Pujols, five-run eighth push Cards past Brewers

Jul 29, 2007, 22:15 GMT

St. Louis, MO - Albert Pujols was 2-for-4 and knocked in three runs as the St. Louis Cardinals scored five times in the eighth to defeat the Milwaukee Brewers, 9-5, taking three of four in the series at Busch Stadium.

Ryan Ludwick drove in a pair of runs and David Eckstein had three hits, two runs scored and an RBI as the Cards have won three straight and four of their last five.

Ryan Franklin (4-0) picked up the win, allowing one hit in 1 2/3 frames of relief. Starter Kip Wells went five innings, giving up five runs on 11 hits. The right-hander struck out seven and walked two.

Johnny Estrada went 3-for-4 with two RBI and Ryan Braun had a pair of hits with an RBI for Milwaukee, which has dropped three in a row and six of its last eight games

Derrick Turnbow (2-4) was saddled with the loss and the blown save, charged with four hits and four runs in just one-third of an inning. Milwaukee starter Yovani Gallardo allowed four runs on four hits, while striking out seven and walking a pair over five innings. He also drove in a pair of runs with a base hit.

With the Brewers leading 5-4 in the eighth, the Cardinals bats came alive. Turnbow started the inning for the Brewers and gave up singles to Skip Schumaker and Yadier Molina to leadoff the frame. After Adam Kennedy went down on strikes, Scott Rolen singled up the middle to tie the game at 5-5. Eckstein followed with a base hit to load the bases and the Brewers again turned to their bullpen, this time bringing in Carlos Villanueva, who gave up a walk to Ludwick to force in a run and then served up a three-run double to Pujols to put St. Louis ahead 9-5.

Jason Isringhausen came in for the ninth and retired the Brewers in order to secure the win.

'That's a classic win today,' Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. 'It inspires everyone. We had some big at bats and took advantage of them. All you can do is compete and we did that today.'

After both teams failed to score in the early stages of the game, the Brewers put three on the board in the third. Corey Hart led off the frame with a walk and J.J. Hardy singled, putting runners on the corners with nobody out. Braun followed with an RBI single to left, scoring Hart. After Prince Fielder and Bill Hall struck out, Geoff Jenkins' infield single loaded the bases for Johnny Estrada, who lined a single to center, plating two more and giving the Brewers a 3-0 lead.

Milwaukee tacked on another pair of runs in the top of the fifth to up its lead to 5-0 when Gallardo lined a two-run single center.

St. Louis got four runs back in the bottom of the frame. With the bases loaded and nobody out, pinch-hitter Juan Encarnacion's ground out plated a run to get the Cards on the board. St. Louis got three more on a run-scoring double by Eckstein, a passed ball and RBI ground out by Ludwick to narrow its deficit to 5-4.

Game Notes

Attendance was 44,854...Prior to today's contest, the Cardinals activated infielder Scott Spiezio from the 15-day DL and optioned pitcher Brian Fallen to Triple-A Memphis...Rolen picked up his 1,000th career RBI with his game-tying eighth-inning single...The Cardinals bullpen has thrown 14 shutout innings in the last three games...St. Louis will travel to Pittsburgh to begin a three-game series versus the Pirates on Tuesday, while Milwaukee will host the New York Mets in a three-game set also starting Tuesday.

© 2007 The Sports Network

Game Notes

.