Pujols homers twice to lead Cards to win

HOUSTON -- Tony La Russa saw signs that Albert Pujols was ready for a big game.

"You never know when it's coming, but the last couple of days he's gotten three or four walks, and that means that he is seeing the ball better and that is when it starts," the St. Louis manager said.

Pujols homered twice, going 4-for-5 with three RBIs Saturday to lead the Cardinals to their fifth straight win over the Houston Astros, 10-3.

"I've been looking for this day for a while. It's been a real roller-coaster ride," Pujols said.

Pujols homered in the first and fifth innings off Wade Miller (5-5), his second multihomer game this season.

Pujols has five homers in his last seven games, raising his season total to 14, which put him among six players in the major league lead.

"I wasn't thinking about hitting home runs, but I knew that Miller has had our number, and we wanted to jump on him early to give Woody Williams the lead right away," Pujols said.

Cody McKay went 4-for-5 for the Cardinals, who had 16 hits, and Roger Cedeno hit his first home run since last Sept. 16.

St. Louis tied the Astros for second in the NL Central at 26-22.

"I didn't need any hits. It was enough for me that we won and that Woody won the game and pitched well," McKay said.

Williams (2-5) gave up three runs and eight hits in six innings.

Houston led 3-2 in the fifth when Pujols' second homer tied the score. Scott Rolen's triple chased Miller, who allowed four runs and seven hits in four-plus innings, and Edgar Renteria's RBI grounder off Mike Gallo put the Cardinals ahead 4-3.

St. Louis added five runs in the eighth.

After McKay's RBI single, Ray Lankford hit a high popup down the right-field line that second baseman Jeff Kent misjudged and allowed to drop for a single. The ball appeared to change course, and Kent and Williams argued that it hit a beam of the roof and was foul. Kent overthrew third on the play for an error that allowed John Mabry to score from second for a 6-3 lead, and when third baseman Jose Vizcaino's throw home hit Mabry in the back, the runners advanced to second and third on the second error. Cedeno followed a three-run homer.