St. Louis Cardinals News

Ryan Braun hit a pair of solo home runs, Jeff Suppan pitched seven solid innings and the Milwaukee Brewers’ new closer by committee held on for a 5-3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday. With Eric Gagne out as the closer, the Brewers turned to Salomon Torres and Brian Shouse in the ninth. Torres allowed a leadoff double and a walk before giving way to Shouse with two outs.

Ryan Ludwick hit a two-run single with two outs in the ninth inning, and St. Louis’ shaky bullpen held on Saturday for a 5-3 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers that snapped the Cardinals’ season-long three-game skid. Prince Fielder hit a tying homer in the eighth for Milwaukee, and Ben Sheets set a franchise record for strikeouts with 1,086.

Jason Isringhausen is being relieved of his closing duties.

Jason Isringhausen got his wish. After blowing his major league leading fifth save on Friday night in a 4-3 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers, the Cardinals’ embattled reliever will no longer close games, manager Tony La Russa said Saturday. “He’s still prepared to pitch important innings, but for a while we’ll try to keep him out of the ninth inning,” La Russa said.

Freddy Sanchez lifted the Pittsburgh Pirates to another dramatic win with a ninth-inning RBI single. Rickie Weeks stopped Milwaukee’s six-game losing with a big hit of his own in the Brewers’ last at-bat. And Jimmy Rollins stole the spotlight from both of them with a triumphant return from the disabled list.

Rickie Weeks hit a bases loaded, two-run single with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to give Milwaukee a 4-3 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday night and snap the Brewers’ six-game losing streak. After looking lethargic most of the game, the Brewers came alive after Cardinals closer Jason Isringhausen recorded two outs on the first two pitches in the ninth.

St. Louis third baseman Troy Glaus left Friday night’s game against the Milwaukee Brewers with a bruised left triceps after the Cardinals batted in the third inning. Glaus was hit by Manny Parra’s 0-2 fastball to lead off the second inning, but remained in the game. He struck out in the third. Brendan Ryan replaced Glaus, who is hitting .223 with one homer and 21 RBIs.

Oakland seems to have a knack for letting its superstar pitchers go at exactly the right time … or maybe it’s by design.

Matt Holliday had four singles, Jorge De La Rosa scattered five hits over 5 2-3 innings and the Colorado Rockies beat the St. Louis Cardinals 9-3 Thursday to salvage a split in their four-game series. Omar Quintanilla added a career-high three hits and Garrett Atkins finished 2-for-3 with a double, triple and two RBIs for the Rockies.

Rick Ankiel’s story is not new news, but it’s still remarkable news. And it’s a major part of why the Cardinals are leading the NL Central.