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Chacon, Pence help Astros cruise past Cardinals

May 28, 2008 - 4:08 AM ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- Shawn Chacon did not have to wait another nine starts for his second win.

Chacon threw seven solid innings and Hunter Pence went 5-for-5 with a pair of RBI as the Houston Astros posted an 8-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals in the opener of a three-game series on Tuesday.

Albert Pujols went 4-for-4 with a home run for St. Louis.

Chacon (2-0) set a major league record by receiving nine straight no-decisions prior to beating Chicago on Wednesday. The righthander allowed two runs and seven hits with seven strikeouts in this one, and never was in danger of receiving another no-decision.

Chacon had the Astros' potent offense to thank for that. Carlos Lee and Miguel Tejada also drove in a pair of runs for Houston, which scored four times in the first inning and three in the fifth.

Chacon has not been worried about his personal record.

"We were playing good baseball," he said. "In the majority of the games that I pitched we won. In the big picture that's all that matters."

The Astros jumped all over Cardinals starter Braden Looper (6-4) from the outset. Michael Bourn and Kaz Matsui each singled to begin the game. After Lance Berkman drew a one-out walk, Lee plated a pair of runs with a single to center.

Berkman advanced on a throwing error by Rick Ankiel, and Pence then made it 3-0 with an infield single. Ty Wigginton capped the outburst with an RBI ground out to Looper.

Pence, who recorded his first career five-hit game, stretched the lead to 5-0 with a RBI single in the third.

"It feels good to get a win," Pence said. "It's a good start to the road trip. A good start to the series for us. We just have to build off that. Today is just one of those days where the ball found holes. I hit some ground balls right where they weren't standing."

Staked to a the big lead, Chacon cruised along nicely until the fourth when Pujols blasted a solo shot to left - his 12th of the season.

Tejada answered with two-run homer and J.R. Towles drew a bases-loaded walk in the fifth to put Houston up, 8-1.

"Tonight was a night we played well," Astros manager Cecil Cooper said. "We got great pitching. We got out on top early and got some base hits early to kind of break the ice and get some runs."

Rookie Brian Barton provided one of the lone highlights for the Cardinals, blasting his first career home run - a pinch-hit solo shot to left in the fifth.

"It was a good feeling," Barton said. "I feel like it's been a long time coming. I happened to get a good pitch to hit. He left a slider up and I put a good swing on it. It would have been better if we had gotten the win on top of it."

Looper was rocked for eight runs - seven earned - and nine hits in 4 1/3 innings.

"I didn't give us a chance from the beginning," Looper said. "I didn't get the job done. It's frustrating. It seemed like even when I made good pitches they got infield hits on those. Everything I was throwing they were hitting."