With Major League Baseball’s non-waiver deadline approaching this Sunday, July 31, the St. Louis Cardinals today announced a multi-player trade with the Toronto Blue Jays.

The Cardinals have acquired right handed pitcher Edwin Jackson, right handed reliever Octavio Dotel, left handed reliever Marc Rzepczynski (pronounced Zep-CHIN-ski), outfielder Corey Patterson and three players to be named later or cash considerations.   St. Louis sends outfielder Colby Rasmus, pitchers P.J. Walters, Trever Miller and Brian Tallet to Toronto.   The Jays acquired Jackson earlier today in a deal with the Chicago White Sox.

“We feel that this deal strengthens us in a number of key areas,” said Cardinals’ Senior Vice President/ General Manager John Mozeliak.  “Trades of this nature are never easy to make, but we felt that it was important to solidify a number of areas on our ball club to better position ourselves for what looks to be a highly competitive divisional race.”

Jackson, 27, was 7-7 with a 3.92 ERA for the White Sox this season.  He’s compiled a career mark of 55-58 with a 4.53 ERA, winning 14 games in 2008 for Tampa Bay and 13 games in 2009 for Detroit.  He threw a no-hitter for Arizona on June 25, 2010 at Tampa Bay.

Rzepczynski, 25, was 2-3 with a 2.97 ERA and 10 Holds for Toronto this season and he has been used as both a reliever and starter since debuting with Toronto in 2009.

Dotel, 37, had a 2-1 mark, one save, four Holds and a 3.68 ERA in 36 games for the Jays this season and he has 106 career saves, combining for a career-high 36 in 2004 with Houston and Oakland.

Patterson, 31, was batting .252 this year with 6 homers, 33 RBI and 13 steals.  His career marks include a .253 BA with 118 HR’s, 428 RBI and 218 steals.  Patterson hit a career-high 24 homers for the Cubs in 2004 and he swiped a career-best 45 steals for Baltimore in 2006.

— Cardinals Media Relations —

Albert Pujols got the St. Louis Cardinals off to a quick start with a two-run first inning homer and starter Jake Westbrook made it hold up with six innings of one-run ball as the Cardinals defeated the slumping Houston Astros 3-1 on Tuesday night.

Pujols hit the first pitch he saw from Houston starter Brett Myers on a line to left center field. The ball appeared to hit the top of the wall but was ruled a home run by third-base umpire Mike DiMuro. Houston center fielder Michael Bourn and left fielder Carlos Lee rushed in to dispute the call, which was subsequently reviewed by replay and upheld for Pujols’ 23rd homer.

It was the third time in the last six games that Pujols has homered in the first inning.

David Freese later cleared the fence with ease on an opposite field shot for the Cardinals, who have won five of six.

The Astros are going in the other direction. Houston fell to 0-5 on its season-long 10-game road trip and 0-4 at Busch Stadium.

Lee had an RBI single in the third for Houston’s only run. He drove in Bourn, who had doubled to extend his hitting streak to 11 games.

Houston had plenty of chances against Westbrook (9-4), who allowed seven hits and a walk in his six innings. But the Astros went 2-for-17 with runners on base and 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position.

Fernando Salas struck out the side in the ninth for his 19th save in 22 opportunities.

Myers (3-11) settled down after the Pujols’ blast, allowing just Freese’s solo shot with two-out in the sixth. He gave up 11 hits but just the three runs with no walks and four strikeouts in eight innings of work while falling to 0-4 in the month of July.

— Associated Press —

Xavier Paul was running. No matter what.

The Pittsburgh Pirates’ reserve watched the ball off the bat of teammate Chase d’Arnaud slice into the outfield with one out in the 10th inning against the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday and decided he was taking off regardless of where the it landed.

“It was extra-inning ballgame,” Paul said. “I felt like it was deep enough. I’m going to make him make a perfect throw to get me out.”

St. Louis center fielder Colby Rasmus tracked down the ball but his throw to the plate never had a chance. Paul sprinted home with the winning run in a 4-3 victory as the Pirates avoided a three-game sweep.

