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Pujols blasts pair of homers as Cards deck Angels

Jun 10, 2007 - 11:41 PM ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- Albert Pujols blasted a pair of home runs and Scott Spiezio hit a three-run blast to lift the St. Louis Cardinals to their first interleague win of the season, a 9-6 victory over the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on Sunday.

After Pujols' two-run blast in the third tied the game at 3-3, his three-run blast in the fifth gave the Cardinals a 6-5 lead.

It was the third time Pujols has hit two homers in a game this season and 19th of his career.

"I just wanted to put on some good swings and take advantage of the mistakes that they made," said Pujols, who match a season high with five RBI. "I think I had been a little bit overanxious this series, when everything is going good and you put a good swing you don't even think about it."

Spiezio broke an 0-for-12 streak with his blast in the seventh inning for St. Louis, which improved to 1-5 in interleague play. Los Angeles lost its first interleague game in six outings.

"We had a good game," Spiezio said. "We had some huge at-bats in big situations and our pitchers did a good job holding them. That was great to win one."

Adding to the Angels' woes was the loss of starting pitcher Jered Weaver, who left the game in the top of the fourth with tightness in his lower back.

"(Weaver's) back got a little stiff as the game went on," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "In the third it started affecting his delivery, he looked like he was guarding it a little bit. When it gets to that point you don't want anybody out there trying to throw through that."

"Obviously you never like to be taken out in the third and put all that pressure on the bullpen," Weaver said. "I tried to persuade my way to stay out there, but they weren't hearing it."

The 24-year-old righthander, who allowed three runs and five hits through three innings, was a first-round pick in 2004. He gave way to Chris Bootcheck (1-1), who allowed three runs on two hits in two innings to take the loss.

"(Bootcheck) had a nice first inning he was out there," Scioscia said. "His second inning, he had a tough time getting through the middle of their order."

St. Louis starter Todd Wellemeyer (2-0) allowed five runs and seven hits in 5 1/3 innings. He struck out five and walked two.

"We won, it was a little bit of a grind but we won the game," said Wellemeyer, who threw 60 of 94 pitches for strikes. "That's really all that matters. I could have gone farther in the game, but the bullpen helped me out and Albert's five RBI's helped us out."

Trailing, 1-0, the Angels responded with a three-run third inning, all with two outs.

Chone Figgins extended his hitting streak to 10 games with an RBI single, which plated Shea Hillenbrand to tie the game. Orlando Cabrera followed with a two-run double to right field to give Los Angeles a 3-1 lead.

In the fourth, Mike Napoli's RBI single to center scored Gary Matthews Jr. and gave the Angels a 4-3 lead.

St. Louis shortstop David Eckstein recorded the 1,000th hit of his career with a single in the fifth inning.

"It's an honor," Eckstein said. "You want to keep going though. I'm not really a stat guy, but hopefully I can get a lot more."

Angels pinch hitter Robb Quinlan had a solo homer off St. Louis' Jason Isringhausen in the ninth to cap the scoring.