Pujols Wins It For St. Louis In 9th

A night after getting burned in extra innings, it was the Cardinals turn to win late. Albert Pujols blasted a lead off home run in the bottom of the ninth to give St. Louis a 5-4 win over Montreal. It was his 31st home run of the season, which leads the team and is the second-best total in the major leagues. Adam Dunn of Cincinnati also has 31 and Jim Thome of the Phillies leads the way with 32. John Mabry was responsible for the Cardinals other four runs, going 4-4 with four RBI’s and a home run. Mabry gave the Cardinals a 4-3 lead in the seventh inning with a two-run single, but Montreal tied it with an RBI double from Alex Gonzalez. Jeff Suppan lasted five innings and gave up three runs, but got the no-decision. Julian Tavarez improved to 3-3 by working around a hit in the ninth inning. John Mabry drove in three runs. The Cubs also won on Wednesday to St. Louis’ lead in the NL Central remains at nine and a half games.