Albert Pujols is looking awfully healthy these days.

The former MVP hit a three-run homer — his second in two days — and Chris Carpenter stymied the NL’s most prolific offense again, leading the St. Louis Cardinals to a 4-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday night.

Pujols connected in the fifth inning off Bronson Arroyo (7-8), who gives up the most homers in the NL. It was Pujols’ 20th homer overall and his third since returning from a broken left wrist that cost him only two weeks.

“At the end of the season, he’s going to be somewhere near his career averages for everything,” manager Tony La Russa said. “The only thing is he missed two weeks, so he might have a little less of this or that. But he’s the Albert he’s been the last 10 years.”

Arroyo didn’t want to walk Pujols and load the bases for Matt Holliday, and ended up leaving a 2-1 pitch too far over the plate.

“I threw him a changeup down that I’ve gotten him with in the past,” Arroyo said. “A lot of times, he’ll ground it foul. This time, it got too much of the plate.”

Carpenter (5-7) was the same way he’s been against Cincinnati the last few years. He allowed Joey Votto’s RBI single in eight innings, improving to 14-4 career against the Reds. He’s won 12 of his last 13 decisions against Cincinnati.

His grittiest moment came in the eighth, when the Cardinals committed a pair of errors to leave runners on second and third with two outs. Carpenter fanned Chris Heisey on a slow breaking ball — his 116th pitch — then pumped his arms in celebration.

“I just get excited when I go out there,” Carpenter said. “It’s a competitive game. They’re a quality club. I was able to make a pitch to get out of that jam.”

Another sellout crowd was hoping for a second straight Reds comeback. Instead, Fernando Salas — who gave up Brandon Phillips’ game-ending homer on Friday — finished them off, getting his 17th save in 20 chances.

Jon Jay had three hits, including a run-scoring single in the seventh off Arroyo. The right-hander gave up eight hits in 6 2/3 innings, remaining winless in three July starts.

The Reds lead the season series 6-5, which includes a rare victory over Carpenter. The right-hander won 10 straight decisions against the Reds before May 15, when the Reds scored eight runs off him for a 9-7 win in Cincinnati that snapped his streak. During that game, Carpenter was annoyed when fireworks smoke lingered over the infield after the celebration of Ramon Hernandez’s homer.

When he came to bat for the first time on Saturday, the Reds’ public address system reminded him of the moment, playing The Platters’ version of “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes.” The Reds usually don’t play music when opponents come to bat. Carpenter paused and appeared to smile briefly, but later said he wasn’t paying attention to the music.

There would be no fireworks this time. Carpenter gave up seven hits and fanned seven.

“Here he is in 2011 stepping up huge when we need him the most,” La Russa said. “In the eighth inning, he reached so deep to get the last three outs. He’s very special, and we’re lucky to have had him over the years.”

Knowing they have trouble scoring off Carpenter, the Reds got a little reckless on the bases while trying to force the issue. Heisey was caught in a rundown between second and third, and Drew Stubbs got doubled up at second base on a flyout.

Votto singled home a run in the third for a 1-0 lead, but the inning ended up as a huge disappointment for the Reds. For the second straight night, they ended up wasting a chance to blow the game open. Carpenter’s throwing error let Cincinnati load the bases with one out, but the right-hander got Jay Bruce to ground into a rally-killing double play.

The Cardinals overcame it with one emphatic swing from their quick-healing first baseman.

Pujols returned from a broken left wrist on July 5 after missing only 13 games. He hit only one more homer before the All-Star break, but appears to be back in the swing. He hit a two-run homer in the Reds’ 6-5 win on Friday night — Heisey snatched another away at the top of the wall in center field.

He connected in the fifth off Arroyo, extending his hitting streak to four games, a sign he’s back in form. He also made a spinning, over-the-shoulder catch of Jonny Gomes’ foul in the seventh.

It was a familiar finish for Arroyo, who can’t seem to avoid the home run. He has given up 26 this season, accounting for 40 of the 75 runs he’s allowed.

— Associated Press —

St. Louis Cardinals Sr. Vice President & General Manager John Mozeliak announced today that the Cardinals have agreed to terms with pitcher Jaime Garcia on a four year contract with two club options.  The Cardinals made the announcement this afternoon at a press conference at Busch Stadium.

“Jaime is one the best young arms in baseball today,” said Mozeliak.  “We are excited to have him as part of the core of our pitching staff for years to come.”

Garcia, 25, is 9-3 with a 3.23 ERA during the first half of this season, which comes on the heels of one of the best rookie campaigns in 2010 where he was 13 – 8 with a 2.70 ERA (4th N.L.), ranking not only among top rookie pitchers, but also the top Major League pitchers in several categories.

