Pujols extends streak with big hit in Cardinals' 5-3 victory over Cubs
By R.B. FALLSTROM | Associated Press | May 4, 08 10:07 PM CDT in
Sports
Albert Pujols reached base for the 32nd consecutive game, one shy of his personal best to start the year, and did it with a key two-run double in the fourth inning that was the go-ahead hit in the St. Louis Cardinals' 5-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Sunday night.
Todd Wellemeyer (3-1) beat the team that drafted him in 2000 and gave him his first shot in the major leagues with five solid innings, helping the Cardinals take two of three from their Central Division rival. All three games were sold out, the first capacity crowds since opening day, including attendance of 44,969 in the finale.
Jason Isringhausen worked a perfect ninth against the top of the order for his 10th save in 13 chances, shaking off recent woes, to help the Cardinals finish 7-3 on a season-long 10-game homestand.
Adam Kennedy had a pair of RBI singles and walked twice and catcher Yadier Molina received a huge ovation in the fifth when he threw out Ryan Theriot attempting to steal second from his knees, ending up prone in front of the plate.
Isringhausen allowed runs in five of his previous eight appearances, going 0-1 with three blown saves, including Alfonso Soriano's game-tying two-run, ninth-inning homer in a 5-3, 11-inning victory on Friday. Soriano bounced out to third for the first out of the ninth. Cardinals fans were subdued until Isringhausen retired the first two, and then began to chant "Let's go Cardinals!" before Isringhausen struck out Derrek Lee for the final out.
The Cardinals beat up on former teammate Jason Marquis (1-2), who surrendered five runs and seven hits in 5 1-3 innings. Marquis was 3-1 last season against St. Louis, where he was a starter for three years before signing with the Cubs.
Pujols struck out on an awkward swing and grounded into a double play in his first two at-bats before his two-out double just inside the third-base line snapped a 2-2 tie in the fourth. He drew his major league-high 33rd walk in the sixth, and entered the game with a major league-best .518 on-base percentage and nine intentional walks.
Wellemeyer allowed two runs on three hits in five innings in his second career appearance and first start against Chicago, and singled and scored in the second. A career reliever before last year when the Cardinals acquired him off waivers from the Royals, Wellemeyer is 5-2 with a 3.16 ERA in 18 career outings at Busch Stadium, including 11 starts.
Lee saved Marquis in the first with a diving grab of Chris Duncan's two-out, bases-loaded liner to first. But he popped up to shallow right with the bases loaded and none out in the seventh against Kyle McClellan, an inning in which the Cubs were held to a run on Kosuke Fukudome's sacrifice fly.
The Cubs took the lead in the second on Reed Johnson's RBI double and Soriano's sacrifice fly and the Cardinals promptly tied in the bottom half with four straight out-one hits including RBI singles by Skip Schumaker and Kennedy, a rally begun by Wellemeyer's single from the eighth spot. Ninth-place hitter Cesar Izturis singled with one out for his second hit and Adam Kennedy walked with two outs ahead of Pujols' smash just inside the third-base line to make it 4-2.
Kennedy's RBI single off Sean Marshall made it 5-2 in the sixth.
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