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Headley leads Padres' rout of Cardinals

Apr 3, 2011 - 2:06 AM St. Louis, MO (Sports Network) - Chase Headley finished 2-for-5 with four RBI, including a two-run homer in the ninth, as the Padres handled the Cardinals, 11-3, in the second of three games at Busch Stadium.

Nick Hundley added two RBI in a 2-for-4 effort while starter Clayton Richard (1-0) went six innings, allowing three runs on five hits and striking out three.

Allen Craig hit a two-run single in the first for the Cardinals, and Albert Pujols shrugged off an 0-for-5 effort in the season-opener by finishing 2- for-4 with a solo shot in the third inning.

Jake Westbrook (0-1), who was trying to rebound from a rough spring, was tagged for eight runs on six hits in 4 1/3 innings. He walked five batters and struck out only three in the loss.

"(Westbrook) made some great pitches all day, then all of a sudden he made some uncharacteristic walks and he just missed the zone by quite a bit," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. "That's not him when he's sharp."

The Cardinals played without outfielder Matt Holliday, who will be away from the team for an undisclosed amount of time after undergoing an appendectomy on Friday.

That was only one day after he played in opener, which St. Louis lost in 11 innings after blowing a one-run lead in the ninth.

Craig's two-out single plated Colby Rasmus and David Freese to give the Cardinals the early 2-0 edge, but the Padres responded in the top of the second as Hundley scored Ryan Ludwick on a single to center.

Richard helped his cause as Cameron Maybin scored on his sacrifice bunt to even the game at 2-2.

Pujols led of the third inning and gave St. Louis a 3-2 edge as he took a 1-1 fastball over the center field wall for his first of the season.

Hundley evened it as he scored Ludwick on a triple to right and the Padres broke the game open in the fifth.

San Diego tacked on six runs in the fifth inning, opening the frame with back- to-back singles by Will Venable and Jason Bartlett, and after Orlando Hudson's sacrifice bunt moved them over to second and third, Westbrook intentionally walked Brad Hawpe to load the bases.

"He knows he has got to get him over," Padres manager Bud Black said of Hudson's sacrifice bunt. "That is a part of his game, he handles the ball."

Ludwick then worked a five-pitch walk to start the scoring, and Headley plated Bartlett and Hawpe on a single to right. La Russa saw enough of Westbrook and pulled him in favor of Jason Motte.

Motte didn't fare much better as Maybin plated Ludwick on a double to left, and after intentionally walking Hundley to load the bases, Richard worked a four-pitch walk to make it 7-2.

San Diego capped the six-run frame as Maybin scored on a Venable sacrifice fly to left.

Mitchell Boggs was brought in for the Cardinals in the seventh and got through the seventh and eight without allowing a hit before Headley's two-run shot over the center field wall completed the 11-3 rout.

The final game of the series will feature Dustin Moseley taking the hill for the Padres. He will face Jaime Garcia.

Game Notes

Westbrook allowed 12 runs in 24 1/3 innings this spring...Venable finished 1- for-4 with a RBI and scored a run for The Padres...Ludwick scored four runs...Ernesto Frieri, Cory Luebke and Pat Neshek closed out the game for the Padres, allowing only one hit over three innings...The Cardinals only recorded six hits.