Garcia’s career mark is 23 – 12, with a 3.06 ERA in 57 games, with 240 career strike outs.  In 2010, Garcia’s 2.70 ERA was the lowest by a Cardinals’ left handed starter since John Tudor recorded a 2.40 ERA in 22 starts (25 games) during 1990.

Garcia was named both Rookie of the Year and Comeback Player of the Year for 2010 by the St. Louis Chapter of the Baseball Writers of America Association.

Garcia was selected by Baltimore in the 20th round (899th overall) of the 2004 draft, but did not sign.  The 6-2, 215-pounder was born in Reynosa, Mexico and currently makes his home in Mission, Texas, where he attended Sharyland High School.

— Cardinals Media Relations —

Associated Press

Fortified by a pregame pep talk from the St. Louis Cardinals’ two hitting instructors, David Freese belted his first home run in almost three months.

Freese hit a tiebreaking two-run shot in the third inning and Jaime Garcia won for the sixth time at home as the Cardinals beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 4-2 on Sunday for a four-game split heading into the All-Star break. Freese said he had a 20-minute discussion with Mark McGwire and instructor Mike Aldrete “about me just being me.”

“I’m not trying to prove I can do this or do that,” Freese said. “Just put an ‘A’ swing on it and let things happen.”

Albert Pujols had two hits and Matt Holliday had an RBI single and a walk for the Cardinals, who are tied with the Brewers for the NL Central lead and have a roster finally healthy for the second half.

They’re 3-3 since getting Pujols back from the DL and Freese prospered batting fifth after going 2 for 12 the previous three games batting second. Manager Tony La Russa said he might hit Freese second again against left-handers but likes him a lot more behind the big three of Holliday, Pujols and Lance Berkman.

“I don’t really get mixed up with all that,” Freese said. “Maybe I feel more comfortable down there, I don’t know. It’s just nice to be in the lineup.”

Ryan Roberts hit a two-run homer for the Diamondbacks, who completed a 5-5 trip and are in second place in the NL West.

“If they told you this scenario in spring training, you’d take it by all means,” said Eric Young, who singled, walked and scored a run. “I think any almost team in baseball would take that for right now.

“You’re still in a good position. That’s good, that’s good news,” Young added.

The Cardinals won with the 80th different lineup in 82 games under manager Tony La Russa, who got away with giving rookie backup catcher Tony Cruz his first career start in right field. Cruz made a nice sliding catch on a short flyout by Henry Blanco in the fourth and was replaced for defense in the sixth, with Colby Rasmus going to center and Jon Jay moving to right.

“Everybody in the dugout got charged up when he made that catch,” La Russa said. “That’s not what he was there to do, he’s just got to make the routine play, but he’s an athlete.”

Roberts’ two-run shot in the second was the only damage against Garcia, who entered with a major league-best 0.94 ERA at home and ended the day 6-1 at Busch Stadium with a 1.14 ERA in nine starts. Garcia (9-3) leads the staff in victories a year after finishing third in the NL Rookie of the Year balloting and has won his last three starts overall.

“I feel really good because obviously I’m healthy. The numbers, they’re good, too,” Garcia said. “But I’m not going to get satisfied or comfortable.”

Freese answered in the third with his first homer in 13 games off the disabled list from a broken left hand, a two-run opposite-field shot off Zach Duke (2-4) to right. He had been 3 for 24 with no RBIs the previous seven games and in 41 at-bats since returning from a 51-game absence had totaled one double and one RBI.

The homer was also the first at home for Freese, a St. Louis native, since May 2, 2010, against the Reds.

Fernando Salas worked the ninth for his 16th save in 18 chances, giving up a hit with a strikeout.

Duke gave up four runs in six innings. He’s 1-4 in eight starts since June 2 and paid dearly for his only walk to Holliday with two outs in the third, one at-bat before Freese connected.

“We’d like to have better,” manager Kirk Gibson said “He’s battling. We’d like to have better from everybody and that goes for me, too.”

The Cardinals got three straight hits in the first, including a double by Pujols and an RBI single by Holliday, and Freese made it 2-0 with a sacrifice fly.

Roberts tied it in the second with a two-run homer, his 11th of the year and first since June 12. It’s only the second allowed at home this season by Garcia.

“He left a pitch in to me, a fastball in,” Roberts said. “I just had to lay off the offspeed stuff.”

Associated Press

ST. LOUIS — Albert Pujols looks like himself again. So do the St. Louis Cardinals.

Pujols hit a tying drive in the eighth inning for his first homer since returning the disabled list and rookie pinch-hitter Tony Cruz hit a game-ending RBI double in the ninth, capping the Cardinals’ comeback from a four-run deficit in a 7-6 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday night.

“I’m right where I want to be and it feels good to help the ballclub win,” Pujols said. “I was just part of that group and it feels good to be part of that group.

