Ryan Franklin blew his third save of the season and the St. Louis Cardinals couldn't hold on to a late lead, falling 3-2 to the San Francisco Giants in the second game of their series. Colby Rasmus hit his first home run of the year but later dropped a ball on a tough play in center field to allow the winning runs to score. Jaime Garcia allowed one run in six sterling innings, striking out nine batters for the second straight game, but after two scoreless innings from Miguel Batista Franklin allowed two hits and a walk to blow his third save in four chances. Ramon Ramirez picked up the win for the Giants, who got three hits from Nate Schierholtz after Andres Torres left the game with a calf injury.
Franklin blew just two saves all last season, but he's been unable to shut the door on opposing teams at all in the first week of the 2011 season. Right now the Cardinals appear to have no plans to replace Franklin in the role; Jason Motte and Mitchell Boggs would be the logical picks, although manager Tony La Russa does have a long-standing fixation with former closer Miguel Batista...