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Pujols provides key hit, Rolen drives in four as Cards roll

Jul 3, 2007 - 4:06 AM ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- Albert Pujols singled in the go-ahead runs in the seventh inning and the St. Louis Cardinals beat reigning Cy Young Award winner Brandon Webb and the Arizona Diamondbacks, 11-3, on Monday.

Braden Looper pitched well into the sixth inning in his return from the disabled list for the Cardinals, who opened a seven-game homestand leading into the All-Star break after completing a 3-3 road trip.

Skip Schumaker led off the decisive frame by beating out an infield hit to second. Webb (8-6) departed in favor of Tony Pena after hitting So Taguchi. Aaron Miles then reached on a grounder to shortstop, loading the bases for Pujols, who entered the game with a .275 average with runners in scoring position.

The Cardinals first baseman hit a first-pitch fastball to the left of second baseman Orlando Hudson, plating two runners for a 5-3 edge. Chris Duncan capped the frame with an RBI single to right.

"It's good to see the team coming out with big hits," Pujols said. "Big plays when we needed to.

"It's good to have Looper back in the rotation. He did a great job. He came out with a no-decision but he kept us in the game. Hopefully we'll come back tomorrow and do it again."

St. Louis tacked on five more runs in the eighth - three on a triple by Scott Rolen - to blow open the contest.

Russ Springer (4-1) pitched a scoreless seventh for the win.

Webb was charged for five runs and seven hits in six-plus innings.

"I didn't feel like I was locating the fastball when I wanted to," Webb said. "There weren't a lot of hard-hit balls. They seemed to have found the holes pretty well. There's not much you could do about that. There are base hits and errors and walks. They just seemed to get the big hits when it counted."

In his first start since going on the disabled list June 15 with a right shoulder strain, Looper looked strong for five innings.

The converted reliever allowed just one runner - a second-inning single by Stephen Drew - and held a 2-0 lead entering the sixth.

"I would say that it went pretty well for five innings," Looper said. "And then I made a few mistakes and they made me pay for them. For the most part I felt pretty good. I felt that my team definitely made some plays behind me.

"I kept the ball off the sweet part of the bat most of the time. I was able to stay within myself for the most part and control my emotions and my body so that I wasn't over-doing it."

But Chris Snyder led off the frame with his seventh homer of the season, Eric Byrnes collected a one-out double, Hudson walked and both moved up on a balk. Chad Tracy then singled to center field, plating both runners for a 3-2 edge.

Looper left after six frames, yielding three runs and four hits.

"We were anxious to get him back," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. "And then he comes out throwing up all of those zeros. That really gave us a lift."

"Then we had a bunch of good at-bats and caught a couple of breaks, a couple of infield hits and a couple of bloopers, things that we haven't been getting many of."

The Cardinals took a 1-0 lead off Webb in the second, when Yadier Molina followed a single by Rolen and a walk by Adam Kennedy with a run-scoring single to center field. They doubled the advantage in the next frame after loading the bases with one out on singles by Miles and Pujols and a walk to Duncan.

Rolen grounded into a fielder's choice but Webb struck out Ryan Ludwick to escape.

After Arizona rallied for the 3-2 lead, St. Louis tied the contest on a walk to Duncan and singles by Ludwick and Kennedy.

The 11 runs are the most by the Cardinals at home this season and most at Busch Stadium since the Redbirds scored 14 on September 15, 2006 vs. San Francisco.