Associated Press
 Kendrick (5-4) surrendered seven runs in five innings, coughing up a 4-2 lead as the Phillies lost for the fourth time in five games. |
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ST. LOUIS — No worries about offense on Matt Holliday’s day off. The St. Louis Cardinals had plenty of it without their cleanup hitter.
Albert Pujols’ two-run home run in the fifth inning began a barrage of four long balls in a span of six at-bats and Blake Hawksworth survived a rocky start in the St. Louis Cardinals’ 8-4 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Monday night.
They didn’t need Holliday, who got a day off.
“That was something you didn’t see too much in the first half, but we knew it was coming around,” Pujols said. “Hopefully we can continue to swing the bats the way we are, and play defense, too.”
Rookie Allen Craig added his first career homer and Skip Schumaker hit his third of the season in a five-run fifth against Kyle Kendrick. Randy Winn led off the sixth with a pinch-hit shot off Chad Durbin. The four-homer game tied a season best for the NL Central leaders, who have won a season-high six in a row and are a season-best 11 games over .500 (52-41).
Kendrick (5-4) surrendered seven runs in five innings, coughing up a 4-2 lead as the Phillies lost for the fourth time in five games. Ryan Howard, who grew up in suburban St. Louis, had two hits and an RBI and is a .382 hitter with seven homers and 30 RBIs in 18 games at 5-year-old Busch Stadium.
Kendrick had been 4-0 with a 1.67 ERA in five previous starts against the Cardinals, including seven shutout innings May 5 in Philadelphia, a game in which Cardinals manager Tony La Russa joked, “We couldn’t hit the ball past the pitcher.”
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