Edmonds’ Big Play Helps Cardinals Win

Tony La Russa was in the dugout cursing the baseball gods when Prince Fielder hit a ball off the end of his bat with the bases loaded that appeared certain to fall.

The St. Louis Cardinals led by a run in the sixth inning, and their manager dreaded more adversity for a team trying to end its second eight-game losing streak of the season.

Somehow center fielder Jim Edmonds swooped in, catching the ball just before it hit the grass, saving a lead and helping the team end the slide with a 4-3 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday night.

“That play Jim Edmonds made is as good of a play as he’s made since he’s been here,” La Russa said. “That ball falls, they’ve got the lead. The ball gets by him, they’ve got the lead maybe by two.”

Scott Rolen’s double in the first inning gave the Cardinals their first lead in six games and Albert Pujols’ 34th home run, his first since July 25, was a two-run shot in the third.

The Cardinals hadn’t had a pair of losing streaks that lasted eight or more games since 1983.