Cards beat Friday rain delay, Reds

ST. LOUIS -- Tony La Russa guessed right, saving his starting pitcher for after a lengthy rain delay.

Then it was up to Kyle McClellan.

McClellan worked six-plus innings after substitute starter Miguel Batista had time to throw only six pitches in a 4-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Friday night.

"That was the risk," La Russa said. "There was a strong chance there was going to be rain, and I didn't want to blow Kyle out. The forecasts were flying fast and furious."

Albert Pujols had two RBIs and Ryan Theriot had three hits and scored twice for the Cardinals against a collection of relievers for the Reds, who burned ace Edinson Volquez after pre-game warmups were followed by a delay of 2 hours, 10 minutes and ended up with Matt Maloney (0-1) as a substitute starter.

"I'm going to give the Cardinals two thumbs up for what they did," Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips said. "They changed their pitcher on us at the last minute. That was a very smart thing to do.

"The next thing you know, they brought in their starter who was going to start the game, and he was fresh."

Reds manager Dusty Baker thought the forecast was favorable to play much longer. He said Volquez perhaps could start tonight in the series finale.

"The information we received was probably not the same information they received," Baker said. "We probably shouldn't have started in the first place. We thought there was going to be a window of opportunity."

Batista opened with a four-pitch walk to Drew Stubbs and threw two more pitches to Phillips before a fierce storm prompted tornado warning sirens at least three times, bringing the game to a halt.

"It was bad. They put me out of the game and I was throwing a no-no," Batista said jokingly.

Phillips homered and Stubbs had two hits and a steal for the Reds. Phillips was booed mercilessly before each at-bat and pumped his fist in triumph after singling in the third but kept his head down while sprinting around the bases after his second homer in the fifth.

Phillips joked he'd changed his name to "Boo."

"They were just calling my name. I feel like I was back at home," Phillips said. "The fans, they love me here."

Maloney faced 15 hitters in two-plus innings in his first start since July 11, 2010, at Philadelphia. He gave up eight hits and a walk, but left trailing only 3-0 because of some key outs. He struck out Yadier Molina with the bases loaded to end the first and stranded two more runners in the second when Matt Holliday popped to center for the third out.

The Reds were 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position against McClellan (3-0).