Cardinals beat Astros 8-1

[May 07, 2012]  HOUSTON (AP) -- Tyler Greene hit a career-high two homers and drove in four runs, Adam Wainwright continued his dominance of the Astros and the St. Louis Cardinals got an 8-1 win over Houston on Sunday.

The victory breaks a season-long five-game winning streak for the Astros and ends a three-game skid for the Cardinals.

Allen Craig also homered for St. Louis, getting things going with a two-run shot in the first inning.

Greene's two-run home run in the fourth pushed the lead to 6-0 and his solo homer in the eighth made it 8-1.

Wainwright (2-3) allowed seven hits and one run with seven strikeouts in seven innings. He improved to 10-1 in 17 career appearances against the Astros -- his most wins against any team.

Houston starter J.A. Happ (2-2) allowed six hits and a season-high six runs -- five earned -- in five innings.

Greene entered the game with eight hits in 18 games this season.

His performance on Sunday, where he finished 3 for 3 with a walk, doubled the RBI total he had entering the game.

Carlos Lee and Jed Lowrie hit consecutive singles in the fourth inning before Travis Buck grounded into a force out that left Lowrie out at second. A wild pitch allowed Lee to score to make it 6-1.

Greene walked and stole second base in the sixth inning before scoring on a two-out single by Rafael Furcal.

Matt Holliday walked in the first before Craig's two-out homer, which bounced high on the wall above the Crawford Boxes in left field, gave St. Louis a 2-0 lead.

The Cardinals added a run in the second on an RBI double by Greene to make it 3-0.

Carlos Beltran walked to start the third inning. He was out at second on a fielder's choice on a grounder by Holliday. Holliday, who tripped leaving the plate, reached second on an error by Jose Altuve. A double by Craig sent Holliday home to push the lead to 4-0.

Jay robbed pinch-hitter Justin Maxwell of a hit with a nifty catch while sliding to his knees near the wall in left center field in the fifth inning. Brian Bogusevic one-upped him in the seventh when he denied David Freese of a home run when he jumped and reached back into the stands in right field for the catch.

Houston's Jordan Schafer went 0 for 4 to end his streak of reaching safely in 25 straight games to start the season. The mark ties a franchise record which was also reached by Denis Menke in 1969.

NOTES: St. Louis 1B Lance Berkman, on the 15-day disabled list with a pulled left calf, experienced some discomfort when he ran on Friday, but felt better when he ran again on Sunday. "I want to get to where I can't even feel it at all and it's not there yet," he said. "But it's a marked improvement over two days ago. I'm going to try to run again (Monday) and try to push it a little bit more." ... Sunday was Altuve's 22nd birthday.

[Associated Press; By KRISTIE RIEKEN]

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