Cardinals overcome 5 homers, beat Reds 8-7 in 10

[May 11, 2009]  CINCINNATI (AP) -- Colby Rasmus doubled home a run in the 10th inning Sunday, and the St. Louis Cardinals overcame five Cincinnati homers -- including two solo shots in the ninth -- to beat the Reds 8-7 and salvage the final game of their series.

Rasmus had his decisive hit off Francisco Cordero (0-2), who is perfect in nine save chances but has lost twice when pitching with the score tied.

Jerry Hairston Jr. and Micah Owings hit solo homers in the bottom of the ninth off Ryan Franklin (1-0) to tie it at 7 and end the closer's run of perfection. Franklin had converted all nine save chances and hadn't allowed a run all season.

Given another chance to close it out, the Cardinals struggled again.

Cincinnati loaded the bases with two outs in the 10th against Blaine Boyer. Right-hander Chris Perez came on and got pinch-hitter Paul Janish to foul out, picking up his first save in two chances this season.

Coming into the series, St. Louis' staff had given up only 11 homers, the fewest in the majors. The Reds hit seven in the last two games, including the two pulsating shots in the ninth that got the crowd of 27,664 revved and extended the game to 4 hours, 23 minutes.

Hairston led off the ninth with a full-count homer. Owings, the Reds' fifth starter and one of their top pinch hitters, came to the plate with two outs, worked the count full, fouled off three pitches and then hit a drive that barely cleared the wall in left field for his first homer.

Owings raised his arm in triumph as he rounded second base on his sixth career homer. He was pummeled in the dugout by teammates and took a curtain call for the fans.

The momentum ended there.

Jay Bruce, Adam Rosales and Joey Votto also homered for the Reds, who had won three in a row for their best record in three years. Votto was out of the starting lineup for the fourth straight game because of the flu, but had a pinch-hit homer off Kyle McClellan.

The Cardinals ended Edinson Volquez's scoreless-inning streak at 16 -- the pitcher let in a run in the first with his errant throw -- and scored seven times off the right-hander. Skip Schumaker had a pair of doubles and scored twice for the Cardinals, and Chris Duncan drove in three runs with a double and a single.

Albert Pujols' solo homer off Volquez snapped his 0-for-11 drought. Pujols' 12th homer was his only hit during the three-game series.

Notes: It was Pujols' 14th career at Great American Ball Park, trailing only Lance Berkman's 20 for the most by a visiting player. ... Reds SS Alex Gonzalez missed his sixth game with pulled side muscles. The Reds will likely make a decision in the next couple days about whether to put him on the DL. He resumed baseball activities over the weekend. ... Bruce and Willy Taveras extended their hitting streaks to 11 games.

[Associated Press; By JOE KAY]

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