“I think in that situation right there it’s do or die,” Paul said. “No way you’re going to get the chance to win the game (again). It’s just a hustle play and it worked out in our favor.”

It’s what the Pirates have done all year. Though they lack the firepower of the other three NL Central contenders, they’ve made up for it by finding enough ways to win to remain in the thick of things well after the Fourth of July.

“Throughout the season that’s the way we’ve had to do it, that’s the way we’ll continue to plan on doing it,” said manager Clint Hurdle.

The sprint home was the third hustle play by Paul in the span of a minute. He reached first by beating out an infield single, then moved to third after stealing second and taking advantage when the throw from St. Louis catcher Gerald Laird rolled into center.

“He goes a hard 90 (feet), beats the play at first and next thing you know he’s on third after you try and steal a base,” Hurdle said. “That’s what we do and that’s what we need to do.”

Joe Beimel (1-1) retired the Cardinals in order to pick up his first victory as a Pirate in more than eight years as Pittsburgh snapped a three-game losing streak heading into a brutal stretch on the road against NL East leaders Atlanta and Philadelphia.

Ronny Cedeno and rookie catcher Eric Fryer had two hits apiece for the Pirates, who were badly outplayed in the first two games of the series but rallied three times on Sunday to prevent the sweep.

“We had a chance to win, we just couldn’t get it done,” said Laird, who committed two errors and was picked off of second base in the eighth. “In close games like that you’ve got to execute small ball and obviously make plays and we didn’t make plays and we gave them opportunities and they capitalized.”

Rasmus had two hits, including his 10th homer of the season for the Cardinals, who blew their 19th save of the season to fall into a virtual tie with the Pirates in the standings as their three-game winning streak ended with a thud. Jason Motte (3-2) took the loss in part because he failed to beat Paul to the bag on Paul’s infield chopper in the 10th.

“We did some fundamental things right; we also did some fundamental things wrong, so you end up losing a winnable game,” said St. Louis manager Tony La Russa. “You don’t play perfectly all the time, nobody does.”

Jon Jay and Skip Schumaker also had two hits for the Cardinals, who appeared to be in charge after Rasmus’ deep homer to right field in the sixth off starter Charlie Morton put them up 3-2.

Pittsburgh rallied for the third time in the seventh to tie it by getting to St. Louis reliever Lance Lynn.

Cedeno led off the inning with a double and moved to third when Lynn and third baseman Daniel Descalso miscommunicated on a bunt attempt by Fryer. Cedeno tied it up on a double play by Steve Pearce and Pittsburgh’s bullpen shut the door.

The Cardinals never got a runner to third over the final 4 2/3 innings, as Jason Grilli, Chris Resop, Joel Hanrahan and Beimel held them in check.

“It took everybody again today and they were lights out,” Hurdle said.

They had to be to keep the Pirates close after Pittsburgh’s offense struggled against St. Louis starter Kyle Lohse.

The veteran right-hander has struggled this month, entering the game with an 0-3 mark and a 7.64 ERA in July.

The team was so concerned about his performance it ordered the 32-year-old back to St. Louis last week to have the inflammation on the middle finger of his pitching hand examined.

The tests revealed no significant damage and he was effective if not overpowering against Pittsburgh’s slumping lineup. Lohse gave up two runs in five innings, striking out four while throwing 45 of his 64 pitches for strikes.

“Little sore, but I felt like I pretty much was able to make the pitches I needed to make, so I’m just doing more treatment and hope it feels better next time,” Lohse said.

His numbers would have been even better if not for some uncharacteristically sloppy defense.

The Pirates scratched a run across in the third behind the first career steal by Fryer, who advanced to third when shortstop Ryan Theriot misplayed the throw from Laird.

The steal was the first against Lohse since Pittsburgh’s Jose Tabata swiped second against him on Aug. 23, 2010. The sequence was repeated almost exactly in the 10th as the Pirates avoided their longest losing streak since dropping six straight in May.

They have a boost heading into a tough week, while the Cardinals begin a user-friendly portion of the schedule with home series this week against also-rans Houston and Chicago, who began the day a combined 32½ games out of first.

