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Rasmus leads Cardinals in rout of Rockies

May 28, 2011 - 6:23 AM Denver, CO (Sports Network) - Colby Rasmus snapped out of a slump by going 4- for-5 with two triples, three RBI and two runs scored, pacing the Cardinals over the Rockies and a struggling Ubaldo Jimenez, 10-3, to open a three-game series.

Rasmus, hitless in 20 at-bats coming in, highlighted a 19-hit attack by the Cardinals in their ninth win in 11 games.

"This game is crazy sometimes. I didn't change a whole lot. I just took my hands back as far as I could and tried to drive it," Rasmus said.

Albert Pujols chipped in two hits and drove in a pair for the victors.

Jake Westbrook (5-3) was credited with the win in the minimum five innings, yielding three runs on five hits.

Jimenez (0-5) was struck for six runs on 12 hits in his six-inning start to remain winless. Colorado has lost four straight and seven of eight overall.

"I don't even want to think about it. It's hard," Jimenez said of his slow start.

The Cardinals broke a 3-3 tie with a three-run sixth frame. Allen Craig led of the inning with a single and raced around on Rasmus' three-bagger over the head of Eric Young Jr. in center.

Yadier Molina tacked on an RBI groundout, and the Cardinals pushed another run across later in the inning on a wild pitch.

With Matt Daley on the hill in the seventh, Rasmus came up with two on and tripled into the right-field corner for an 8-3 cushion, then raced in on Molina's sacrifice fly.

Tyler Greene singled in Peter Kozma in the ninth to account for the final margin.

Pujols had a pair of opposite-field RBI singles in the first and third innings and scored in the latter frame on Craig's base hit.

The Rockies had taken the lead in the second on run-scoring hits from Ty Wigginton and Chris Iannetta, then tied it the home third when Carlos Gonzalez singled through the left side to plate Young for a 3-3 game.

Colorado left the bases loaded, however, and did not record a hit the rest of the game against relievers Miguel Batista, Eduardo Sanchez and Jason Motte.

Game Notes

At this point last year, Jimenez was 9-1 with a 0.88 earned-run average. His ERA is 5.86 this season...Westbrook was a first-round pick by the Rockies in 1996...St. Louis went 7-for-15 with runners in scoring position...Rockies reliever Bruce Billings made his major-league debut and allowed one run on five hits in two innings...Young was recalled from Triple-A Colorado Springs before the game. The Rockies also designated infielder Jose Lopez for assignment.