“That’s how you need to win some games, getting a lot of help from the bench and guys coming through big-time.”

It was the Cardinals’ biggest comeback since they came from four runs down to beat the Dodgers 5-4 on July 18, 2010, and pulled them into a first-place tie with Milwaukee in the NL Central. Cruz got his first career game-winning hit.

“You can only get through Pujols, (Matt) Holliday and (Lance) Berkman so many times,” Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson said.

Pujols’ 18th homer, and first in five games back from a broken left wrist, was a two-run shot off Yhency Brazoban that tied it at 6. Pujols was 3 for 4 with a walk and three RBIs, a breakout game after going 1 for 12 his first four games back.

Pujols has 1,982 hits, passing Red Schoendienst for fifth on the franchise’s career list with a single in the seventh. The homer was his 30th in the eighth inning or later to tie or put the Cardinals ahead, the most in the majors during his 11-year career, according to the Society of American Baseball Research.

“We tried to go fastball in, it was kind of middle down, and it’s Pujols, man,” Arizona catcher Miguel Montero said. “He crushed that ball.”

Cruz’s first hit in six pinch-hit at-bats came off Joe Paterson (0-3), who gave up two hits and a walk.

“That’s what you grow up watching, people hitting walk-offs,” Cruz said. “You dream of that as a little kid.”

The Cardinals had dropped three of four since Pujols returned. They had a season-best 15 hits and won despite stranding 12 runners.

“We just kept playing,” manager Tony La Russa said. “We just stayed after it.”

Diamondbacks starter Daniel Hudson had two hits and two RBIs, and leads pitchers with 12 hits and nine RBIs while batting .333. But Hudson faded on the mound and failed to retire any of the three batters he faced in the sixth.

“I felt OK, didn’t feel great obviously,” Hudson said. “Give credit to their guys. Every guy it felt like I had two strikes and they fouled off maybe four pitches, and it drove my pitch count up a lot.”

Arizona committed two errors in the eighth, one of them allowing a run after center fielder Eric Young fumbled the ball after catching a flyout.

Cardinals starter Chris Carpenter gave up four earned runs in six innings after entering the game on a roll. The right-hander won his previous three starts while allowing two runs in 24 innings.

“It was a battle, no question,” Carpenter said. “They hit some good pitches, they hit some bad pitches. They got some balls to drop in.”

Berkman singled to start the ninth and Yadier Molina walked with one out ahead of Cruz’s winner. Fernando Salas (5-2) worked a scoreless ninth with one strikeout.

Hudson had a two-run single in a three-run second, Young had an RBI double in the third and Kelly Johnson’s RBI double made it 5-1 in the sixth.

Ninth-place hitter Skip Schumaker had three hits, including RBI singles his last two trips, for St. Louis.

Associated Press

ST. LOUIS — Leadoff man Kelly Johnson broke a seventh-inning tie with his second career grand slam and the Arizona Diamondbacks’ bullpen barely hung on for a 7-6 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday night.

Chris Young added a two-run triple and David Hernandez earned his fifth save in as many attempts as the stand-in closer for the Diamondbacks, who have won five of seven and were two games behind NL West-leading San Francisco.

Ian Kennedy (9-3) allowed three runs in six innings, matching his career-best victory total from last season.

Lance Berkman hit his NL-leading 24th homer and Matt Holliday added his fourth in four games to spark the Cardinals’ three-run eighth against three relievers. Hernandez worked around a leadoff walk to Albert Pujols and a one-out fielding error by shortstop Stephen Drew and is 7 for 9 in save chances overall.

Johnson has 16 homers, most before the All-Star break in franchise history by a second baseman. Four straight batters reached safely against Kyle Lohse (8-6) with one out in the seventh and Johnson deposited a 2-2 pitch just beyond the wall in right field and into the Cardinals’ bullpen for his fourth career grand slam and first since May 21 against the Twins.

Berkman has 351 career homers, breaking a tie with Chili Davis for fourth-best on the career list for switch-hitters and trailing only Mickey Mantle, Eddie Murray and Chipper Jones. He also singled and walked and is 8 for 20 with five homers and 11 RBIs in four games this season against the Diamondbacks.

Berkman matched his best pre-break homer total since 2006 with one out in the second. The Cardinals had Kennedy on the ropes in the third with a sacrifice fly by Pujols and an RBI double by Holliday and had the bases loaded with one out before Colby Rasmus grounded into a force play at the plate and Gerald Laird grounded out.

Lohse was charged with seven runs in 6 2/3 innings, one of only two outings past six innings in his last eight starts, and threw a season-high 120 pitches. He has lost four of his last five decisions.

