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Carpenter pitches Cardinals past Brewers

Aug 12, 2011 - 3:36 AM St. Louis, MO (Sports Network) - Chris Carpenter pitched eight strong innings and Albert Pujols went 4-for-4 with a homer and two RBI as the Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 5-2, to avoid a three-game sweep.

Rafael Furcal and Pujols both went deep in the first inning after the Brewers were spotted a 2-0 lead.

Lance Berkman singled in Jon Jay with the go-ahead run in the third, as St. Louis moved within four games of the first-place Brewers in the NL Central.

Carpenter (8-8) gave up 10 hits and won for the seventh time in his last eight decisions. It was a big turnaround for the right-hander, who was 0-2 with an 8.18 ERA in two previous starts against the Brewers this season.

Fernando Salas fanned two batters in the ninth inning to notch his 22nd save.

Mark Kotsay and Prince Fielder both had RBI hits for the Brewers, who lost for just the second time in their last 15 games. They grounded into four double plays.

Yovani Gallardo (13-8) was saddled with the loss after allowing seven hits and five runs -- four earned -- over five frames.

Corey Hart singled to start the game, and one out later Kotsay doubled to off the chalk in the left field corner. Fielder followed with a single to center, but Casey McGehee then grounded into a double play.

"Some of them were basically routine, but it all happened because [Carpenter] had real good movement down in the zone," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. "We turned a couple of tough ones, but it was really Carp who set it up for us."

The Brewers, who had a six-game winning streak broken, completed a 5-1 road trip. They next face Pittsburgh and the Los Angeles Dodgers in a seven-game homestand.

"One game against a team like that to lose, that's not a big deal," Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said. "We just go back home, continue to play good baseball, get that good starting pitching and swing the bats."

Furcal belted a 1-1 pitch from Gallardo over the wall in right, and with one out Pujols cranked a homer to center. It was his 28th long ball of the year, tying Berkman for the NL lead.

Pujols singled with one out in the third to put runners at the corners. Jay, who reached on a fielder's choice, scored on Berkman's grounder into center field to make it 3-2.

Gallardo struck out swinging to leave two men on base in the fourth and McGehee lined out to short to strand a pair in scoring position the following frame.

The Cardinals tacked on two runs in the fifth. Jay singled to right and stole second before coming home on a Pujols single to center. Berkman then singled to right, and Pujols scored on a wild pitch.

Game Notes

St. Louis agreed to terms with veteran left-handed pitcher Arthur Rhodes on Thursday. Rhodes, who was put on waivers Monday by the Texas Rangers, is expected to join the Cardinals on Friday...Molina extended his hitting streak to 14 games...It was St. Louis' first leadoff homer since September 3, 2009 when Julio Lugo went deep in a game against Milwaukee...The Cardinals played without Matt Holliday, who sat with a sore back. He was hurt lifting weights prior to Wednesday's game...Milwaukee is 8-4 this season against St. Louis.