Jones' walk-off blast in 11th sinks Cards

PITTSBURGH -- Albert Pujols made another bit of history Tuesday night but there was no post-game celebration in the St. Louis Cardinals' clubhouse.

Pujols reached 30 home runs for the 11th consecutive season when the first baseman connected in the sixth inning off Pittsburgh's Jeff Karstens. The NL home runs leader is the first player in major league history to hit 30 homers in each of his first 11 seasons.

Yet the milestone was rendered rather moot when Garrett Jones homered to lead off the bottom of the 11th inning to lead the Pirates to a 5-4 victory and drop the second-place Cardinals a season-worst seven games behind Milwaukee in the NL Central.

Pujols' 28 career home runs at PNC Park are his most at any visiting stadium.

"Those are just numbers. They just reflect how great he is," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. "But he is great. He's a real weapon. I can guarantee you, though, he's not happy right now because we lost."

Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols hits a home run during the sixth inning Tuesday in Pittsburgh. (DON WRIGHT ~ Associated Press)

The task of catching the Brewers seems to keep getting tougher each day since Milwaukee has won 18 of its last 20 games. St. Louis was leading the division by a half game before Milwaukee went on its tear.

"Right now, we need to win," said Cardinals starter Chris Carpenter, who struck out 10 over seven innings. "We had a chance to tonight and we didn't pull through. Right now, when you've got [39] games left and you have a chance to win a game, you need to win it and take advantage of that."

The win was just the Pirates' fifth in 21 games since falling out of first place in the NL Central. They trail Milwaukee by 13 games.

Jones' blast came on a 2-2 curveball from Arthur Rhodes (3-4) for his 14th home run. The homer was estimated at 440 feet. It carried over the right-field stands and bounced on one hop off a walkway and into the Allegheny River.

It was Jones' second career game-ending homer. He connected against San Francisco's Bob Howry on July 17, 2009. It also was just his second home run in 51 at-bats against left-handed pitching this season.

"Arthur Rhodes is always tough on lefties and I was just hoping I could get on base against him to start the inning," Jones said. "I was lucky that he hung a curveball there."

While Jones hit a mammoth homer, Pirates center fielder Andrew McCutchen's catch in the top of the 11th was just as impressive. He sprinted into the left-center field gap and made a backhanded grab of Pujols' drive for the final out. Rafael Furcal was running from first base on the pitch and easily could have scored if the ball got past McCutchen.

That capped a frustrating night for the St. Louis offense. It had 10 hits but stranded 11 runners thanks in large part to going 2 for 10 with runners in scoring position.

"It's a tough league. If you can't handle it, go home," La Russa said when asked about frustration. "Either you're going to break their hearts or they're going to break your heart. We'll tough it out and be ready tomorrow."