Lohse retired the first 10 in order before running into trouble. Holliday just missed a running catch on Young’s two-run triple to the gap in left-center in the fourth, and Miguel Montero followed with an RBI single to tie it.

Kennedy and reliever Aaron Heilman both had to deflect liners up the middle, each ending with an unattended assist. Kennedy finished strong, retiring 11 of the last 12.

Associated Press

ST. LOUIS — Justin Upton hit a two-run homer and Joe Saunders threw five scoreless innings to lead the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 4-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday night.

The Diamondbacks won for the fourth time in the last six games.

St. Louis, which lost for the fourth time in six games, fell into the first-place tie with Milwaukee in the NL Central.

Saunders (6-7) allowed one hit, struck out one and walked four. He was removed from the game after a 50-minute rain delay in the sixth inning.

Upton hit his 15th homer of the season off Kyle McClellan (6-6), who has not won since May 19, covering his last six starts. McClellan, who returned after the delay, gave up four runs, three earned, and six hits in seven innings.

Cardinals Media Relations

The St. Louis Cardinals announced a series of roster moves prior to their series opener against the Arizona Diamondbacks this evening, activating catcher Gerald Laird from the 15-day disabled list and purchasing right handed pitcher P.J. Walters from Memphis (AAA).

The Cardinals also designated Memphis pitcher Bryan Augenstein for assignment and they optioned first baseman Mark Hamilton and pitcher Brandon Dickson to Memphis.

Laird has been on the disabled list since May 23, missing 40 games due to a fracture of his right index finger.   He was 3-for-7 (.429) with a double and RBI in two games with Memphis while serving an injury rehabilitation assignment Wednesday and Thursday.

Laird, 31, was batting .214 (9-for-42) with 4 RBI in 15 games for the Cardinals prior to being injured May 22 in Kansas City when he was hit by a pitch in the 10th inning of the Cardinals 9-8 win over the Royals.

Walters, 26, was 7-4 with a 4.27 ERA in 17 games (all starts) for Memphis, recording 87 strikeouts in 103.1 innings pitched.  He has been exceptional over his last 10 starts, going 7-1 with a 2.81 ERA and he has worked six or more innings in each of his last six starts.

Walters has seen time with the Cardinals in each of the past two seasons, compiling a career mark of    2-0, 7.24 ERA in 15 games (4 starts).  He was 2-0, 6.00 ERA in 7 games (3 starts) for St. Louis last season.

Walters will wear uniform #40.

Hamilton had a key RBI single in the Cardinals 1-0 win on July 4 vs. Cincinnati and Dickson contributed 2.1 scoreless innings last night against the Reds as the Cardinals staged a comeback from being down 8-0 to tie the game at 8-8 before losing in 13 innings.  Dickson also collected his first Major League hit last night, singling and scoring during the Cardinals five-run uprising in the 7th inning.

Associated Press

ST. LOUIS — Pinch-hitter Ramon Hernandez doubled in the go-ahead run in the 13th inning as the Cincinnati Reds survived blowing an eight-run lead and beat the St. Louis Cardinals 9-8 on Wednesday night to avoid a three-game sweep.

Chris Heisey, Jay Bruce, Fred Lewis and Scott Rolen homered for the Reds, who led 8-0 in the fifth but managed only three hits over the next seven innings.

Bruce drew a leadoff walk and Drew Stubbs singled with one out ahead of the hit by Hernandez, the last regular on the Cincinnati bench, off Raul Valdes (0-1).

Matt Holliday homered for the third time in two games and Albert Pujols had an RBI single in a five-run seventh for the Cardinals. Pujols was 1 for 6 in his first game since returning a month ahead of the timetable from a broken left wrist.

Jon Jay homered in the ninth off Francisco Cordero to force extra innings, only the third blown save in 20 chances for the Reds closer.

Daniel Descalso, who matched his career high with four hits and had two RBIs, started at third base, moved to second on a double-switch in the 11th and back to third in the 13th for St. Louis.

Jose Arredondo (1-3) allowed two hits and struck out two in two innings for the Reds, who had lost four of five. Aroldis Chapman allowed a hit before finishing for his first career save and hit 100 mph on the scoreboard radar on a called third strike to Jay that ended it.

Heisey’s leadoff home run sparked a reconfigured lineup that produced five runs in the first 12 pitches against Jake Westbrook, who barely made it out of the first one start after throwing seven shutout innings against Tampa Bay. Westbrook was charged with seven runs in 4 1/3 innings.

Bronson Arroyo faced the minimum through five innings, allowing only Descalso’s borderline infield single in the third before fading. Descalso barely beat the pitcher to the bag after first baseman Joey Votto’s high, looping throw, and official scorer Gary Mueller upheld the call not long before Tony Cruz doubled to open the sixth for St. Louis’ second hit.