ST. LOUIS (AP) — Mark Ellis knew that he might not see a whole lot of playing time when he signed a free-agent contract with the St. Louis Cardinals in December.

“I figured they’d want me to come off the bench and I’m fine doing that,” he said. “I just want to be on a winning team.”

Ellis has gotten the best of both worlds.

The 37-year-old infielder drove in two runs, including the go-ahead score with a bunt, and the Cardinals got a scoreless effort from their bullpen to beat the Philadelphia Phillies 5-3 Sunday.

The Cardinals have won two in a row and seven of 10. Philadelphia has lost two straight after a season-high five-game winning streak.

Ellis, who has received increased playing time due to injuries, broke a 3-all tie with a safely squeeze bunt in the fourth. He added an RBI single in the sixth. He is hitting .193 with 12 RBIs in 41 games.

“We talked about it and the opportunity came up,” he said of the bunt. “The ball up is an easier pitch to get that ball down. We were able to execute it.”

St. Louis manager Mike Matheny appreciates Ellis’ professional approach at the plate.

“Two big at-bats,” Matheny said. “Mark did a real nice job of getting that bunt down. He was thinking and really preparing ahead of time. He’s done a lot of good things in this game for a long time.”

Starter Carlos Martinez (1-3) allowed three runs over five innings.

Martinez, who has 31 relief appearances, was making his second start of the season, replacing Michael Wacha in the rotation.

“I just focused on throwing strikes, not throwing the ball so hard,” Martinez said. “As a starter, I’m learning to use all of my pitches.”

Nick Greenwood, Sam Freeman, Pat Neshek and Trevor Rosenthal combined for four innings of two-hit scoreless relief. Rosenthal got his 22nd save in 25 chances. Freeman struck out three in 1 2/3 innings.

“I thought the `pen was terrific, too,” Matheny said. “Those guys are doing a good job getting through the game when our starters may not be able to go too deep.”

Cody Asche drove in all three Philadelphia runs with a bases-loaded double in the second.

Asche, who grew up in nearby O’Fallon, was playing his first series in front of family and friends.

“It’s fun to step in and contribute,” Asche said. “I wish we could have taken the last two games and completed the perfect road trip. But we’ve got some confidence.”

The Phillies won the first five games of the seven-game swing. Jimmy Rollins had a 15-game hitting streak snapped.

Kyle Kendrick (3-7) allowed five runs and eight hits in six innings. He gave up just one hit over the first three innings before St. Louis scored four times in the fourth.

“That one big inning hurt,” Kendrick said. “They got some hits and I wasn’t able to minimize the damage.”

Jon Jay got the inning going with an RBI single with the bases loaded. Jhonny Peralta followed with a tying, two-run single and Ellis bunted home the go-ahead run.

“I like the way they went about putting together some tough at-bats,” Matheny said. “Just nice consistent approaches at the plate, not trying to do too much.”

— Associated Press —

ST. LOUIS (AP) — All Adam Wainwright’s balky elbow needed was a little rest.

The St. Louis starter tossed eight strong innings, and Matt Holliday broke an eighth-inning tie with a run-scoring double to lead the Cardinals to a 4-1 win over Philadelphia that snapped the Phillies’ season-high five-game winning streak on Saturday.

Wainwright (10-3) allowed one run and six hits, struck out seven and didn’t walk a batter for the Cardinals, who broke a three-game losing streak. He pitched on 10 days’ rest after missing a start due to elbow tendinitis.

“That was the right decision,” Wainwright said of skipping an outing. “I felt real good all game. Sometimes you never know how you’re going to respond when you haven’t thrown very much. But I was fine.

“The only time I even felt anything in my arm at all was my first swing where Cole Hamels jammed me and I grounded to third.”

Wainwright needed to be on his game to beat Hamels in a matchup of heavyweight arms.

“It was a pitchers’ duel as advertised,” Philadelphia manager Ryne Sandberg said. “Both guys were outstanding.”

Wainwright was slightly better. He never let a runner get beyond second base except in the third when the Phillies scored their only run. Wainwright, who lowered his ERA to 2.08, threw 104 pitches, 68 for strikes.

“All of his pitches were sinking, and he mixed them up well,” Philadelphia catcher Carlos Ruiz said.

St. Louis manager Mike Matheny was impressed with Wainwright’s command following the layoff.

“It’s just amazing how sharp he was,” he said. “It looked like the Adam we’ve watched all season.”

Trevor Rosenthal backed up Wainwright by striking out two in the ninth to earn his 21st save in 24 attempts.

Hamels (2-4) gave up three runs and seven hits over 7 1/3 innings. He had a scoreless streak of 24 2/3 innings snapped on Matt Adams’ second-inning sacrifice fly.

Hamels refused to speak with reporters after the game.

Holliday ripped a one-out double to bring in Matt Carpenter and break the 1-1 tie. Carpenter coaxed a leadoff walk to begin the eighth.

“At that point in the game, you’re looking at having a chance to win if you can scratch across one run,” Holliday said. “Luckily, (Hamels) left it up a little and I put a good swing on it.”

St. Louis added two more runs in the eighth to go up 4-1. Jhonny Peralta brought in Holliday with an infield ground out, and Adams followed with his second sacrifice fly of the game.

“We grinded it out,” Matheny said. “We’re getting good at those close games by just staying the course.”

Philadelphia had tied it 1-1 in the third inning on successive singles by Cody Asche and Hamels, and a sacrifice fly by Jimmy Rollins. Asche, who grew up in nearby O’Fallon, Missouri, recorded his first hit at Busch Stadium.

Rollins extended his hitting streak to 15 games with a single in the eighth inning.

— Associated Press —

ST. LOUIS (AP) — A.J. Burnett scattered seven hits for his first complete game of the year and the Philadelphia Phillies won their season-high fifth in a row, beating the St. Louis Cardinals 5-1 Friday night.

The Phillies’ winning streak has come on the road. They have won nine of 11 overall.

St. Louis has dropped three in a row after winning five straight.

Burnett (5-6) threw 111 pitches to earn his 24th complete game. He struck out three, walked one and hit two batters.

Burnett, who came into the season as a career .110 hitter, also contributed an RBI double and scored.

Marlon Byrd homered and John Mayberry Jr. added two hits and scored twice. Jimmy Rollins drove in two runs and extended his hitting streak to 14 games with two hits.

Jaime Garcia (3-1) pitched into the sixth inning, giving up four runs on seven hits and two walks. He lost his third start in a row to the Phillies.

The game began after a 50-minute rain delay.

St. Louis took a 1-0 lead in the third when Matt Carpenter was hit by a pitch with two outs and later scored on a single by Matt Holliday.

The Phillies scored twice in the fifth and three more in the sixth.

Mayberry, Burnett and Rollins doubled in the fifth. Burnett drove in his first run of the season and Rollins stretched his longest hitting streak since a 14-game run in 2007.

The Phillies chased Garcia in the sixth. Byrd led off with a homer. After Domonic Brown doubled, Seth Maness relieved. Mayberry hit an RBI single and scored on Rollins’ sacrifice fly.

— Associated Press —