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Pujols homers twice as Cardinals down Padres

May 20, 2008 - 6:03 AM By Tim Powers PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

SAN DIEGO (Ticker) - Albert Pujols belted two homers on Monday night to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to an 8-2 rout over the San Diego Padres.

Pujols blasted solo shots in the fifth and eighth innings against San Diego relievers Justin Germano and Sean Henn, respectively. It was his second multi-home run game of the season and 22nd of his career.

"I'm being aggressive and not thinking they're going to walk me, but thinking they're going to give me a pitch to hit and taking advantage of that pitch," Pujols said. "You might only see one good pitch to hit in an at-bat, or maybe the whole night. I want to make sure I don't waste that one and I make a good swing."

Ryan Ludwick opened the scoring for the Cardinals, homering off Padres' starter Wilfredo Ledezma (0-1) in the first inning before Cesar Izturis increased St. Louis' advantage to 4-1 with his first homer of the campaign - a solo shot - in the fourth inning.

"I put a good swing on the ball, and that's all you can do," Ludwick said. "Fortunately, it was a home run. I think the big story is how many hits we got tonight and put some runs on the board."

Pujols stroked his 10th homer of the season in the fifth before capping the scoring with a solo home run in the eighth.

Todd Wellemeyer (5-1) allowed just two runs and six hits en route to his third straight win for the Cardinals. The 29-year-old righthander struck out two and walked three batters to help St. Louis earn its third consecutive victory.

"It was a battle today, but I got through it," Wellemeyer said. "I was working to get ahead of guys, but my fastball location was a little off today. I had my other stuff working. I'm just staying with what I've been doing, and trying not to do too much."

Ledezma (0-1), who was filling in for injured ace Jake Peavy, gave up four runs and five hits in four innings while walking two and striking out two in his second start of the season.

"I'm just trying to do the best I can," Ledezma said. "I felt great tonight. I got a little bit of bad luck, but those things happen. My fastball was a little up, but that was it."

The 27-year-old Ledezma took Peavy's place on short notice when the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner experienced elbow soreness and had to undergo an MRI on Monday.

Peavy will be placed on the disabled list with a muscle strain in his right arm, and Ledezma will continue to make starts in Peavy's spot in the rotation.

"(Peavy's) got some edema and a strained muscle in his flexor tendon," Padres manager Bud Black said. "The ligament looks fine, so that's good. He's going to go on the disabled list. Hopefully in two weeks, the edema of the joint will subside and the swelling will subside and he'll be able to resume throwing."

Khalil Greene and Brian Giles had two hits apiece for the Padres, who have lost five of their last six games and have scored two runs or less in 21 of their 46 games this season.