Cards win 5th in a row

The AssociatedPress

ST. LOUIS -- Darryl Kile allowed two hits in seven innings as the St. Louis Cardinals extended their winning streak to five, beating the Cincinnati Reds 3-1 Friday night.

Fernando Vina's sacrifice fly off Scott Sullivan (3-1) snapped a seventh-inning tie for the Cardinals, who ended Cincinnati's four-game winning streak.

St. Louis (21-20) has won seven of eight overall, closing within four games of first-place Cincinnati and moving above .500 for the first time since April 19 (9-8).

Albert Pujols hit his sixth home run, and first at home, and also doubled for the Cardinals. Pinch-hitter Miguel Cairo added an eighth-inning sacrifice fly for St. Louis, which has outscored opponents 31-12 during their streak.

The game was played in 47-degree weather and began after a 59-minute rain delay. There were more than 10,500 no-shows among the 36,103 who bought tickets.

Pitching in short sleeves, Kile (2-3) ended his three-game losing streak, allowing one run and five walks against the team that beat him 8-1 last Saturday in Cincinnati. Kile held the Reds without a hit until Jason LaRue singled to start the sixth, and gave up a run in the seventh when he hit LaRue with a pitch with the bases loaded.

Kile won for the first time since April 24. The Reds stranded four runners his last two innings.