Pujols torments Royals

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Albert Pujols comes through Kansas City once a season. The Royals wouldn't be too disappointed if he never came back.

Pujols finished off a three-day romp in Kansas City with two homers and six RBIs, helping the St. Louis Cardinals rout the Royals 12-5 on Sunday in win No. 2,500 for manager Tony La Russa.

"He's the best hitter in the game," Royals starter Gil Meche said.

Pujols made a mockery of Kansas City pitching in his return to the town where he went to high school, hitting three homers and driving in 10 runs in the Cardinals' three-game sweep over their cross-state rivals.

The two-time NL MVP had four hits Sunday and delivered the decisive blow in the Cardinals' eight-run fourth inning, pounding his club record-tying third grand slam of the season off a window on the Royals Hall of Fame in left. He also had a run-scoring single in the first and added his major league-leading 26th homer -- eighth in 10 games -- in the fifth to put the Cardinals up 12-4.

The Cardinals' Khalil Greene, left, is attended to by a team trainer and manager Tony La Russa after being hit by a pitch during the fourth inning Sunday in Kansas City, Mo. Greene, who was hit in the knee, had to leave the game. (ED ZURGA ~ Associated Press)

"It's nothing special. I'm just seeing good pitches and hitting them," said Pujols, who has 12 homers in 27 career games at Kauffman Stadium.

Pujols tied Stan Musial's team record of nine career grand slams and matched the season mark of three shared by Jim Bottomley (1925), Keith Hernandez (1977) and Fernando Tatis (1999). His fifth multihomer game this season -- 28th career -- helped La Russa join Connie Mack (3,831) and John McGraw (2,763) as the only managers with 2,500 career victories.

"He does it over and over again, and it's impossible to describe how great he is," said La Russa, who has 1,180 wins in 14 seasons with St. Louis. "Albert's amazing."

Pujols wasn't the only one hitting on this day.

Khalil Greene, feeling good after missing 19 games with social anxiety disorder, homered for the third straight game, but had to leave in the fourth inning after being hit on the right knee by a pitch. The Cardinals roughed up Meche (4-6) early and finished with 13 hits for their eighth win in 11 games.

St. Louis Cardinals' Khalil Greene, left, is attended to by a team trainer, center, and manager Tony La Russa, right, after being hit by a pitch in the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Kansas City Royals, Sunday, June 21, 2009, in Kansas City, Mo. The Cardinals won 12-5 and La Russa picked up win No. 2,500. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga)

The outburst made a winner of Adam Wainwright (8-4), even though he gave up five runs and eight hits in six innings. It wasn't much of a surprise. The Cardinals have scored 36 runs in the right-hander's past three starts and average an NL-best 6.85 per game when he's on the mound.

"Early on, he just didn't have enough bite on his pitches," La Russa said. "But he's got great guts and he hung in there."

Meche followed one of his best career performances with one of his worst.

Coming off a 132-pitch four-hitter against Arizona that pushed his scoreless streak to 16 innings, the right-hander allowed a career-high nine runs and nine hits in 3 2/3 innings. It didn't get any better after he left in the fourth inning, when the Cardinals sent 13 batters to the plate and scored eight runs, including one on a bases-loaded walk and another on a wild pitch.

Jose Guillen hit his eighth homer and drove in three runs for Kansas City, which has allowed 53 runs during a five-game losing streak.

"It wasn't good at all," said Meche, who allowed two homers after giving up two in his previous 84 1/3 innings. "Pretty much everything that could happen wrong today did. It's been that way for us the last four or five games. It's definitely tough coming into the clubhouse after every game when you play like that."

Noteworthy

* La Russa is 2,500-2,177 in 31 years as a big league manager with the Chicago White Sox, Oakland and St. Louis.

* Royals center fielder Mitch Maier robbed Chris Duncan of extra bases with a leaping grab against the wall in the first inning.

* The Royals topped the 30,000 mark in attendance for the 12th game this season after doing it just eight times last year.

* The Cardinals swept the Royals in Kansas City for the third time in six years.