Cardinals 7, Astros 4
Jake Westbrook battled through 5 1/3 innings and helped his own cause with a three-run double as the visiting St. Louis Cardinals secured their fourth straight win with a 7-4 victory over the Houston Astros on Tuesday.
Lance Berkman, who missed Sunday’s game after getting a cortisone shot in his aching right wrist, hit a two-run homer in the first and Albert Pujols hit his fifth homer in the last four games – a solo blast – for the Cardinals in the eighth.
Westbrook (6-3) allowed eight hits and three runs – two earned – but made up for it at the plate. After Brett Myers (5-2) intentionally walked Daniel Descalso to load the bases in the fourth, Westbrook made the Astros pay for the decision.
The former American Leaguer, who had a total of three career RBIs entering the game, doubled that mark when he laced a double into the gap in left-center to clear the bases and put St. Louis on top 5-2.
Fernando Salas worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth and pitched the ninth for his 11th save.
Hunter Pence extended his career-best hitting streak to 18 games with a single in the first for the Astros, and Ryan Theriot hit in his 20th consecutive with an RBI double in the ninth for St. Louis.