The pitcher recorded his first win in more than three months as St. Louis beat the Pirates 10-2

By ALAN ROBINSON

The Associated Press

PITTSBURGH -- Runner on third, runner on first, none out in the first and Albert Pujols at bat. No reliever should face such a situation.

The Pirates' Sean Gallagher did. The result almost was predictable.

Pujols hit a three-run home run one pitch after injured Pirates starter Ross Ohlendorf was pulled during a four-run St. Louis first inning, and the Cardinals moved to within a game of the NL wild card lead by beating Pittsburgh 10-2 on Monday night.

"That's a tough inning to go into," Pirates manager John Russell said, sympathizing with Gallagher. "When your starter comes out after two batters, that's a lot of game for the bullpen to cover."

Kyle Lohse (2-5), making his second start since spending nearly three months on the disabled list with a right forearm injury, pitched five scoreless innings before giving up Garrett Jones' two-run homer in the sixth. Lohse was lifted one out later but still won for the first time since May 17.

Pujols has homered in 10 of the Cardinals' last 19 games and added a single and a double.

Yadier Molina also had three of the Cardinals' 14 hits and drove in two runs. St. Louis won its third in a row to cut the Phillies' wild-card lead to one game.

Ohlendorf (1-11) threw only eight pitches before being removed due to soreness and tightness in his right shoulder, but they were enough to give him his fifth consecutive loss.

Ohlendorf walked Skip Schumaker and gave up Jon Jay's single before alerting the bench of his shoulder problem. Pujols then homered on Gallagher's belt-high pitch.

Pujols' homer was his 33rd of the season and 399th of his career.

St. Louis stretched the lead to 7-0 during a three-run fifth.

Lohse struck out four, walked two and gave up two runs and six hits, a much better start than his first since returning to the rotation. He gave up seven runs and six hits in three innings of a 9-7 loss to the Cubs on Aug. 15.

"It's been a long time coming," Lohse said. "It feels good to contribute and have a good outing and get a win. I've still got a lot of room for improvement."

The Pirates lost their sixth in seven games and 13th in 15 games, leaving them 16 losses short of their first 100-loss season since 2001. They must go 22-15 in their remaining 37 games to avoid 100.

Cardinals starting pitcher Kyle Lohse throws to a Pirates batter during the first inning Monday in Pittsburgh. Lohse allowed six hits and two runs in 5 1/3 innings.