Cardinals handle Mets behind Pujols, Pineiro

[April 23, 2009]  ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Joel Pineiro carried a six-hitter into the ninth inning and Albert Pujols had two hits and two RBIs in the St. Louis Cardinals' 5-2 victory over the New York Mets on Wednesday night.

Joe Thurston and Skip Schumaker had an RBI apiece for the Cardinals, who will go for a three-game sweep Thursday with Kyle Lohse opposing Livan Hernandez. St. Louis has won nine of 12 since a 1-2 start.

Mets starter John Maine (0-2) matched his career worst with five walks. He left with the bases loaded and two outs in the sixth, with the Cardinals ahead 5-1. Maine has a 7.47 ERA and nine walks in 15 2-3 innings.

Daniel Murphy had an RBI single in the third and Carlos Beltran hit an RBI double off Dennys Reyes in the ninth for his third hit. Ryan Franklin earned his fourth save in four chances by getting pinch-hitter Gary Sheffield to pop up for the final out.

Pineiro (3-0) retired 13 straight hitters on 35 pitches beginning with the final out of the fourth, all but three of them on ground balls. He was pulled after David Wright's leadoff double in the ninth.

Pineiro pitched to contact, striking out none with two walks for the first 3-0 April start of his career. A lifetime .082 hitter, he also singled in the seventh and drew a leadoff walk and scored in the third.

The St. Louis defense contributed a couple of nice plays, with Thurston making a diving stab at third with two on and two outs in the fourth to rob Luis Castillo, and shortstop Khalil Greene going deep into the hole to throw out Ramon Castro in the seventh.

Pujols, who entered the game tied for the NL RBI lead with 16 along with teammate Ryan Ludwick, had a sacrifice fly in the first and a run-scoring single in the third. He is 5-for-11 with two homers and 11 RBIs against Maine.

Maine was in trouble every inning except the fifth, when he retired the 3-4-5 hitters on eight pitches after Pineiro had an eight-pitch top half. Chris Duncan followed Pujols' RBI single in the third with a run-scoring groundout for a 3-0 lead, and Thurston had an RBI triple and scored on Schumaker's single in the fourth to make it 5-1.

Notes: Questions have been raised about the limited views of the playing field from the visitors' bullpen at Citi Field, the Mets' new ballpark. The commissioner's office is working on it with the Mets, baseball spokesman Pat Courtney said. ... Ludwick, among the league leaders with a .370 average and tied for the lead in homers (five) and RBIs (16), was the odd man out in the four-man outfield rotation. He popped up as a pinch hitter with the bases loaded against Casey Fossum to end the sixth, but manager Tony La Russa said Ludwick would start the next four games. ... According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Mets' 6-4 loss Tuesday was their first under manager Jerry Manuel in which they led by at least four runs. ... Greene walked his first three times up, giving him five straight over two games, before flying out in the sixth. ... Jose Reyes is 7-for-12 against Pineiro after going 1-for-3 with a single to start the game. ... Duncan was 0-for-4, ending a 13-game hitting streak to start the season.

[Associated Press; By R.B. FALLSTROM]

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