After missing five days with a herniated disc in his neck, Cardinals right fielder Larry Walker blasted two home runs in an 11-3 win for St. Louis. His two-run homer in the second inning tied the game at 2-2. In the third he hit another two-run shot to give the Cardinals a 5-2 advantage. He has nine home runs on the season.
Reggie Sanders hit a solo homer in the fifth and Jim Edmonds nailed a three-run shot in the sixth. Sanders has 17 long balls on the season and Edmonds has 15.
While the Cardinals were pounding out 11 runs off 12 hits, Matt Morris was taking care of business on the mound. Morris (9-1) lasted seven innings and surrendered two runs off six hits and no walks with three strikeouts. 71 of his 96 pitches were strikes. Cal Eldred and Carmen Cali pitched an inning of relief apiece to close out the game.
Reds starter Ramon Ortiz (3-6) completed just two innings and was tagged for six runs off four hits, but only four of those runs were earned as Cincinnati committed three errors on the night.
With the win the Cardinals move to 49-28 on the season and are 21 games over .500 for the second time in 2005.
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