“For the most part, we can build off this series,” Laird said. “You always want to win series, and we won this one today. Hopefully we can make a push here because this division is getting tight.”

— Associated Press —

Albert Pujols swears he doesn’t feel more comfortable at PNC Park than any other road venue in baseball.

Maybe, but it sure doesn’t seem that way.

The slugger went 4-for-5 — including his 27th career home run at the park tucked against the Allegheny River — to lift the St. Louis Cardinals to a 6-4 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday.

“Let me tell you, look at all ballparks, he does it every place he plays,” said St. Louis manager Tony La Russa. “He’s just a phenomenal hitter. There’s nothing special about here; he just hits everywhere.”

Pujols continued to dominate Pittsburgh starter Paul Maholm (6-10), going 2-for-3 to improve to .583 (21-for-36) in his career against the veteran left-hander. Pujols downplayed his success, saying he doesn’t think about the past when he steps into the batter’s box.

“It doesn’t matter if I have good success against a guy or no — I take every at-bat like it’s my last at-bat of my career, believe it or not,” Pujols said.

Fortunately for the Cardinals, Pujols isn’t going anywhere this season. He has struggled a bit since coming off the disabled list earlier this month, but appears to be heating up.

His two-run shot to right-field in the first was his second first-inning homer in as many days. He added a single and two doubles as the Cardinals pounded out 15 hits.

David Freese broke out of an extended slump with two hits, including a two-run homer of his own as St. Louis pulled into a virtual tie with the Pirates in the crowded NL Central standings.

Chris Carpenter (6-7) gave up four runs in eight innings to win his fourth straight decision for the Cardinals. Fernando Salas pitched the ninth inning to collect his 18th save.

Carpenter gave up four runs in eight innings and benefited when the Pirates ran themselves out of rallies in the second and sixth innings.

“It was a battle all night,” said Carpenter, who gave up 10 hits, striking out four and walking one. “There’s no question I didn’t have my best stuff, but I was able to throw pitches when I had to.”

Maholm (6-10) had won four straight games at PNC Park, but a sloppy first inning sent him to his first home loss in two months.

Blame Pujols, who looks right at home at PNC Park and has had little trouble having his way with Maholm.

“He’s a good hitter, I’m going to be aggressive,” Maholm said. “I’m going to come in and hitters are going to get their hits and I’m going to stick with my game plan.”

Freese added a two-run shot of his own in the first, though Maholm (6-10) settled down to last six innings, giving up five runs on 10 hits, striking out two and walking two.

“I thought (Maholm) made some adjustments the deeper he got into the game,” said Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle. “I thought he got much better rhythm, much better tempo, much better location.”

The 29-year-old had been lights out at PNC this season, particularly over the last two months. He began the night 4-0 with a 1.04 ERA over his last four home starts, one of the main reasons why Pittsburgh has found itself in a pennant race for the first time in nearly 20 years.

He still, however, doesn’t have an answer for Pujols. Then again, not many pitchers do.

He hit a two-run shot in the first on Thursday to spark the Cardinals past the New York Mets and wasted little time getting to work against Maholm, taking the first pitch he saw and sending it into the right-field seats to give the Cardinals a 2-0 lead.

Three batters and five pitches later Freese put St. Louis up 4-0 after his fly ball to right field sailed into the muggy night and just over the wall to give Carpenter some breathing room.

“Any four-run lead early is nice, no matter if you’ve got your dominant stuff or you don’t,” Carpenter said. “I just tried to be aggressive as I could and settled in by the end there.”

Garrett Jones had two hits and two RBIs for the Pirates, who dropped their second straight game since Tuesday, when they rose into first place this late in the season for the first time since 1992.

Mike McKenry added three hits and Andrew McCutchen and Ronny Cedeno had two hits apiece for the Pirates, who killed a pair of rallies with base-running gaffes.

Pittsburgh scored twice in the second to get on the board, but McKenry got caught between second and third after Maholm’s RBI-single to end the inning.

Jones knocked home McCutchen and Lyle Overbay in the sixth to pull the Pirates within 5-4 but was nailed trying to get to second.

