The St. Louis Cardinal extened their Busch Stadium winning streak to eight as Ryan Ludwick drove in the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth inning in leading the Cards to a 4-3 win over the Chicago Cubs in the opener of a three-game series.
Joe Thurston drive in a pair and Skip Schumaker added an RBI single for the Redbirds, who have won four straight overall to improve to an NL Central-best 12-5. Kyle McClellan tossed a scoreless inning in relief to pick up the win. Ryan Franklin notched his fifth save.
Game 2 of the seies is set for Saturday afternoon.
