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Schumaker, Pujols power Cardinals past listless Reds

Aug 17, 2008 - 5:46 AM CINCINNATI (Ticker) -- Skip Schumaker's three-run homer highlighted a five-run second inning and Albert Pujols smashed a pair of home runs as the St. Louis Cardinals rolled to their fourth straight win, a 9-3 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday.

Ryan Ludwick and Pujols hit back-to-back homers in the fourth for St. Louis (70-56), which remained two games behind the Milwaukee Brewers (71-53) in the National League wild card race. The Brewers beat the Los Angeles Dodgers Saturday night.

"Our offense looks good right now," Ludwick said. "Our main goal as a team offensively is to try to get as many (runs) up there as possible, make it easier on the starter. We just need to continue to roll with it."

Brandon Phillips homered and drove in two runs for Cincinnati, which has lost 17 of 21. The Reds took a 1-0 lead on Phillips' sacrifice fly in the first, but it was all downhill from there.

Yadier Molina ripped an RBI single to left in the second to tie the game at 1-1, and Aaron Miles drove in a run with a groundout before Schumaker capped the outburst by belting an 0-1 offering from Aaron Harang (3-13) to straightaway center field for a three-run homer.

The Cardinals did not let up. Pujols' leadoff homer in the third - his 25th of the season - made it a five-run game. Ludwick's two-run blast in the fourth made it 8-1.

Ludwick's blast chased Harang, who was relieved by Gary Majewski. He fared no better as Pujols promptly ripped his second pitch over the wall in center for his second home run of the game.

The blast capped Pujols' 23rd career multi-homer game and first since May 19.

Joel Pineiro (6-5) was the beneficiary of the offensive outburst. The righthander won his third straight start, allowing three runs and seven hits in six innings with six strikeouts.

Pineiro yielded a homer by pinch hitter Andy Phillips in the fifth and a solo shot by Phillips in the sixth.

"I'm just trusting my stuff, letting the defense work, and going out there, and try to keep a low pitch count and giving the team a chance to win," Pineiro said.

"I thought (Piniero) started to get the ball up a little bit, and he had such a good game, I didn't want him to finish on bad vibes," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. "I felt we had three innings in our bullpen."

Meanwhile, Harang was ripped for a career high-tying eight runs and seven hits in 3 1/3 innings. The former 16-game winner was making his second start since returning from a strained right forearm that sidelined him for nearly two months.

"It's just a matter of command," Reds manager Dusty Baker said. "He's throwing the ball 90 miles per hour. I'm concerned about his psyche. He's not used to getting hit like this."

"It ain't fun right now," Harang said. "I feel like I'm letting the team down. I don't have any control of my off-speed stuff. My fastball's flat. Something's off, but I don't know what. I have to figure out what it is."

Despite the rough outing, La Russa had high praise for Harang.

"This guy is really good," La Russa said. "I know early on (this season), Harang pitched as good as anybody, he just couldn't get any runs. Then he got sore. It's tough to come back and get everything together once you've been off for a while. He's quality."