Ryan Franklin, the deposed Cardinals closer, thought he took a step forward in a two-inning, less-stressful stint in Wednesday's first game of a doubleheader with Washington. Franklin got easy outs via six of the seven batters he faced. But Washington outfielder Laynce Nix ripped a 417-foot homer that elicited a few boos from the 8,686 who actually were in Busch Stadium for the makeup game from Tuesday night's rainout. And, even though a closer gets used to that kind of attention, Franklin admitted he did notice the disfavor of some Wednesday. "They must have short memories," said Franklin. "I think I've been decent for the four years I've been here and then ... to do that. ... But that's all right. "I wouldn't do it. I'm a fan of the Oklahoma Sooners and whenever they have a bad game, I don't stand out there on the sidelines and tell them, ‘You (stink).''' Earlier, Franklin had said some other things he later would regret, including a jab at the St. Louis fans. "You don't boo your own team," said Franklin. "I don't care who you are or what you say or just because you spent your money to come here to watch us play that somebody happens to make one bad pitch and give up a homer and you are going to start booing? "They are supposed to be the best fans in baseball," Franklin had said. "Yeah, right." Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/sports/base...cle_cbb949b0-6c0a-11e0-beb4-001a4bcf6878.html