“Against a guy like Carpenter you don’t want to make outs on the bases and we fell into the category twice tonight,” Hurdle said.

Pittsburgh would get no closer, as Yadier Molina sent a fastball from Chris Resop over the fence in center in the eighth to provide the winning margin.

— Associated Press —

On a sweltering get-away day at Citi Field, Jake Westbrook helped his teammates beat the heat — and the New York Mets.

Albert Pujols hit a two-run homer in the first and Westbrook had the Mets pounding the ball into the ground over eight excellent innings as the St. Louis Cardinals beat New York 6-2 on Thursday to avoid a three-game sweep and snap a three-game skid.

With the temperature already at 90 when the first pitch was thrown at 12:13 p.m., Westbrook (8-4) worked efficiently (90 pitches) and rapidly and kept his infielders busy. Just as important, he let them quickly get back to the dugout and out of the scorching sun.

“That’s the way he works all the time. This guy don’t mess around,” Pujols said. “Working fast, keeping the ball down. He had his sinker going today.”

Westbrook recorded 17 outs on ground balls, including two double plays, and allowed only four hits and two runs. He walked one and struck out three, leading the Cardinals to only their second win since the All-Star break in a tidy 2 hours, 7 minutes.

“I think everybody appreciated it,” Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said.

Pujols drove a pitch from Jonathon Niese (9-8) left up in the strike zone off the facade of the second deck in left field for his 21st home run of the season and a 2-0 lead.

What was the pitch Pujols sent flying?

“To tell you the truth, I don’t even know,” Pujols said. “I think it was the same pitch I pulled fouled earlier in the at-bat.”

Westbrook, who came in with an ERA of 5.26 in his first full season with St. Louis, breezed through the first three innings.

“My stuff was the same. My command was better,” he said. “I was able to harness it.”

The Mets managed to get only one ball out of the infield against the sinkerballer as he retired the first nine batters.

Jose Reyes put an end to that. The majors’ leading hitter led off the fourth with his league-leading 16th triple, a drive high off the wall in left center. Justin Turner followed with a grounder to short that cut the lead to 2-1.

The Cardinals came right back with three in the fifth, with the help of some shoddy Mets defense.

After a double by No. 8 hitter Daniel Descalso and a walk to the pitcher, Nick Punto grounded wide of first base. First baseman Lucas Duda fielded the hopper, but his throw to second glanced off Westbrook’s left shoulder and into the outfield, allowing a run to score.

Jon Jay followed with a ground-ball single up the middle that hit second base to drive in one run, and center fielder Angel Pagan gave the Cardinals another run when he threw behind Jay at first — with nobody covering for the Mets. Though St. Louis first-base coach Dave McKay was in perfect position to field the toss, he let it skid toward the dugout.

The stray throw allowed Punto to score all the way from first and make it 5-1.

Niese tossed six innings and allowed five hits and three earned runs. He struck out seven, including Matt Holliday three times.

Jason Pridie cut the lead to 5-2 for the Mets with an RBI single in the eighth, but Skip Schumaker answered with a pinch-hit RBI single in the ninth.

Carlos Beltran played what could turn out to be his final home game with the Mets. The All-Star outfielder is in the last year of a seven-year contract and there has been seemingly endless speculation about New York trading him before the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline. The Mets won’t return to Citi Field until Aug. 1.

“Right now, he’s hitting third tomorrow in Miami,” Mets manager Terry Collins said.

Beltran struck out, drew a walk to extend his streak of reaching base safely to 27 games and grounded out to second in his first three times up. Before his final at-bat in the ninth inning, the crowd of 37,416 at Citi Field gave Beltran an extended warm ovation, with many standing as he walked to the plate.

“He deserves the response the fans gave him,” Collins said.

With one out and one on, Beltran hit a lazy fly to left field off reliever Mitchell Boggs and walked back to the dugout to a smattering of applause.

“I heard the fans cheering,” Beltran said. “It was great. Let’s hope I can come back.”

— Associated Press —

Jose Reyes had Citi Field buzzing from the moment he stepped out of the dugout right up until he quashed a rally in the eighth inning with his glove.

