Ryan's 3-run homer lifts Cards over D-backs 5-2

[June 12, 2010]  PHOENIX (AP) -- Brendan Ryan hit a three-run home run in the seventh inning and the St. Louis Cardinals snapped a four-game losing streak with a 5-2 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night.

Ryan's drive ruined an otherwise good pitching performance from Arizona's Rodrigo Lopez, who retired 16 straight batters until he allowed back-to-back singles in the seventh. Ryan homered on the first pitch he saw from Lopez with two outs in the inning.

St. Louis scored twice in the second inning off Lopez (2-5) with doubles from Matt Holliday and Skip Schumaker. Schumaker took third on the first of three Diamondbacks errors in the game, an errant pick-off attempt by Lopez that caught second baseman Kelly Johnson off guard and bounced into center field.

Yadier Molina singled to drive in Schumaker for the Cardinals' second run.

That was all starter Jaime Garcia (6-2) needed. The rookie left-hander allowed one run on four hits in five innings, lowering his ERA to 1.49.

Garcia got into a bases-loaded jam in the fourth thanks to an error and two walks, but he got Lopez to ground out to end the threat.

In the fifth, after a Conor Jackson double and with two out, manager Tony LaRussa elected to intentionally walk Arizona's Mark Reynolds to put runners on first and second. Reynolds entered the game batting .212 and was second on the team in strikeouts.

The next batter, Adam LaRoche, made the Cardinals pay when he laced a double to right field to drive in Jackson.

LaRoche drove in another run with a seventh-inning single.

The Diamondbacks loaded the bases with two outs in the ninth, but could not cash in. They stranded a season-high 16 runners.

NOTES: LaRussa said right-hander Jeff Suppan, recently released by the Milwaukee Brewers, was to join St. Louis in Arizona late Friday night. Suppan, who helped the Cardinals win the 2006 World Series, will likely join the team's battered starting rotation. ... Diamondbacks pitcher Kris Benson, on the 15-day disabled list with a right shoulder injury, is with the team and will throw bullpen sessions next weekend. ... C Miguel Montero, who has missed 57 games with a knee injury, caught a full minor-league game Thursday. ... INF Tony Abreu, who has a left wrist injury and is also on the 15-day DL, was to start a rehabilitation assignment at Triple-A Reno on Friday.

[Associated Press]

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