The Cardinals got a good performance from Jason Marquis and enough offense to down the Red 5-1 on Wednesday night at Busch Stadium. Marquis (13-14) lasted seven innings and scattered eight hits and a walk to get the win. The only run he allowed was a seventh inning homer to Edwin Encarcion in the seventh inning.
Marquis was given a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Larry Walker drove in Albert Pujols with a two-out double for the first run of the game. Later in the inning, Abraham Nunez drove in a run with a single.
Walker, however, isn’t expected to play in this weekend’s series against the Brewers because he’s returning to St. Louis to get his fourth cortisone shot for a herniated disc in his neck.
St. Louis had a 4-0 advantage after David Eckstein blasted a two-run homer off Reds’ starter Ramon Ortiz in the second inning. It was Eckstein’s eighth home run of the season.
In the fifth, So Taguchi also hit his eighth homer of the year, a solo shot. That gave the Cardinals a 5-0 bulge.
Pujols went 3-for-4 on the night and upped his batting average to .337. Mark Grudzielanek, who twisted his ankle on Tuesday, was 0-for-4.