Cardinals 5, Cubs 4 (12)
Albert Pujols’ second home run of the game, a solo shot in the bottom of the 12th inning, lifted the St. Louis Cardinals to a 5-4 walk-off win over the visiting Chicago Cubs on Saturday.
Pujols appears to have found his power stroke with three homers in the last two games to push his season total to 12. The All-Star slugger drove in four of the Cardinals’ five runs Saturday and finished with three hits for his fourth multi-hit game in the last six contests.
Knotted at 4-4 in the 12th, the Cubs brought in righthander Jeff Samardzija (3-2), who quickly retired the first two batters. Pujols came up next and reached down for a 2-1 slider at the knees, taking it over the wall in left.
Eduardo Sanchez (2-1) struck out a pair in two perfect innings to earn the win.
Carlos Pena hit a two-run homer for the Cubs, who have lost five straight and seven of eight to fall 10 games below .500 (23-33).
Matt Carpenter recorded his first major league hit for St. Louis in the bottom of the ninth, flaring a hit into left field and stretching it into a double.