St. Louis came out swinging during their second game against the Florida Marlins of the series, scoring three runs in the first inning. Ryan Ludwick hit a bases-loaded double to deep left-center field to bring in Skip Schumaker, Felipe Lopez, and Albert Pujols, who ran through the coaches signals to stop all the way from first base.
That would end the productivity of St. Louis’ powerful offense.
Florida quickly responded with a run scored in the bottom of the first, followed by a three-run home run, courtesy of Hanley Ramirez, in the bottom of the second.
The game was put on hold with one out in the bottom of the fifth due to rain. An hour and 53 mintues later play resumed, as did the Cardinal’s hopes for a comeback rally.
"I was optimistic every inning that we’d score, but it didn’t work out." Manager Tony La Russa said.
Kyle Lohse threw five strikeouts on the night, but it was not enough to help the Cardinal’s hitting.
"It’d be nice to come out and put 10 on the board and make it easier for the pitching staff." Ludwick said, "Tough day, the rain delay, everything. We just couldn’t get anything going."
The game ended close to midnight without any late inning heroics by St. Louis with the score of 3-4.
