Pujols homers in Cards’ victory; Ohlendorf hurt

Associated Press

PITTSBURGH

Albert Pujols hit a three-run home run one pitch after injured Pirates starter Ross Ohlendorf was pulled during a four-run St. Louis first inning, and the Cardinals moved to within a game of the NL wild card lead by beating Pittsburgh 10-2 on Monday night.

Kyle Lohse (2-5), making his second start since spending nearly three months on the disabled list with a right forearm injury, pitched five scoreless innings before giving up Garrett Jones’ two-run homer in the sixth. Lohse was lifted one out later, but still won for the first time since May 17 against Washington.

Pujols had another big night, homering in his 10th game of the Cardinals’ last 19 while adding a single and a double in five at-bats. Pujols has eight homers in 22 games against Pittsburgh since last season.

Yadier Molina also had three of the Cardinals’ 14 hits and drove in two runs as they won their third in a row overall to cut the Phillies’ wild-card lead to a single game. The Phillies lost 3-2 at home to Houston.

Ohlendorf (1-11) threw only eight pitches before being removed due to soreness and tightness in his right shoulder, but they were enough to give him his fifth consecutive loss. According to STATS LLC, only four starting pitchers — including Tom Glavine and Roger Clemens — have thrown fewer pitches in a loss dating to 1988.

The right-hander walked Skip Schumaker and gave up Jon Jay’s single before alerting the bench of his shoulder problem. Pujols then homered on reliever Sean Gallagher’s first pitch, a drive that cleared the Cardinals bullpen in center field and landed in the Pirates bullpen behind it.

Pujols’ homer was his 33rd of the season and 399th of his career, leaving him one away from becoming the 47th major leaguer with 400.