Ryan Ludwick smacked a one-out, two-run homer in the bottom of the 11th inning to give the St. Louis Cardinals a much- needed 6-4 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in a rain-soaked opener of a three-game series.
Albert Pujols also smacked a two-run homer, while Adam Kennedy was 3-for-6 with an RBI and two runs scored. Jaime Garcia (1-1) was credited with the win for tossing a scoreless inning of relief for St. Louis, which had lost three of its previous four games.
Manny Ramirez was 2-for-3 with a pair of walks, Jeff Kent was 2-for-5 with an RBI, and Andruw Jones hit a pinch-hit solo homer for the Dodgers, who had won seven of their previous 10 games. Jason Johnson (1-1) surrendered Ludwick's homer and took the loss after recording one out in the 11th.
Two rain delays shortened each starter's outing to just five innings apiece. St. Louis' Chris Carpenter, in his first home start since Opening Day 2007, allowed just three hits, while Chad Billingsley allowed a run on six hits with six strikeouts for LA.
The game switched to extra innings after the Cardinals blew a 4-0 lead in the ninth inning. Both teams came up empty with runners in scoring position in the 10th, but Kennedy opened the home 11th with a single and Ludwick smacked a 2-1 fastball to dead-center to make the ninth-inning meltdown a distant memory.
After 4 1/2 scoreless innings, the Cards finally got to Billingsley in the home half of the fifth. Consecutive singles put runners on the corners before a rain-delay paused things for 22 minutes.
Upon the game's return, Kennedy blooped a single in front of a diving Matt Kemp in center, and the home team led, 1-0.
The game was again put on hold due to rain in the top of the sixth, this time for 43 minutes.
The Cards looked to expand the lead by loading the bases with one out in the home sixth, but only managed to plate a run when pinch-hitter Rick Ankiel was hit by a pitch.
Kennedy singled to open the seventh for St. Louis, and the Dodgers brought in Chan Ho Park to face Albert Pujols, who crushed the second pitch he saw about 10 rows deep into the left field seats.
The St. Louis bullpen kept the Dodgers off the board until the ninth, but the Achilles heel for the club reared its ugly head again. Jones hit his first home run since May 15 to begin the frame, and Ron Villone was pulled for Jason Isringhausen.
After getting Kemp to ground out, back-to-back singles by Andre Ethier and Russell Martin, plus a walk to Ramirez loaded the bases. James Loney dribbled a ball down the first-base line, and Isringhausen fielded the ball but failed to tag the runner or throw to first.
Kent followed with an RBI single, and Casey Blake hit a fly ball deep enough to left to bring in the game's trying run off Ryan Franklin.
