Redbirds finally get chance to celebrate

MILWAUKEE -- Now the St. Louis Cardinals can celebrate their NL Central championship.

Two days after they clinched it.

Albert Pujols hit a tiebreaking single in the ninth inning, and the Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers 7-4 Monday night for their major league-leading 98th victory.

St. Louis ensured its third division title in five seasons on Saturday when the Cardinals beat Arizona 7-0, and San Francisco and the Chicago Cubs both lost.

But manager Tony La Russa refused to acknowledge that his team had already won the crown, both before and after Sunday's 3-2 loss to Arizona.

La Russa wanted to clinch it on the field. He stormed out of his postgame news conference after angrily responding to a question about delaying the traditional champagne celebration.

The Cardinals were ready to party Monday night, though.

They packed up more than 20 cases of champagne and boxes of championship hats and T-shirts and had the team's clubhouse attendants drive it all up to Miller Park in two pickup trucks that arrived 45 minutes before Monday's game.

After Milwaukee's Trent Durrington grounded out for the final out, the Cardinals smiled and shook hands in a subdued celebration.

St. Louis capitalized on Luis Vizcaino's wildness to tie it at 4 in the eighth, then went ahead with three runs in the ninth for their 44th comeback win.

Dan Kolb (0-4) gave up a single to Tony Womack in the ninth and a walk to So Taguchi before Pujols lined a single to center to drive in Womack. One out later, Roger Cedeno drove in Taguchi with an infield single, and Edgar Renteria knocked in Pujols with a single, chasing Kolb.

In the eighth, Renteria doubled with one out off Vizcaino. Mike Matheny hit into a fielder's choice and Ray Lankford pinch-ran for him. With Jim Edmonds pinch-hitting, Lankford advanced to third on a pair of wild pitches. After Edmonds walked, Lankford scored on a passed ball to tie the game.

Julian Tavarez (7-4) got the final out in the eighth for the win. Jason Isringhausen pitched a perfect ninth for his 43rd save in 50 chances.

In the seventh, a suicide squeeze by Bill Hall gave the Brewers a 4-3 lead.

Reliever Mike Adams couldn't hold a 3-2 lead in the top of the seventh for the Brewers.

Marlon Anderson singled and stole second before Taguchi's two-out double tied the game. Pujols was walked intentionally before Vizcaino took over.

Matt Morris made his team-leading 31st start for St. Louis. He left after five innings with the score tied at 2.

Morris allowed one earned run and five hits. He walked one and struck out seven.

The Cardinals jumped ahead 2-0 on a pair of sacrifice flies off Brewers rookie Jorge de la Rosa, the third consecutive left-hander they faced.

Pujols hit the first sacrifice fly in the first, and Womack followed with one in the second.

The Brewers got one run back in the second on Mark Johnson's sacrifice fly. Chris Magruder's run-scoring single in the fourth tied it at 2.

De La Rosa allowed two runs and five hits in five innings in his third career start.

Notes: The Cardinals started Taguchi in center field in place of Edmonds to give Edmonds a breather. ... Womack's single extended his hitting streak to a season-high 13 games. ... Cardinals 3B Scott Rolen missed his ninth straight start with a strained left calf.