Suppan improves to 10-0 on road in Cards' 5-4 win

DENVER -- Albert Pujols homered, Jeff Suppan improved to 10-0 on the road and the St. Louis Cardinals made a winner of Larry Walker in his return to Colorado by beating the Rockies 5-4 Friday night.

Edgar Renteria had three RBIs to lead the Cardinals' offense. Walker went 0-for-4 in his first game back at Coors Field since the Rockies traded him to St. Louis on Aug. 6.

Walker, who spent 9 1/2 seasons with Colorado and is largely considered the best player to wear a Rockies uniform, said before the game it was such an emotional return that "I'm almost not looking forward to it."

While his game was nothing memorable, the effort Suppan (16-8) put in was.

Throwing first-pitch strikes to 19 of 31 batters, he struck out five. He allowed solo homers to Jorge Piedra and Todd Helton, and an RBI single to Vinny Castilla in the sixth. Suppan loaded the bases later in the sixth, but got Brad Hawpe to fly out to end the inning.

The right-hander gave up three runs, six hits and three walks in 7 2-3 innings. Ray King retired the final batter of the eighth and got one out in the ninth before allowing a double to Luis Gonzalez.

Kiko Calero gave up an RBI single to pinch-hitter Mark Sweeney before finishing it for his second save.

Suppan snapped his two-game losing streak, but both those games were at home. On the road is where he's dominant, and he showed it again in his best start anywhere since allowing two hits over eight innings in a 1-0 win at Florida on Aug. 11.

The Cardinals won their 101st game. St. Louis manager Tony La Russa played his regulars -- minus Scott Rolen, who is nursing nagging leg injuries -- even though his team clinched the NL Central last week and is already guaranteed the best record in the National League.

Pujols and Renteria each had RBI singles in the first to give St. Louis the early lead against Jason Jennings (11-12).

Jennings allowed 10 hits over seven innings. Unlike his last five starts, where he pitched effectively only to wind up with a no-decision, he got a decision this time. He remained winless since Aug. 17 and failed in his final shot this season for win No. 24 victory at Coors Field, which would have tied the record held by Pedro Astacio.

With his sixth-inning RBI, Castilla reached 128 for the season, opening up a seven-RBI lead over Rolen in the chase for the NL crown.

Walker, who waived his no-trade clause to go to the Cardinals, never made it interesting for the crowd, which greeted him with a lot of cheers and a very small smattering of boos. He didn't get the ball out of the infield, striking out twice and grounding to first twice before leaving the game in the seventh inning.

Notes: The Cardinals improved to 78-30 since May 27 and matched the 101 victories the 1985 NL pennant-winning team won. They need three more wins to match the winningest Cards teams of all-time, in 1942 and 1944. Those teams played a 152-game schedule... This was St. Louis' first visit to Colorado since April 8-10, 2003. ... St. Louis maintained a 4 1/2-game lead over the Yankees in the race for the best record in the majors.