jim Edmonds eventually drove him in with a single.
After all was said and done, Grudzielanek finished 4-for-5 with two RBI’s and a three runs to go with his cycle. His performance over-shadowed what Chris Carpenter was doing on the mound. The Cardinals’ starter celebrated his 30th birthday by striking out 12 batters en route to his fourth win of the season. Carpenter gave up eight hits and no walks in the victory. Julian Tavarez worked around a base hit in the ninth to record the save.
The Cardinals put reliever Jason Isringhausen on the 15-day disabled list on Wednesday. He left Tuesday’s game with a muscle strain on his right side.
