Cards' offense awakens to snap losing streak

~ Ankiel had three hits and scored three times, and missed the cycle by a single.

MIAMI -- The St. Louis Cardinals broke out of their scoring drought in a big way.

Rick Ankiel finished a single shy of the cycle and Colby Rasmus also homered as the Cardinals snapped a five-game losing streak with a 13-4 victory over the Florida Marlins on Wednesday night.

The Cardinals scored their season high in runs on 18 hits. It was the most runs scored by St. Louis since Aug. 18, 2008, at Atlanta in an 18-3 win. The Cardinals totaled only 12 runs during their losing skid.

"A lot of good swings," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. "We had some two-strike base hits. This is stuff the guys have been working hard on and hopefully we can build on."

Cardinals outfielder Rick Ankiel, left, high-fives Colby Rasmus after hitting a two-run home run during the ninth inning Wednesday in Miami. (LYNNE SLADKY ~ Associated Press)

Brendan Ryan went a career-best 4 for 4, all singles, scored twice and drove in a run, while Tyler Greene had a career-high three hits.

"It was big for our offense," Ankiel said. "We've been struggling. To come out there and keep it going the whole game, it wasn't just one inning. Every inning we came out there and pounded it out, a knock here and there, and scored a bunch of runs."

Adam Wainwright (6-4) allowed four runs and four hits over seven innings to break a personal two-game losing streak.

"It was a big win that we needed today," Wainwright said. "I kept us in it. It wasn't my sharpest day, but seven innings kept the bullpen out of it. My team gave me a lead and the main focus for me was holding that lead."

Chris Volstad (4-6) allowed six runs and 10 hits over 5 2/3 innings in losing his third consecutive start.

Cardinals outfielder Colby Rasmus smacks a three-run home run during Wednesday's game.

"It just wasn't a good night for me. I was getting ahead of guys and couldn't finish them off," Volstad said. "Balls were up in the zone and not really moving a whole lot. Just one of those nights. Inconsistency."

The Cardinals took a 3-0 lead in the first when Chris Duncan doubled with one out, Albert Pujols walked and Rasmus hit the first pitch from Volstad over the wall in right field. Rasmus, a 22-year-old rookie, was batting cleanup for the second straight game. Fifteen of Rasmus's last 18 hits have been for extra bases.

The Marlins got one run back in the bottom of the inning on an RBI single by Hanley Ramirez.

St. Louis made it 4-1 in the second on Skip Schumaker's RBI double, a run Florida got back in the third on Jorge Cantu's run-scoring single.

Greene drove in a run in the fourth with a single. Jeremy Hermida drove in his first run for the Marlins in the fifth with a single.

Ankiel led off the sixth with a triple and Yadier Molina followed with a single to make it 6-3.

The Marlins loaded the bases with two outs in the sixth and trailing 6-3, but Wainwright struck out Ramirez looking.

"That was a huge punchout," La Russa said. "The game could have changed dramatically if Ramirez gets a hit there. He [Wainwright] really rose to the occasion."

Hermida, who hit a walk-off homer in the ninth for the Marlins on Tuesday, made it 6-4 in the seventh with a solo homer off Wainwright.

St. Louis broke it open with four runs in the eighth off reliever Cristhian Martinez, and Ankiel hit a two-run homer off reliever Burke Badenhop in the ninth.

Pujols, mired in an 0-for-15 slump and hitless in his last four games, singled in the third and finished 1 for 4.

Cardinals draft

The Cardinals selected 27 players on the second day of the major league draft Wednesday, nearly half of them pitchers.

St. Louis chose 13 pitchers, seven infielders, four outfielders and three catchers from rounds four through 30. The last 20 rounds are today.

The Cardinals chose two Mississippi pitchers: Joseph Bittle in the fourth round and Chris Corrigan in the 30th round. Both are former college teammates of Cardinals prospect Lance Lynn, now at Class AA Springfield.

Other high-round picks were shortstop Ryan Jackson of Miami (Fla.) in the fifth and outfielders Virgil Hill of Los Angeles Mission College and Kyle Conley of Washington in the fifth and sixth. Pitcher Trevor Rosenthal of Lee's Summit, Mo., and Cowley Community College was taken in the 21st round.

Bittle was 5-2 with a 2.17 ERA, although he was bothered by an arm injury last season. Jackson is considered one of the top defensive shortstops in the country, although he batted just .263 with four home runs last season.

Conley had 19 homers in each of the last two seasons while Jason Stidham, chosen in the eighth round from Florida State, batted .363 with 12 homers.

Second baseman Joseph Bergman of College of Charleston, taken in the 22nd round, was the Southern Conference player of the year and batted .452. Left-hander Daniel Calhoun of Murray State, taken in the 29th round, threw 11 complete games.

Rosenthal made seven starts and also had seven saves and a 2.73 ERA at Cowley.