HOUSTON — Joel Pineiro rediscovered his midseason form and inched the St. Louis Cardinals closer to the National League Central title.
Pineiro allowed five hits in seven effective innings and the Cardinals cut their magic number for clinching the division to two Tuesday night with an 11-2 victory over the Houston Astros.
Pineiro (15-11) struck out four and threw only 87 pitches to win for the first time in four starts. He had lost hispast two outings, but looked more like the pitcher who won eight consecutive decisions between July 3-Sept. 1 against the Astros.
"I think I've been steady out there, that's the main thing," Pineiro said. "If I carry something from here to my next start, we'll go from there."
Yadier Molina hit a two-run home run and Colby Rasmus hit a home run for the Cardinals, who reached 15 hits for the second consecutive game.
The Cardinals have scored 18 runs in two games in Houston after mustering only 11 in the previous five.
"We have a good offense, a lot of talent," Manager Tony La Russa said. "We have guys who can make a good argument to play and they're not in the lineup. That tells me we're deep and good."
The Astros have lost nine consecutive, their longest skid since losing 10 in a row in May 2007. Interim manager Dave Clark fell to 0-2 sincereplacing the fired Cecil Cooper on Monday.
Yorman Bazardo (0-2), making his sixth career start for Houston, retired the first seven batters, but the Cardinals made it 3-0 in the third inning.
Julio Lugo walked, advanced on Pineiro's bunt and scored on Skip Schumaker's single to center. Rasmus then walked before Schumaker scored on Albert Pujols' single up the middle. With Matt Holliday batting, Pujols was caught in a rundown between first and second and Rasmus scored.
CUBS 7, BREWERS 2
Derrek Lee hit his 35th home run and drove in two runs to set a career mark with 109 RBI as Chicago beat host Milwaukee. The Cubs won their third consecutive since suspending Milton Bradley for the season. Brewers slugger Prince Fielder led off the second with his 41st home run to extend his franchisebest RBI mark to 129.
REDS 10, PIRATES 4 Scott Rolen had 3 hits and 3 RBI, Joey Votto had 3 doubles and scored 3 runs as Cincinnati beat host Pittsburgh, clinching the Pirates' third consecutive last-place finish in the NL Central. Pittsburgh (56-93) lost for the 21st time in 24 games, the Pirates' worst stretch since they lost 24 of 28 from July 13-Aug. 15, 1985. Andrew McCutchen had a home run andtwo RBI and Garrett Jones and Lastings Milledge had three hits each for Pittsburgh.
PHILLIES 9-0, MARLINS 3-3
Anibal Sanchez (3-7) allowed two hits in eight innings to beat Philadelphia for the first time in five career decisions as host Florida got a doubleheader split. Joe Blanton (11-7) gave up two hits in seven shutout innings to outpitch Marlins ace Josh Johnson (15-5) in the first game as Philadelphia reduced to five its magic number forclinching the NL East. Sanchez struck out seven and walked two in his longest outing since Sept. 16, 2006. The right-hander, spent two stints on the disabled list this year with shoulder sprains. Jamie Moyer (12-10), who had won his previous eight games in Miami, allowed 3 runs - including 2 home runs - in 7 innings. Blanton struck out nine and walked two. Johnson twice struck out the side and had 10 strikeouts in 5 innings, but he gave up 7 hits and 4 runs.
BRAVES 3, METS 1
Jair Jurrjens (13-10) won his third consecutive start, pitching seven innings of five-hit ball as Atlanta won its sixth consecutive road game, beating New York. The 23-year-old right-hander improved to 6-1 in 8 career starts against the Mets, including 4-0 in 5 outings this year.
DODGERS 14, NATIONALS 2
Rafael Furcal drove in four runs, Hiroki Kuroda (8-6) won his third consecutive start, allowing no earned runs and four hits over six innings, as Los Angeles handed host Washington its third consecutive loss. The Dodgers' sixth victory in seven games lowered their magic number for clinching a postseason berth to three.
American League ROYALS 5, RED SOX 1 Zack Greinke (15-8) gave up two hits in six scoreless innings as host Kansas City beat Boston. Greinke is 3-0 with a 0.26 ERA in his past 5 starts, allowing 18 hits and1 earned run in 35 innings. Grienke has lowered his major leading-leading ERA to 2.08. Greinke became the first Royals pitcher to win at least 15 games in a season since Paul Byrd won 17 in 2002. Greinke has failed to earn a victory in six starts in which he allowed none or one run.
MARINERS 4, RAYS 3
Jose Lopez broke a 3-3 tie with his 25th home run with one out in the eighth as visiting Seattle eliminated defending AL champion Tampa Bay from the postseason. Ichiro Suzuki hit a two-run home run for the Mariners, who ended the Rays' four-game winning streak.
TIGERS 3, INDIANS 1
Detroit's Edwin Jackson (13-7) pitched 7 shutout innings and improved to 4-0 in 5 starts against host Cleveland this season. The Indians lost their ninth consecutive. Jackson gave up seven hits and got out of jams in the fifth and sixth with inningending double plays.
TWINS 8, WHITE SOX 6 Michael Cuddyer, who was 3 for 4 and a triple short of the cycle, hit a go-ahead home run in the sixth as Minnesota beat host Chicago for its eighth victory in nine games.
BLUE JAYS 6, ORIOLES 5 Aaron Hill, who also hit a home run, doubled home the winning run in the bottom of the 11th as host Toronto handed Baltimore its sixth consecutive loss. Hill reached 100 RBI for the first time. Hill drove in Jose Bautista, who walked to lead off the 11th.
Tuesday's games NATIONAL LEAGUE Philadelphia 9-0, Florida 3-3 Cincinnati 10, Pittsburgh 4 LA Dodgers 14, Washington 2 Atlanta 3, N.Y. Mets 1 Chicago Cubs 7, Milwaukee 2 St. Louis 11, Houston 2 Colorado 11, San Diego 10 San Francisco at Arizona, (n) AMERICAN LEAGUE Detroit 3, Cleveland 1 Toronto 6, Baltimore 5, 11 innings Seattle 4, Tampa Bay 3 Kansas City 5, Boston 1 Minnesota 8, Chicago White Sox 6 NY Yankees at LA Angels, (n) Texas at Oakland, (n)
Sports, Pages 19, 22 on 09/23/2009