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Glaus, Molina lead way as Cardinals rout Diamondbacks

Sep 3, 2008 - 6:22 AM PHOENIX (Ticker) -- Troy Glaus and Yadier Molina belted two-run home runs in support of Adam Wainwright and the St. Louis Cardinals snapped a four-game skid with an 8-2 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday.

Glaus hit a two-run homer in the first, and Molina and Felipe Lopez each homered for the second straight game for St. Louis (75-64), which pulled within 5 1/2 games of Milwaukee (80-58) in the wild card race.

That was enough for Wainwright (8-3), who allowed just one run and three hits in 5 1/3 innings with seven strikeouts and two walks. He also added a two-run double in a three-run sixth.

"Wano pitched great today," Glaus said. "He's pitched well every time since he's come back. We were able to get him a few runs early, and take a little of the heat off, and he settled in and pitched really well for the time he was in there - and the bullpen did a good job."

"I just tried to mix everything, locate stuff, and let my defense work, because I got a great defense behind me," Wainwright said.

He received more than enough support. Glaus ripped a two-run shot in the first - his 22nd of the season. Molina added his two-run blast in the fourth off Yusmeiro Petit (3-4) and Lopez followed with his fourth of the season for a 5-0 lead.

The strong outing had to be encouraging for St. Louis, which sorely missed its ace. After missing nearly three months with a severely sprained middle finger, Wainwright improved to 2-0 with a 2.07 ERA in three starts since returning from the disabled list.

"I don't know how we stayed in it without him, to be honest with you," St. Louis manager Tony La Russa said.

"He was just locating all his pitches well," Arizona third baseman Mark Reynolds said. "Throwing his curveball for strikes, painting his fastball, really didn't get a whole lot to hit all night."

St. Louis stretched the lead to 8-0 in the sixth. Wainwright's double plated a pair, and another run scored when Skip Schumaker hit into a double play with runners on the corners.

Wainwright left in the sixth after allowing a triple, an RBI single to Eckstein and a walk. Ron Villone and Russ Springer combined to get the final two outs of the frame. Chris Carpenter, who was activated from the disabled list prior to the game, threw a scoreless inning and Ryan Franklin and Chris Perez preserved the win.

Carpenter, a former Cy Young Award winner, had been on the DL since August 16 with a strained shoulder.

"It was good, it was fun to get back out there and be able to compete, obviously the first time in a long time to be back out there in a competitive situation at this level," Carpenter said.

Petit allowed five runs and four hits in 4 2/3 innings.

David Eckstein and Adam Dunn had RBI singles for Arizona (70-68), which saw its lead over Los Angeles (69-70) cut to 1 1/2 games in the National League West.

"Our focus has to continue to be on us and we just have to play better," Diamondbacks manager Bob Melvin said.