Pujols' third homer in ninth lifts Cards past Reds

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Albert Pujols hit three home runs, including a

winning drive that erased a ninth-inning deficit and put an

exclamation point on the St. Louis Cardinals' first homestand at

new Busch Stadium.

Then he did a little dance a few steps in front of home plate

before teammates mobbed him.

"Hey, you get a walkoff home run, you get to do whatever you

want," Pujols said after his two-run drive Sunday gave St. Louis

an 8-7 win over the Cincinnati Reds. "You need to be excited about

it. You don't get too many of those, so you need to enjoy them when

they come."

Pujols' eighth homer came on a 1-2 fastball from David Weathers

(0-1) and traveled an estimated 441 feet, ending a game that had

five lead changes. His second career three-homer game and sixth

game-ending homer topped off a 4-2 opening homestand at the $365

million ballpark. He matched career highs with five RBI and four

runs.

"There's a new memory for new Busch," manager Tony La Russa

said. "It'll be tough to top that one."

Pitcher Jason Marquis, who hit .310 last year with a homer and

10 RBI, got a chance to pinch hit because of Jim Edmonds' sore

shoulder, and he led off the ninth with a pinch single. The only

doubt on Pujols' blast was whether it would stay fair, and it ended

up about 10 feet fair and in the second deck.

Pujols relished the moment, although he wasn't interested in

comparing this game to his other three-homer game, at Chicago on

July 20, 2004.

"It doesn't remind me because that was two years ago," he

said. "I hit three in spring training and I don't even care.

Hopefully, tomorrow I hit three more and forget about today. Who

knows?"

Rich Aurilia's two-run double in the eighth, one batter after

right fielder Juan Encarnacion botched a potential double-play

flyout when he dropped the ball, had put the Reds in front. Aurilia

had three hits, and Adam Dunn and Austin Kearns homered on

consecutive at-bats in the fifth for Cincinnati, which lost

consecutive games for the first time this season.

Pujols and Scott Rolen connected on consecutive at-bats in the

bottom of the fifth for the Cardinals. Pujols has 14 multihomer

games, including two this season -- on opening day at Philadelphia.

Encarnacion was relieved that Pujols had a third homer in him.

"I just dropped it, no excuses," Encarnacion said. "He made

me feel much better."

Weathers, who had been 3-for-3 in save opportunities, said

Pujols hit a pitch that wasn't inside enough. He refused to work

the NL MVP carefully.

"Not at all, not at all, I don't pitch that way," Weathers

said. "He's a great hitter, but if you make your pitch, you can

get a double play. It was just a bad pitch and he hammered it."

Mark Mulder and Bronson Arroyo, pitchers who have combined to

hit three homers this season, gave up two long balls apiece and

failed to get the ball out of the infield in their at-bats. Both

labored through five shaky innings.

John Rodriguez added a two-run triple for the Cardinals.

Dunn hit a two-run shot on a full count with two outs in the

fifth for his seventh homer. He had five hits on the Reds' trip,

all of them homers, going 5-for-21 with 10 strikeouts. Kearns, who

is 8-for-17 in his last four games with two homers and seven RBI,

also connected on a full count for his fourth homer and a 4-2 lead

for the Reds.

The Reds victimized three pitchers in the eighth, with Quinton

McCracken's leadoff pinch homer coming off Adam Wainwright and

Aurilia's double coming against Braden Looper (1-0).

Both teams were again without their starting center fielders.

Edmonds missed his second game with right shoulder soreness after

receiving a cortisone shot on Friday night, and Ken Griffey Jr.

missed his fourth straight start for the Reds with stiffness behind

his right knee.

Both could return to the lineup on Monday. Reds manager Jerry

Narron said Griffey had been available to pinch hit.

Arroyo, the first pitcher in major league history to hit a homer

and earn a victory in each of his first two starts, labored for 94

pitches and is 0-2 with an 8.55 ERA in six career appearances

against St. Louis. He allowed five runs, six hits and three walks

with three strikeouts and was hitless in two at-bats.Game notes
Dunn and Kearns were the last duo to hit consecutive homers

against the Cardinals, doing it in the regular-season finale at old

Busch Stadium on Oct. 2, 2005. ... The last time the Cardinals hit

consecutive homers also came in that game, by Reggie Sanders and

Chris Duncan. ... Mulder was struck below the right knee on a

comebacker in the fourth and limped around for a few minutes before

resuming. He doesn't expect it to affect his next start.