CINCINNATI – This one deserved the yardstick.

Ryan Ludwick hit a solo homer that landed above the batter’s eye – an impressive drive that everyone in the ballpark watched except him – and added a three-run shot Sunday, leading the St. Louis Cardinals to an 11-7 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.

Ludwick’s two homers offset another noteworthy one by Ken Griffey Jr. and left the most lasting memory on an afternoon when the ball was carrying well.

“That one’s probably in my top five,” said Ludwick, who now has 19 career homers in the majors and 140 in the minors. “I’ve hit balls that hard before, but in the minor leagues they don’t measure them. Here they happen to measure them.”

This one came in at 473 feet, tied for the ninth-longest in Great American Ball Park’s five seasons. Ludwick was rounding the bases with his head down when it landed in a riverboat-themed party area above the batter’s eye.

“You knew it was gone, but you weren’t sure how far,” left-hander Mike Maroth said. “It got up there on the balcony of the ship. That’s pretty impressive.”

The Cardinals overcame a disappointing start by Maroth, who gave up Griffey’s 585th career homer and left the game after failing to get an out in the fourth inning.

Instead, the latest addition to the bullpen came through again.

Reliever Troy Percival (2-0) got his second victory of the series, a triumphant return for the former closer. The 37-year-old reliever was out of baseball for two years because of a bad elbow, but made a comeback at the urging of several friends on the team.

Throwing a 90 mph fastball that has surprised everyone, Percival pitched out of a threat in the fourth to get the victory.

In another dose of discouragement for the major leagues’ worst team, Reds rookie Homer Bailey got hit hard for the second straight start. The defining moment came in the third, when Ludwick – playing while Juan Encarnacion got a day of rest – hit a knee-high fastball into the party center.

“It was a beautiful thing to see,” manager Tony La Russa said.