(Sports Network) - The St. Louis Cardinals searched far and wide all throughout spring training to find themselves a closer. As it turns out, the answer was right under the team's nose all along.

Ryan Franklin has solved what was universally believed to be the Cardinals' biggest question mark entering this season. The versatile right-hander picked up his 16th save in 17 opportunities with a perfect inning of work in Wednesday's 4-3 victory over Detroit, which lowered his season earned run average to a sparkling 1.05.

Despite performing capably in the ninth-inning role in place of an injured Jason Isringhausen for a good portion of last season, Franklin wasn't on manager Tony La Russa's short list to take over as the closer after the Cardinals parted ways with Isringhausen over the winter. But when rookie Jason Motte failed in an early April audition and neither Dennys Reyes and Kyle McClellan impressed in brief tryouts, La Russa turned to the valuable veteran in hopes of finally solidifying the all-important position.

Franklin certainly hasn't disappointed. The 36-year-old has yielded just three runs in 25 1/3 innings so far in 2009 and limited enemy hitters to a .183 batting average, numbers that could make him an unlikely All-Star in a few short weeks.

If Franklin is selected to represent the National League at this year's Midsummer Classic, which will be held at St. Louis' Busch Stadium, it would represent the pinnacle of a long career filled with its share of bumps along the road. A 23rd-round draft choice by Seattle out of an Oklahoma junior college in 1992, Franklin spent eight trying seasons in the minors before breaking into a full-time job with the Mariners in 2001. He won 11 games as a starter with Seattle two years later, but struggled to an 8-15 record during a 2005 campaign marred by a 10-game suspension for violating baseball's newly- implemented steroids policy.

Franklin followed with a nondescript season with the Reds and Phillies, but he's managed to resurrect his career as a reliever under the tutelage of master pitching coach Dave Duncan since joining St. Louis as a free agent in 2007. He had a team-best 25 holds as Isringhausen's primary setup man that year, then set personal bests in saves (17) and appearances (74) last season.

"This guy could do whatever you need him to do," La Russa recently told the Cardinals' official site. "He's got a lot of weapons."

SHAKEUP COMING IN CHICAGO?

While the two-time defending NL Central champion Chicago Cubs continue to hover around the .500 mark, the calls for changes to what's regarded as baseball's most disappointing club have begun to grow louder.

Most of them center around a sluggish offense that ranks 14th in the NL in both runs scored (260) and batting average (.245) and 12th in on base percentage (.322). When the Cubs won 97 games and ran away with the Central a year ago, the team led the Senior Circuit in scoring and OBP and finished second with a .278 average.

"What am I going to do? I've changed the lineup, I've basically played everybody we got," an exasperated Cubs manager Lou Piniella exclaimed after his squad mustered a mere five hits in a 2-0 loss to Minnesota on Saturday. "I don't know what else to do with it, I'll be honest with you. I wish I had a magical formula for it. I don't."

The Cubs did make a noticeable move in the wake of that frustrating loss, firing hitting coach Gerald Perry and replacing him with longtime instructor Von Joshua prior to Sunday's game with the Twins. The 61-year-old Joshua has the past 26 years as a hitting coach, including four in that capacity with the crosstown-rival White Sox from 1998-2001.

Joshua's addition failed to produce an instant spark, as the Cubs recorded only five hits in a 5-1 loss to the White Sox on Wednesday, but the Northsiders broke through for five late runs in a dramatic 6-5 victory over their fellow Windy City tenants on Thursday.

The game-winning hit came off the bat of Alfonso Soriano, one of the primary contributors to the Cubs' lingering offensive swoon. The streaky outfielder had been hitting an anemic .141 with two home runs over his last 23 games before going 2-for-5 in Thursday's triumph.

Piniella had been toying with the idea of moving Soriano, who's batting just .229 with a .293 on base percentage, down in the order from his customary leadoff spot, but has held off on the proposed switch for the time being.

HISTORIC HOMECOMING FOR ASTROS' RODRIGUEZ

It was only fitting that Ivan Rodriguez broke baseball's all-time record for games played by a catcher in the stadium where he enjoyed the majority of his glory years. The Houston Astros backstop was behind the plate for the 2,227th time when his new team took on the Texas Rangers Wednesday at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.

"That's what's so special for me, because I did it in the place that I started back in 1991," said Rodriguez, who surpassed Hall of Famer Carlton Fisk for the mark. "(Former Rangers manager) Bobby Valentine gave me the opportunity to play in the big leagues and be able to play this many years. Eighteen years later, look at what I am."

