Cardinals avoid sweep

CHICAGO -- Albert Pujols homering against the Chicago Cubs is no surprise. Yadier Molina doing it this year isn't, either.

Pujols hit his 31st home run and Molina connected twice to help the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Cubs 6-2 on Sunday night.

Pujols had four hits and took the National League lead in homers. Matt Holliday added three hits and John Jay homered, doubled and scored twice for St. Louis.

"A big win, feels good," Pujols said. "I don't know what it is, over the last two or three road trips, we haven't started our road trips the way we wanted to. But it feels good to get a win tonight."

The win halted the Cardinals' recent slide. They finished their road trip 2-4. St. Louis remained 8 1/2 games behind Milwaukee in the NL Central.

Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina watches his two-run home run during the sixth inning Sunday in Chicago. (JIM PRISCHING ~ Associated Press)

"We're not worried about what Milwaukee is doing," Pujols said. "They're going to take care of their business and we're going to take care of ours."

It was Molina's second career multihomer game and his first since Aug. 16, 2007, at Milwaukee.

"It's fun, but for me it's about the win," Molina said. "I try to contribute in the game and try to do the right thing to win the game. We did it tonight."

Molina already has surpassed his previous high with 11 homers this season, and his slugging percentage of .457 is nearly 80 points above his lifetime mark, a career season at the plate for the catcher who has won the NL's last three Gold Gloves.

"Yadier has been the same hitter since he came up in 2004," Pujols said. "When a guy doesn't strike out and puts the ball in play a lot like he does, there's a pretty good chance that the guy is going to be a pretty good hitter."

Cubs catcher Geovany Soto looks on as Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols celebrates his solo home run during the fifth inning Sunday in Chicago. (JIM PRISCHING ~ Associated Press)

Pujols' solo shot in the fifth was his 53rd career homer against the Cubs, the most he's hit against any team. Pujols also singled three times for his fourth four-hit game of the season.

Jake Westbrook (10-7) held the Cubs to seven hits and two runs over seven innings, beating Chicago for the first time in three starts this season to help the Cardinals salvage the last game of a three-game series.

"I thought [Westbrook] came up big," La Russa said. "He knew what was at stake here. So he gave us a lift. He went out there and gave us exactly what we needed."

Jason Motte and Fernando Salas finished off the Cubs with two perfect innings.

Rodrigo Lopez (4-4) allowed four homers and five runs over 5 1/3 innings. He said only two of the four home runs came off mistakes.

Cardinals starter Jake Westbrook delivers during the first inning Sunday.

"Two were bad pitches," Lopez said. "First one to Molina and the one to Pujols. The others I had my pitches where I wanted it. That was the game."

Pujols has homered three times off Lopez this season after entering the season 0 for 11 against the veteran righty.