St. Louis homers 4 times to top Brewers

[May 27, 2009]  MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Adam Wainwright hit one of four Cardinals homers and struck out a career-high nine in seven innings, lifting St. Louis to an 8-1 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday night.

Nick Stavinoha, Colby Rasmus and Chris Duncan also homered for the Cardinals to snap a four-game skid against their NL Central rivals.

Wainwright (5-2) lost a 1-0 decision on May 16 against Brewers starter Jeff Suppan despite giving up just two hits over eight innings. This time, the 27-year-old right-hander made sure the Cardinals scored at least one run and worked out of two bases-loaded jams. He scattered five hits and two walks.

With teams pitching around slugger Albert Pujols, who drove in two runs with a sacrifice fly in the third and a single in the eighth, St. Louis showed some pop from the rest of its lineup.

Stavinoha, Rasmus and Wainwright each hit a solo homer off Suppan. Duncan's two-run shot came in the sixth off reliever Seth McClung to make it 7-1 and marked the second time this year the Cardinals have hit four home runs in a game.

St. Louis, which has lost 11 of its last 13 against the Brewers, is without Ryan Ludwick (hamstring) and Rick Ankiel (shoulder), but managed to move back into a tie for first in the NL Central with Milwaukee.

Stavinoha's homer was his first in the majors and opened the scoring in the second inning. Rasmus led off the fourth with a homer and Wainwright hit the fourth of his career with two outs in the inning.

The Cardinals chased Suppan (3-4) two batters later on Skip Schumaker's RBI single that made it 5-1. Suppan had been 5-0 with a 1.62 ERA against his former team since joining the Brewers following the Cardinals' World Series title in 2006.

Wainwright's worst jam was in the third when he allowed a single, a walk and a hit batter with no outs. But he avoided the big inning by forcing Prince Fielder into a weak RBI groundout, getting Mike Cameron to pop out to shallow right and striking out slumping Corey Hart, who came in hitting .172 in his last 16 games.

Pujols, who has one hit in his last eight at-bats, has walked 10 times in the last five games.

Notes: Cardinals SS Khalil Greene started for the first time since May 17 due to anxiety-related problems. He was 0 for 3 with two walks. ... Brewers LF Ryan Braun left before the fifth inning after being hit on the right wrist by a pitch in the third. ... Brewers SS J.J. Hardy (back spasms) missed his fourth game. ... Brewers RHP Yovani Gallardo and RHP Dave Bush collided during batting practice trying to catch a ball hit to center field. Gallardo scraped his left arm and was bleeding, but said he was otherwise unhurt. Bush also said he was fine.

[Associated Press; By COLIN FLY]

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