• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Wellemeyer strong, Pujols homers in Cardinals win

Sep 7, 2008 - 1:54 AM By Jim Walsh PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- Todd Wellemeyer tossed a career best eight innings and Albert Pujols hit a two-run homer to lift the St. Louis Cardinals to a 5-3 victory over the Florida Marlins on Saturday.

Felipe Lopez added two RBI for St. Louis, which won for just the second time in its last eight games.

Wellemeyer (12-6) was solid in beating Florida for the second time this season. The righthander, who scattered three hits in 7 2/3 innings of a 3-0 victory in Miami on August 14, allowed three runs with five hits with seven strikeouts and a walk in this one.

He was staked to an early lead when Pujols connected for his 31st home run of the season - a two-run shot - in the first. Troy Glaus drew a one-out walk in front of the St. Louis slugger, who drilled a 2-2 fastball from Scott Olsen (6-10) into the left field seats.

The only blemishes on Wellemeyer's outing were a couple of long balls. Josh Willingham hit a solo shot in the third to put Florida on the board, and Dan Uggla gave the Marlins a 3-2 lead with a two-run blast in the fourth - his 30th of the season.

Lopez tied the game with an RBI single in the fourth, and Yadier Molina broke a 3-3 tie with a run scoring single in the sixth. Pujols who drew a walk to start the inning, smartly advanced to second on a fly out to right and scampered home when Molina lined a first pitch offering to center.

Lopez added an insurance run with a sacrifice fly in the eighth. Ryan Franklin pitched around a hit batter and recorded the last two outs in the ninth to pick up his 15th save.

Olsen surrendered four runs with five hits and three walks in six innings while suffering his sixth straight loss for the Marlins, who dropped to 2-4 against the Cardinals.