• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Berkman, McClellan carry St. Louis past Arizona

Apr 12, 2011 - 7:27 AM Phoenix, AZ (Sports Network) - Lance Berkman blasted two home runs while Jon Jay had a pinch-hit homer in St. Louis' 8-2 win over Arizona to start a three- game series.

Kyle McClellan (1-0) did it from the mound and in the batter's box where he went six innings and also knocked in two runs for the Cardinals, who salvaged a win in the final game of a series with San Francisco on Sunday. The starting pitcher allowed one run on seven hits with four strikeouts while going 2-for-3 at the plate with a double.

"I've swung the bat well this year," Berkman said.

Justin Upton and Melvin Mora each had a pair of hits for the Diamondbacks, who finished 2-1 in a three-game set against Cincinnati over the weekend.

Barry Enright (0-1) was tagged with the loss, allowing four runs on nine hits in six innings.

St. Louis got on the board first when McClellan hit a double deep into center field to score Yadier Molina, who led off the inning with a single.

The Cardinals tacked on three runs during their next at-bat. Matt Holliday started the inning with a single, and three batters later, Skip Schumaker doubled to plate Holliday.

After Molina was intentionally walked, Schumaker crossed the plate on McClellan's single into right. Molina then touched home on Ryan Theriot's line drive single to end the rally and go up 4-0.

During the home half of the inning, Chris Young had a leadoff double, moved to third on a Miguel Montero groundout and scored on Mora's lined shot to center for a 4-1 contest.

The teams traded runs in the seventh as Berkman lifted an opposite-field solo shot over the left-field fence during the visitor's turn, and Stephen Drew brought home Kelly Johnson with a groundout in the bottom half.

The Cardinals had another three-run inning in the ninth, highlighted by another Berkman opposite-field homer. This time Holliday was on first to make it a two-run shot. Jay followed up with his homer that sailed into the right field seats.

"We came out and swung the bats OK," Upton said. "Our running game was shut down. We didn't put any pressure on them. At the end of it, they were comfortable the entire game, so they came out on top."

Game Notes

The Cardinals captured five of their nine meetings with the Diamondbacks a season ago...David Freese had two hits for St. Louis, which went 4-for-8 with runners in scoring position...The Diamondbacks left nine runners on base.