Ryan Ludwick, the former Cardinal who has received a nice applause each time he’s come to the plate quieted the crowd with a three run homer in the ninth inning as the Padres broke a 4-4 tie and beat the Cardinals 8-4 Saturday afternoon at Busch Stadium.
The Cardinals used seven relief pitchers who allowed seven runs after Jeff Suppan pitched five innings and had a 2-1 lead. San Diego scored three runs in the seventh to take a 4-2 lead, but the Cardinals tied the game up in the bottom of the inning on RBI singles from Colby Rasmus and Pedro Feliz.
In the ninth, Kyle McClellan gave up a leadoff single to 2006 World Series MVP David Eckstein and with one out walked Adrian Gonzalez. Much like Ludwick would do before Matt Holliday arrived when teams would pitch around Albert Pujols, Ludwick delivered a three run shot. Matt Stairs would then hit a solo shot to cap the scoring.