ST. LOUIS — As soon as Matt Holliday joined Albert Pujols in the middle of the lineup, the St. Louis Cardinals took off.
Holliday and Colby Rasmus each hit three-run home runs to power the surging Cardinals past the Washington Nationals 9-4 on Saturday night.
Holliday is hitting .376 with 8 home runs and 32 RBI since joining the Cardinals on July 24. The NL Central leaders are 24-9 during that stretch, including a 17-4 mark over their past 21 games.
St. Louis is a season-high 21 games over .500 at 76-55.
"Our pitchers have been carrying us," Holliday said. "It's nice to give them a little bit of a cushion because they've been pitching so great."
Pujols went 2 for 3 with 2 doubles, 2runs scored and an RBI for the Cardinals. Pujols also drew two walks, including his major league-leading 39th intentional pass. Skip Schumaker had three hits, including two doubles, and an RBI.
"That's what makes their lineup good is they have multiple guys that can hurt you," Washington starter Craig Stammen said.
Cardinals starter Mitchell Boggs (2-2) was the beneficiary of all that offense. He went 6 innings, allowing 8 hits and 3 runs with a walk and a strikeout.
"We had solid at-bats up and down the lineup, which we're capable of doing," St. Louis Manager Tony La Russa said.
Adam Dunn hit his 35th home run and Ryan Zimmerman drove in two runs for the Nationals on a single and a sacrifice fly, giving him 90 RBI. Wil Nieves drove in Washington's other run on a fielder's choice.
BRAVES 9, PHILLIES 1
Garret Anderson hit a three-run home run off Cliff Lee (Benton, ArkansasRazorbacks) and three other Braves hit home runs to help visiting Atlanta hand Philadelphia's new ace his first NL loss in a rain-shortened game.
BREWERS 7, PIRATES 3
Pinch-hitter JodyGerut doubled to score the go-ahead run and Milwaukee rallied off Kevin Hart's wildness for its 20th consecutive victory over Pittsburgh in Milwaukee.
CUBS 11, METS 4
Jake Fox hit his first career grand slam, Milton Bradley extended his hitting tear and Chicago beat visiting New York.
DIAMONDBACKS 9, ASTROS 0
Mark Reynolds hit his 40th home run, Jon Garland (8-11) threw seven sharp innings and Arizona routed visiting Houston.
DODGERS 11, REDS 4
Manny Ramirez hit the first of Los Angeles' four home runs, and the visiting Dodgers blew a four-run lead before powering their way to a victory that ended Cincinnati's longest winning streak of the season at five games.
GIANTS 5, ROCKIES 3
Barry Zito (9-11) carried a shutout into the ninth inning, Pablo Sandoval hit a home run and San Francisco got within a game of visiting Colorado for the NL wild card by beating them.
PADRES 7, MARLINS 4
In Miami, Tony Gwynn Jr.'s two-run triple broke an eighth-inning tie, Oscar Salazar had three hits and visiting San Diego beat Florida.
American League ATHLETICS 4, ANGELS 3 Rajai Davis tied the score with a two-run single in the seventh inning andpinch-runner Eric Patterson scored the go-ahead run on an infield out in the eighth, leading visiting Oakland to a victory over Los Angeles.
INDIANS 5, ORIOLES 3
Andy Marte hit a threerun home run following a 97-minute rain delay, Jhonny Peralta also connected and visiting Cleveland rallied to beat Baltimore.
RANGERS 3, TWINS 0
Scott Feldman (14-4) gave visiting Texas another strong start, holding Minnesota scoreless into the sixth inning and helping the Rangers keep pace in the wild-card chase.
RAYS 3, TIGERS 1
David Price had the longest outing of his young career to help visiting Tampa Bay beat Detroit. He lasted 7 1 /3 innings and allowed a run and five hits. Price (7-6) struck out four and walked one.
RED SOX 3, BLUE JAYS 2 In Boston, Clay Buchholz allowed just three singles in 8 1 /3 innings, and Alex Gonzalez and Dustin Pedroia's RBI singles made up for a Boston offense that sputtered in the early innings as the Red Sox defeated Toronto.
YANKEES 10, WHITE SOX 0 Sergio Mitre shook off the rust and pitched sharply before getting struck by a line drive in the seventh inning, combining with Chad Gaudin on a one-hitter as New York routed visiting Chicago.
Saturday's games NATIONAL LEAGUE LA Dodgers 11, Cincinnati 4 Chicago Cubs 11, NY Mets 4 San Diego 7, Florida 4 Atlanta 9, Philadelphia 1, 8 innings Milwaukee 7, Pittsburgh 3 St. Louis 9, Washington 4 Arizona 9, Houston 0 San Francisco 5, Colorado 3 AMERICAN LEAGUE NY Yankees 10, Chicago White Sox 0 Tampa Bay 3, Detroit 1 Cleveland 5, Baltimore 3 Texas 3, Minnesota 0 Boston 3, Toronto 2 Oakland 4, LA Angels 3 Kansas City at Seattle, (n)
Sports, Pages 26 on 08/30/2009