St. Louis, MO (Sports Network) – Ryan Ludwick hit a three-run homer and knocked in four, and Colby Rasmus added a two-run shot, as the St. Louis Cardinals earned a 9-3 win over the Seattle Mariners in the opener of a three- game interleague series at Busch Stadium.
Albert Pujols had a big game with three hits, two walks, an RBI and two runs scored for the Cardinals, who were coming off a 1-5 road trip that included stops in Los Angeles to play the Dodgers, and Arizona. St. Louis had lost six of seven coming into the contest.
Adam Wainwright (9-4) tossed seven-plus innings and improved to 6-0 at home this season. The right-hander yielded six hits, three runs, walked a batter and fanned six in his first career game against the Mariners.
Ichiro Suzuki went 2-for-4 with a solo homer, while Chone Figgins contributed a pair of hits, an RBI and scored a run for Seattle, which has dropped nine of its last 11.
Luke French (0-1), who was making his first start of the season after replacing an ineffective Ian Snell in the Mariners’ rotation, was touched for four runs on six hits and a pair of walks over four innings. The left-hander did not register a strikeout.