Rodriguez broke into the big leagues as a 19-year-old with the Rangers in 1991 and spent 12 glorious seasons in Texas, winning 10 Gold Gloves and earning 10 All-Star appearances along with the American League's MVP award in 1999. He still stands as that franchise's career leader in hits (1,723) and doubles (344).

The record-setting night wasn't a perfect one for Rodriguez, however. He committed two errors in Houston's 5-4 loss and failed to get the ball out of his glove on a steal attempt by the Rangers' Ian Kinsler in the 10th inning. Kinsler eventually came around to score the game's winning run.

Rodriguez also struck out in his final at-bat with a runner in scoring position during the top of the 10th.

OWINGS PULLS DOUBLE DUTY IN REDS' WIN

Cincinnati Reds pitcher Micah Owings halted a personal six-start winless streak by pitching six solid innings in his team's 4-3 decision over Atlanta on Wednesday, a victory that might not have been possible without the right- hander's contributions at the plate.

With the Reds trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the fifth inning, Owings drove a pitch from the Braves' Javier Vazquez into the right-field seats to give his club a two-run advantage. The homer was the seventh in 152 career at-bats for the 26-year-old and three have come against the Braves, the team Owings rooted for while growing up in his native Georgia.

"He threw a fastball out on the outer half," said Owings of his go-ahead shot. "I was waiting back and doing the best that I could to put a good swing on it, and I was lucky enough to run into one."

Skill also has something to do with Owings' success as a hitter. He was a two- way star for Georgia Tech and Tulane prior to breaking into professional baseball and owns a career .309 average in the big leagues. In an extra-inning loss to St. Louis back on May 10, the third-year major leaguer swatted a game- tying solo home run as a pinch-hitter in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Owings, who had gone 0-4 with a 4.17 ERA during his winless stretch, held the Braves to a pair of runs and six hits on the mound.

BREWERS' PARRA TRYING TO GET BACK TO NORMAL

The Milwaukee Brewers received some encouraging news regarding starting pitcher Manny Parra, demoted by the club to Triple-A Nashville last weekend following a string of poor outings. The struggling southpaw threw six effective innings on Wednesday in his first start for the Sounds, allowing two runs -- one earned -- and four hits while striking out four batters.

Parra had been sent to the minors immediately after a forgettable showing against the Chicago White Sox on Saturday. The 26-year-old, a 10-game winner for the Brewers in his first full major-league season last year, lasted just 1 2/3 innings in that game and was shelled for six runs while issuing three walks.

In 13 starts prior to his banishment, Parra was just 3-8 with a subpar 7.52 earned run average and opponents were hitting .311 against him. He has been particularly bad over the past month, with the young lefty having permitted 33 runs (32 earned) and 40 hits over just 21 1/3 innings in his final five starts with Milwaukee.

Due to off days, the Brewers will be able to use a four-man rotation until June 27, and the team is hopeful Parra will show enough progress to be able to make that start.

He'll need to exhibit a little better control, however. Parra walked four hitters in his first start for Nashville and issued 41 free passes in 64 2/3 innings in his stint with Milwaukee.

"I don't think we're going to bring him back up here if he's not doing the things he needs to do," manager Ken Macha told the Brewers' official site.

PIRATES STILL CAN'T SHAKE INTERLEAGUE WOES

There probably aren't many teams that would look forward to visiting Denver's Coors Field right now, but it wouldn't be a shock if the Pittsburgh Pirates are welcoming their upcoming three-game set with the red-hot Colorado Rockies.

That series is the only one involving two National League members this weekend and represents a break in interleague play for the Pirates, a team that has historically struggled in games against the AL. Since Major League Baseball introduced the concept in 1997, Pittsburgh is a woeful 67-108 all-time when taking on the Junior Circuit.

The Pirates have been especially inept on the road, where the long-suffering club is a horrid 6-33 in AL parks since 2003. Pittsburgh has lost 13 straight interleague series as the visitor since taking two of three tests from Tampa Bay from June 13-15, 2003.

The Bucs had an opportunity to break that lengthy reign of futility after Wednesday's 8-2 rout of Minnesota on the Metrodome, but the Twins rebounded to win Thursday's rubber match by a 5-1 score.

Pittsburgh, which is a respectable 4-5 against the AL Central so far this year, will play its final two interleague series at home after taking on the Rockies. Cleveland will invade PNC Park for three games from June 23-25, with Kansas City following the Indians into the Steel City.

The Pirates figure to have their hands full in the meantime, since the Rockies have won 13 of their past 14 games and are an impressive 15-5 following the insertion of one-time Bucs skipper Jim Tracy as the team's manager.