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Big innings lift Cardinals over Reds

Sep 2, 2007 - 3:44 AM ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- The St. Louis Cardinals scored four times in the fifth inning and five times in the sixth to pound the Cincinnati Reds, 11-3, on Saturday night.

Yadier Molina had three hits and three RBI, including a solo home run, and Adam Wainwright pitched into the sixth inning as the Cardinals (66-66) remained two games behind the Chicago Cubs (69-65) in the National League Central Division.

Wainwright (13-9) surrendered two runs - one earned - on six hits over 5 2/3 innings. The righthander struck out three and walked three but worked around trouble in the second and the third before the Cardinals cemented the win in the fifth inning.

"It was very, very sloppy for me on the mound today," Wainwright said. "My team did a great job of picking me up. They scored runs when they needed to and gave us a lead. It was tough for me to make adjustments tonight but we won the game and that's all that matters."

Rookie Brendan Ryan began the fifth by reaching on a bunt single off Reds rookie starter Phil Dumatrait. After David Eckstein flied out to right, Ryan advanced to third on a single by Rick Ankiel.

Albert Pujols followed with a walk to load the bases, Ryan Ludwick followed by grounding a ball to third baseman Jeff Keppinger, who went to second to start a double play. Ludwick beat Brandon Phillips' relay throw to first, allowing Ryan to score and tie the game.

Jim Edmonds gave the Cardinals the lead by stroking a two-run double to the left-center field gap, bouncing Dumatrait from the game. Edmonds advanced to third on reliever Marcus McBeth's wild pitch and scored on Molina's base hit, giving St. Louis a 5-2 lead.

"That's a big part of the game, is scoring runs when you get the chance," Edmonds said. "I was just trying to hit the ball hard somewhere. Against a lefty, I'm just trying to take what I can get and see what happens."

Dumatrait (0-3), who was called up from Class AAA Louisville prior to the game, continued to struggle for the Reds, allowing five runs on seven hits over 4 2/3 innings. The righthander struck out two and walked one as he remains winless at the major league level this season.

"He was better. I'm semi-pleased," Reds manager Pete Mackanin said. "He threw more strikes and looked like he was more under control. But he made some bad pitches and made some mistakes and that's the turning point for any pitcher. When you get into trouble, you try to pitch out of it. You try to get ahead of hitters but you have to be able to put them away."

The Cardinals pushed their advantage to 10-2 when they added five runs in the sixth inning. Ankiel roped a two-run double to left field off reliever Mike Gosling and Edmonds added an RBI single before Pujols scored on a passed ball. Molina capped off the rally, plating Ludwick on a ground ball to second.

"We did a terrific job of competing in those at-bats," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. "Yadier. Jim Edmonds had the biggest hit of the night. That double to left-center was a huge hit at the time. And Ankiel was in the middle of some rallies."

The Reds took an early lead when they opened the scoring in the second inning. Adam Dunn singled with one out and advanced to second on a fielding error by Pujols, who couldn't handle Alex Gonzalez's ground ball. Dunn moved to third on a fly ball by Scott Hatteberg before scoring on David Ross' double over the head of center fielder Josh Hamilton. Wainwright stranded runners at second and third by getting Dumatrait to fly out to end the frame.

Molina evened the score in the bottom of the inning, hitting his sixth home run of the season off Dumatrait.

The Reds gained the lead, 2-1, in the third when Dunn blooped a bases-loaded single with one out. It was the only run Cincinnati scored in the frame, as Wainwright got Gonzalez to fly out to right before Hatteberg grounded out to first to end the bases-loaded threat.