Cardinals rough up Peavy

ST. LOUIS — Jake Peavy hopes he gave up four homers in a game for the last time.

His manager is sure of it.

Troy Glaus homered twice and Rick Ankiel and Joe Mather added solo shots of their own Thursday night to help the St. Louis Cardinals beat the San Diego Padres 4-3.

"I'm going to go on the record and say that'll never happen again in Jake's career," Padres manager Bud Black said. "Normally, I tell my pitchers solos don't beat you, but tonight they did."

The Cardinals never even had a runner in scoring position.

It was only the second time in his seven-year career that Peavy (7-6) allowed four homers in a game. The other was July 9, 2003, at Arizona. He gave up eight hits and struck out seven in seven innings.

"Solo home runs can't beat you, but you can't give up four of them on the night," Peavy said. "It was just one of those things. I wasn't aggressive enough."

Kyle Lohse (12-2) won his ninth straight decision, the most for St. Louis since Chris Carpenter won 13 in a row in 2005. Lohse pitched seven innings, allowing two runs, seven hits and two walks while striking out four.

"A lot goes into a winning streak," Lohse said. "They play great defense behind me and score runs."

Ryan Franklin pitched the ninth for his 13th save in 17 opportunities. He gave up a run on consecutive doubles by Kevin Kouzmanoff and Chase Headley before retiring the next three batters, stranding the tying run at third base.

"This guy has great guts," St. Louis manager Tony La Russa said. "That was a clutch recovery."

Glaus tied it at 1-1 in the second, snapping Peavy's 15-inning scoreless streak. The Cardinals took a 3-2 lead in the fourth on back-to-back shots by Ankiel and Glaus.

"When I was in the AL West, I faced him a lot," Glaus said. "He comes at you hard, and fortunately, we were able to take advantage of a couple of mistakes. He didn't put them exactly where he wanted them."

Mather, a rookie pinch-hitting for Lohse, homered in the seventh.

"I've had a chance to get used to this role," Mather said. "He was pretty dirty through the whole game. I thought he'd try and get ahead of me and sneak one in there, but he left one up. I was aggressive and looking for a fastball. I got it."

Glaus has hit four home runs in his last 16 at-bats. It was his 27th multihomer game and second this season. He did it July 2 against the New York Mets.

"It's getting warmer," Glaus said. "That's baseball. It's just a good stretch now."

Noteworthy

* La Russa said the team will activate reliever Randy Flores from the disabled list today.

Flores was placed on the DL on June 26 for left ankle tendinitis. He had walked six of the last 14 batters he faced before going on the DL.

He last pitched June 26, when he threw one inning in an 8-7 loss to the Detroit Tigers.

No decision has been made on who will be sent out when Flores is activated.

* Adam Wainwright, out with an injured finger, threw long toss for the first time Wednesday.