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Cards hit parade continues in win over Dodgers

Apr 15, 2011 - 6:20 AM Los Angeles, CA (Sports Network) - Matt Holliday went 3-for-5 with three runs batted in and two runs scored, as the St. Louis Cardinals continued their offensive tear with a 9-5 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the opener of a four-game series.

Yadier Molina went 2-for-4 with two RBI for the Cardinals, who have recorded 14 or more hits in each their past four games for the first time since doing so from May 30-June 2, 1979 (65 total). St. Louis had 16 hits on Thursday to bring its total to 53 over the current streak.

Albert Pujols hit a solo home run and scored twice for the Cardinals, who got five innings from starter Jaime Garcia (2-0). The left-hander gave up three runs -- two earned -- on eight hits.

"We've been swinging the bats well the last five or six games," Holliday said.

Matt Kemp went 3-for-5 with a solo homer, two RBI and two runs scored for the Dodgers, who have lost three in a row.

LA starter Hiroki Kuroda (2-1) allowed six runs -- five earned -- on 10 hits over five full frames. The Japanese right-hander also stuck out three.

"This is the kind of club that's going to score," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. "We have to find a way to shut them down."

Kemp's RBI single in the first inning gave Los Angeles the early edge.

The Cardinals responded with two runs in the second to go in front for good. With runners on second and third and one out, Molina singled to left to knock in a run then Daniel Descalso followed with a sacrifice fly to make it 2-1.

Holliday's infield single in the third plated another run, but the Dodgers got the run back in the home half on Juan Uribe's RBI double.

The teams exchanged runs again in the fourth. Ryan Theriot's run-scoring single in the top half of the frame was followed by Jamey Carroll crossing the plate on a passed ball by Molina.

The Cardinals used a two-run fifth to take a 6-3 margin. Pujols got things started with a one-out homer to left. Lance Berkman and Skip Schumaker followed with consecutive singles to put men on the corners. Berkman crossed the plate on Kuroda's wild pitch.

St. Louis tacked on three more runs in the seventh to open the game up. Holliday hit a two-run double off Lance Cormier and came around to score on Molina's double to right for a 9-3 lead.

Carroll drove in a run with a single in the eighth and Kemp accounted for the final margin with a homer in the ninth.

Game Notes

After the Dodgers swept the Cardinals in three games in LA last June, St. Louis returned the favor by taking all four meetings in July at Busch Stadium...LA started an eight-game homestand on Thursday...Dodgers outfielder Andre Ethier extended his hitting streak to 11 games...St. Louis' club mark for consecutive 14-plus hit games is six -- done in both 1922 and 1930...Berkman had homered in three straight games coming in.