Carlos Beltran impressed everyone, too, swinging the bat as if losing five pounds in three days and having a 105-degree fever had no affect on him at all.

With their two All-Stars back in the lineup, the New York Mets showed some spunk in a crisp 4-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday night.

“Our lineup certainly changes with those two guys in that order,” manager Terry Collins said.

Beltran reached base all five times with two doubles, a single and two walks. Angel Pagan and Daniel Murphy hit two-run doubles and Dillon Gee (9-3) pitched seven sharp innings in the Mets’ second win in five games.

Lance Berkman hit a mammoth homer and starter Kyle Lohse (8-7) had an RBI single for St. Louis, which opened a stretch of 20 consecutive games with its third loss in four games after the All-Star break.

“They pitched better, played better, hit better,” Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. “They had some key outs, we had some big misses.”

The Mets went 6-6 without Reyes, the majors’ leading hitter, but wilted in the humidity after the break, losing three of four to start a stretch that general manager Sandy Alderson said would determine how the club will proceed as the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline approaches.

Reyes gave everyone a spark on offense and defense. He had two hits and scored a run in five at-bats. It was his 44th multihit game of the season.

“It is a relief,” Reyes said. “I had no problems, no setbacks.”

His biggest contribution, though, came in the field. With one out and runners on first and second, Jon Jay hit a sharp grounder between shortstop and third base. Reyes made a diving stop to hold the runner at third, loading the bases for Albert Pujols.

Pujols fouled off two 100 mph pitches from Bobby Parnell and then hit a grounder that Reyes fielded right at second base. He stepped on the bag and made a strong throw to nail Pujols at first, falling down on the follow through.

It was Pujols’ major league-leading 22nd double play.

“I thank Bobby for getting through Albert for me,” said Jason Isringhausen, who came on in the ninth for the Mets’ first save opportunity since trading Francisco Rodriguez — who had 23 of New York’s 24 saves this season — on the night of the All-Star Game.

He pitched a perfect ninth for his first save since 2008, when he was with St. Louis. Isringhausen saved 217 games with the Cardinals before being injured. He wasn’t even sure he’d make the Mets roster this spring.

“I knew it was going to happen this way,” Isringhausen said of getting his first save against the Cardinals. “The baseball gods, that’s how they do it.”

Collins said that he’d likely go with Isringhausen as the closer but will try to spread the chances around.

“Right now Izzy would be the guy. Yes,” Collins said.

It was Isringhausen’s second save for the Mets. The other was the first of his career, in 1999.

Collins said before the game Pagan was unhappy in the leadoff spot while Reyes was out. He looked more comfortable batting fifth, lining a drive over right fielder Berkman’s head for two runs in the fifth. He got such a good jump out of the box that he nearly stopped between first and second to give Beltran a chance to round second base.

Pagan’s double was the Mets’ first hit with men in scoring position since Sunday. They were 0 for 5 Monday in a 4-1 loss to the Florida Marlins.

“It’s where I’m better off for the team,” Pagan said of hitting fifth.

Murphy lined out to shortstop Ryan Theriot with the bases loaded ahead of Pagan. But Murphy came through in the sixth, greeting reliever Raul Valdes with a two-out, two-run double to left-center. Cursing into his helmet after failing in the fifth, Murphy pumped his arm over his head while standing on second base in the sixth.

Justin Turner singled and Beltran walked ahead of Murhpy’s hit. Beltran scored from first on the sharply hit ball for a 4-1 lead.

Gee gave up his first hit when David Freese’s high chopper back to the mound deflected off his glove and fell between shortstop and second base with one out in the fifth. An out later, Lohse, batting eighth, slapped a grounder over second base for his first RBI of the season.

Gee had lost his last two starts, giving up nine earned runs. His changeup baffled the Cardinals, though, and he gave up three hits and two runs.

Berkman hit a drive way over the bullpens in right-center and onto the pedestrian Shea Bridge, eliciting “wows” from the crowd of 35,448.

“He left it up, just a mistake, he didn’t make many,” Berkman said.

Lohse allowed four runs and 10 hits in 5 1/3 innings. He gave up 11 earned runs in his previous two starts.

— Associated Press —