St. Louis survives slugfest in Cincinatti

CINCINNATI -- Scott Rolen hit two of the Cardinals' four homers, repeatedly blunting Cincinnati's comeback and sending the Reds to their eighth straight loss, 11-10 on Wednesday.

Jim Edmonds homered in all three games of the series sweep, which put the Cardinals 11 games up in the NL Central. St. Louis is 42-14 since May 27, digging itself out of a fifth-place hole.

The Cardinals have had two constants during the spurt: They can beat anyone on the road, and they own the Reds.

St. Louis is 34-16 on the road, best in the majors, and hasn't had a losing trip all season.

The Cardinals have been even better against the Reds, winning 11 of 13. They've played 10 times in July and won nine, including three-game sweeps at Busch Stadium and Great American Ball Park.

Right-hander Jeff Suppan, who hasn't lost on the road this season, walked a career-high 10 in 4 2/3 innings, helping the Reds recover from an 8-1 deficit.

Adam Dunn led off the fifth with his 28th homer, and Barry Larkin had a pinch-hit grand slam off Steve Kline that cut it to 8-7 later in the inning.

Just like that, the Cardinals pulled away again. Rolen led off the sixth with his 22nd homer, and Reggie Sanders doubled home another run. Rolen hit another solo homer in the seventh, his fourth multihomer game of the season.

Rolen also doubled in the ninth, his fourth hit of the game. St. Louis matched its season high with 19 hits.

Cal Eldred (2-0) was awarded the victory for his two perfect innings. Jason Isringhausen gave up an RBI single by Jason LaRue that cut it to 11-10 in the eighth, but got the last five outs for his 26th save in 30 chances.

Cardinals pitchers walked 13 batters in all, and five of them scored.

St. Louis piled up seven runs in 4 1/3 innings against Jose Acevedo (4-10), who remained winless in six starts in July.

Wily Mo Pena stretched over the 8-foot wall in center to steal a three-run homer from Albert Pujols in the fourth.

First baseman Sean Casey threw away Suppan's squeeze bunt with the bases loaded in the fifth, sending home two runs, and Tony Womack hit a three-run homer off Todd Van Poppel for an 8-1 lead.