The Cardinals erased a 7-1 second-inning deficit to beat the Cubs 11-8 on Tuesday. Albert Pujols led the way with three home runs and a 5-5 performance with five RBI’s. His third home run broke an 8-8 tie in the ninth inning. So Taguchi drove in two runs and his eighth-inning homer tied the game. Matt Morris was charged with seven runs and never made it out of the second inning and Cal Eldred was also charged with a run. After that, Steve Kline, Kiko Calero, Ray King and Jason Isringhausen held the Cubs scoreless. Isringhausen loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth but got out of the jam to earn his 24th save of the season. King got the win in relief to improve to 3-0. The win increased St. Louis’ led in the National League Central to 9 ½ games over the Reds, who moved into second place. The Cubs, who are ten games out of first, are in third place and the Brewers are 11 ½ out. St. Louis and Milwaukee will square off for two games at Busch Stadium starting tonight.
