St Louis squandered a 6-0 lead against the New York Mets but, Albert Pujols produced the knockout blow in the 13th inning to seal an 8-7 win for the Cards on Wednesday, putting them back into a tie for the NL Central lead.
The Mets (51-50) forced extra innings with a four-run rally in the eighth, but could not complete the storybook ending.
Pujols slashed a single off Pedro Feliciano to score Skip Schumaker and hand veteran reliever Mike MacDougal the win. MacDougal had joined the club before the game from the Cards’ Triple-A affiliate Memphis.
“It was a tough game,” Cardinals (56-45) manager Tony La Russa told reporters in his office after the four-hour, 32-minute marathon. “It felt like working ball rather than playing ball. Give the Mets credit for coming back the way they did.”
Mets manager Jerry Manuel liked his club’s fighting spirit even as they took their 10th loss from their last 13 games.
“We put ourselves back in the game,” Manuel said. “At least we threw a punch back.”
The Mets’ chances looked bleak after the first inning when the Cardinals stunned ace left-hander Johan Santana with a six-run outburst, highlighted by a two-run homer from Matt Holliday and a two-run single by starting pitcher Jaime Garcia.
The St Louis scoring spree resulted in the most runs and hits (eight) allowed in an opening frame by Santana.
New York hit back with two runs in the bottom of the first and one in the sixth on a Carlos Beltran homer.
Trailing 7-3 going into the eighth the Mets scored four runs to tie the game, Angel Pagan smacking a two-run homer and rookie Ike Davis delivering a two-run, pinch-hit single to send the crowd of 35,000 into roaring delight.
The last time Santana and Garcia faced each other back in April, the teams played 20 innings before New York won 2-1.
Pujols said he had a flashback about that contest.
“It went through my mind,” Pujols said. “Not again.”
The win saw St Louis join the Cincinnati Reds on top of their division.
Padres 6, Dodgers 1
In San Diego, California, Jerry Hairston Jr drove in three runs to help the San Diego Padres to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Padres beat the Dodgers for the first time in five games at Petco Park this season.
San Diego starter Clayton Richard (8-5) and four relievers combined on a four-hitter. No Dodgers batter reached base after the third inning.
Los Angeles starter Hiroki Kuroda (8-9) retired 10 straight batters going into the sixth inning, when the Padres rallied to take the lead.
Giants 10, Marlins 9, 10 innings
In San Francisco, Andres Torres hit a ground-rule single with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th inning to lift San Francisco over Florida.
With one out in the 10th, the Giants hit three straight singles off Florida reliever Clay Hensley before Torres hit a long fly ball over the Marlins’ drawn-in outfield. It bounced on the warning track and over the fence.
Torres, who hit a two-run home run that landed in the waters of McCovey Cove in the sixth inning, had four hits to lead the Giants, who had 17 hits.
San Francisco’s Buster Posey extended his hitting streak to 21 games, the longest in the majors. He is one shy of breaking the Giants’ rookie record of 22 set by Willie McCovey in 1959.
The Marlins overcame deficits of 7-1 and 9-2 to force extra innings.
In other games it was:
• Reds 10, Brewers 2
• Braves 3, Nationals 1
• Phillies 7, Diamondbacks 1
• Astros 8, Cubs 1
• Pirates 6, Rockies 2
AP ST PETERSBURG, Florida
Tampa Bay starting pitcher Jeff Niemann guided the Rays to a 7-4 win over the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday.
Niemann (9-3) allowed eight hits in six innings, and Evan Longoria hit a two-run homer in the eighth.
The Rays got out of a seventh-inning jam for the second consecutive game after intentionally walking Miguel Cabrera to load the bases with two outs. A fly-ball ended the inning and preserved Tampa Bay’s 5-4 lead.
Carl Crawford had an RBI grounder off Eddie Bonine (4-1) as the Rays took a 5-3 lead in the fourth.
Red Sox 7, Angels 3
In Anaheim, California, Marco Scutaro hit a tiebreaking Grand Slam in the eighth inning as Boston wrapped up a three-game sweep of Los Angeles.
It was the first time the Angels had been swept at home in 80 series.
Boston starter Josh Beckett (2-1) yielded five hits over seven innings in his first victory since April.
Fernando Rodney (4-1) took the loss for the Angels.
Athletics 3, Rangers 1
In Arlington, Texas, Trevor Cahill allowed one run over eight innings to guide Oakland to victory over Texas.
Cahill (10-4) took over the team lead in victories, breaking a tie with Gio Gonzalez. He improved to 5-1 for his career against Texas, 2-0 with a 0.87 ERA in three starts at Rangers Ballpark.
Kurt Suzuki homered and drove in two runs for Oakland, who moved within seven games of the AL West-leading Rangers.
Texas didn’t score until the ninth, but starter Colby Lewis (9-7) had matched Cahill until Suzuki’s homer in the sixth.
In other games it was:
• Yankees 8, Indians 0
• Twins 6, Royals 4
• White Sox 6, Mariners 5
• Blue Jays 5, Orioles 0
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