Carpenter pitches Cardinals to another series win

[May 03, 2010]  ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Chris Carpenter pitched seven innings of two-hit ball and Albert Pujols broke it open with a three-run double in the seventh as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Cincinnati Reds 6-0 on Sunday to wrap up a 6-1 homestand.

David Freese homered for the third time in four games on a three-hit day and Ryan Ludwick and Brendan Ryan had an RBI apiece for St. Louis, which took two of three for its seventh series win out of eight this season. The Cardinals are an NL-best 17-8.

Carpenter (4-0) outpitched Aaron Harang (1-4) for the second time this year in a rematch from opening day, striking out eight with three walks. He has won seven straight decisions over the Reds and 13 in a row with a 1.86 ERA against NL Central opponents dating to last season.

Carpenter is 9-3 against the Reds for his career with the last loss on June 6, 2006, at St. Louis. He ran into a little trouble in the fifth after a third-strike passed ball and a walk put runners on first and second with one out, but recovered to strike out Ryan Hanigan and get Harang on a comebacker.

Jason Motte and Mitchell Boggs each worked an inning in the Cardinals' fourth shutout, with four different starters.

Harang lasted six innings and allowed three runs, falling to 7-12 against the Cardinals. The Reds concluded a 4-2 trip.

Pujols' drive to left-center on a 3-1 pitch from Nick Masset cleared the bases in the seventh for a 6-0 lead. He's batting .385 with runners in scoring position and is 13 for 25 during a seven-game hitting streak.

Freese's third homer of the season landed in the visitor's bullpen in left in the second. Ludwick had an RBI single in the third and Ryan, batting ninth for the fifth straight game, added an RBI double in the fifth for a 3-0 lead.

The Cardinals are 5-1 since manager Tony La Russa went back to a lineup with the pitcher batting eighth for the first time since last July.

NOTES: Matt Holliday got a scheduled day off, with Nick Stavinoha getting his first start of the season in LF and going 2 for 3. Holliday is 1 for 18 with one RBI against Harang. ... Paid attendance of 43,292 was the Cardinals' third sellout. ... Freese doubled off the center-field wall in the eighth and is 12 for 22 during a six-game hitting streak. ... Jeff Durbin, part of a three-man official scoring rotation in St. Louis, worked his first game after recovering from heart surgery in February. ... Brandon Phillips is 4 for 24 against Carpenter.

[Associated Press; By R.B. FALLSTROM]

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