Cardinals rally against Pirates

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Scott Rolen took advantage of both chances to redeem himself.

His three-run double in the eighth gave St. Louis the lead and his two-run single added to a 10-run eighth inning as he drove in a career-high six runs to lead the Cardinals past the Pittsburgh Pirates 13-5 Tuesday night.

"I let one get away and not very often do you get a chance to come up and try to get back and drive that guy in," said Rolen, who popped up with runners on first and second in the sixth. "And I got two more chances."

Craig Wilson hit a three-run homer, and Jeff Reboulet and Jack Wilson had solo shots for the Pirates, who lost three of four to the Cardinals in Pittsburgh last week.

"I've seen some crazy things, and I know you guys have, too," Pittsburgh catcher Jason Kendall said. "It's definitely not over till it's over. You can only do one thing and that's put it behind you and go get them tomorrow."

Albert Pujols, who leads the major leagues with a .371 average and has a 30-game hitting streak, started serving a two-game suspension for punching Gary Bennett of the Padres on July 13. Pujols, who dropped his appeal, had flulike symptoms for the third straight day and wasn't at the ballpark.

St. Louis, which stopped a three-game losing streak, had its biggest inning since scoring 10 in the seventh against Arizona last Sept. 23. It was the most runs in an inning against Pittsburgh since San Diego scored 13 on May 31, 1994.

"That felt like a pretty good month, that inning," Rolen said. "I'm happy about driving in six runs and I felt they were big runs, the first four anyway."

Tino Martinez homered for the fourth time in seven games and had two RBIs for the Cardinals, who began a nine-game homestand. St. Louis, whose .283 batting average was second in the NL coming in, won by eight or more runs for the seventh time this year.

"They're a good hitting team," Pirates manager Lloyd McClendon said. "Take a look at the offensive numbers. They don't lie."

With Pittsburgh leading 5-3 in the eighth, Orlando Palmeiro and Edgar Renteria singled and Jim Edmonds walked against Joe Beimel (1-3). Rolen doubled off Julian Tavarez, and pinch-hitter So Taguchi added a two-run single.

Bo Hart followed with an RBI double. Renteria had a two-run double for his fourth hit. Rolen capped the inning with a two-out, two-run single off Pat Mahomes.

Cal Eldred (6-4) allowed a hit and had a strikeout in a scoreless eighth.

Pittsburgh's Brian Meadows allowed three runs in five-plus innings and ended an 0-for-28 slump at the plate with his first hit since he singled for San Diego off the Pirates' Kris Benson on July 20, 2000.

Starter Jeff Fassero faced the Pirates for the second straight start and gave up four runs in five innings. Reboulet's second homer put the Pirates ahead in the first and the Cardinals tied it in the bottom half of the inning on three singles, the last by Rolen. Martinez' 14th homer gave St. Louis a 2-1 lead in the fourth before the Pirates went in front to stay.

Brian Giles doubled with two outs in the fifth to start a three-run rally. Reggie Sanders walked before Craig Wilson hit his ninth homer.

Jack Wilson's eighth homer off Esteban Yan made it 5-2 in the sixth. The Cardinals got a run back in the bottom of the sixth when Renteria hit a leadoff double and scored on a one-out groundout by Martinez.

Notes: Pirates pitchers have allowed 18 homers in the last 12 games. ... The Cardinals were 5-for-35 with runners in scoring position over a four-game span before Rolen's double. ... Yan has been scored upon in 18 of his 37 games with St. Louis.