Associated Press

ST. LOUIS — Matt Holliday homered twice hours after being picked to represent the National League in the Home Run Derby and Jaime Garcia had another stingy home outing in the St. Louis Cardinals’ 8-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night.

Holliday is not a prototypical home run hitter, totaling 77 the last three seasons and entering the game with just 10 in 62 games. He powered up against Edinson Volquez (5-4) with a solo shot in the first and three-run homer in the fifth for his 16th career multi-homer game and first since July 7, 2010, at Colorado.

The Cardinals activated Albert Pujols from the 15-day disabled list before the game but did not use him after putting the three-time NL MVP through an extensive pre-game workout. Pujols beat the estimated timetable for his return from a broken left wrist by a month, emerging on his first day of eligibility from the disabled list, and is expected to start Wednesday.

Holliday and Lance Berkman homered on consecutive at-bats in the first inning.

Berkman leads the league with 23 homers after a drive to right estimated at 427 feet and with 350 career homers he is tied for fourth with Chili Davis on the career switch-hitter list, trailing only Mickey Mantle, Eddie Murray and Chipper Jones.

The Reds, defending champions in the NL Central, have lost four of five and fell a game below .500 for the first time since May 3. Manager Dusty Baker dipped below the break-even point, too, with a record of 286-287 in his fifth season with Cincinnati.

Central-leading St. Louis is 12-0-1 in series at home against the Reds since 2006 and will go for a three-game sweep Wednesday night, with Jake Westbrook opposing Bronson Arroyo.

Garcia (8-3) allowed one run and two hits in six innings and is 5-1 with a major league-best 0.94 ERA at home. The left-hander didn’t allow a hit until Brandon Phillips doubled leading off the fourth, eventually scoring on two groundouts.

The Reds threatened again in the fifth, loading the bases on two walks and a single by Volquez before Phillips grounded into a forceout on a bang-bang play at second after shortstop Ryan Theriot fielded the ball in the hole.

Theriot added a two-run double off Sam LeCure in a three-run sixth that made it 8-1.

Volquez has allowed 22 runs in the first inning, permitting at least one run in half of his 16 starts. He had allowed a total of three homers his previous five starts before giving up three against St. Louis to match a season worst and gave up seven runs, six earned, in 5 1/3 innings.

Cardinals Media Relations

The St. Louis Cardinals announced this afternoon that first baseman Albert Pujols has been activated from the 15-day disabled list and is eligible to play tonight when the Cardinals and Reds meet for the second game of their three-game series at 6:10 p.m. CDT.

To make room for Pujols on the active roster, the Cardinals placed left-handed reliever Brian Tallet (right intercostal strain) on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to July 4.

Pujols was injured on June 19 in a collision at first base, suffering a fractured left radius.  It was just the third time in his 11-year career that he had spent time on the disabled list.  He was also on the disabled list in June, 2006 for a left oblique strain and June, 2008 for a left calf strain.

Associated Press

ST. LOUIS — Chris Carpenter hit another high note in his midseason surge. The St. Louis Cardinals’ pitcher insisted getting the better of Johnny Cueto provided no extra incentive.

“I’ve said it all along,” Carpenter said after working eight scoreless innings in a 1-0 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Monday night. “I mean, it’s history and we’re professionals. You move on.”

Carpenter watched from the dugout as pinch-hitter Mark Hamilton drove in the lone run with an infield hit with two outs in the eighth, the rookie’s first RBI in 26 pinch at-bats.

“Honestly, my first thought when I got to the bag was we need to get this game shut down because he deserves this win,” Hamilton said. “It’s big for us because we had heard the Brewers lost and that we can take sole possession of first place.”

Cueto (5-3) allowed six hits in eight innings in his first appearance against the Cardinals since he spiked Carpenter on the back and dealt Jason LaRue a career-ending concussion with kicks during a brawl in Cincinnati Aug. 11. Cueto and Brandon Phillips, whose bat tap to catcher Yadier Molina’s shin guard had precipitated the bench-clearing incident, were both booed at every opportunity.

“How long can you hold stuff, you know what I mean?” Reds manager Dusty Baker said before the game. “There’ll be some booing when they come to our place, too.

“You can’t control that, all you can control is how you play the game,” he said.

Jon Jay robbed Jay Bruce with a leaping catch at the right field wall to end the fourth and retreated while battling the sun for another fine grab on Edgar Renteria’s drive near the warning track with two men on in the seventh.

“That’s why I practice hard in BP,” Jay said. “So when these game situations come up it’s more instinct.”

Carpenter (4-7) has won three straight starts, digging himself out of the worst hole of his career, and is 13-4 for his overall agains Cincinnati. The right-hander has permitted just two runs on 18 hits in 24 innings to lower his ERA to 3.74, and settling after giving up two hits in a 26-pitch first.

“I felt good. Felt strong at the end just like I have,” Carpenter said. “Back and forth, back and forth. We were both pitching well and we were fortunate to get a break.”

Cueto is 3-2 in his last seven starts despite compiling a 1.42 ERA in that span capped by his third career complete game. He hasn’t allowed more than three runs in any of his 11 starts this season.

“That was as good as you’re going to see. Both of them were dealing,” Baker said. “You hate to lose a game like that on a little jam shot squibber. Johnny was great.”

Cueto had no strikeouts for only the third time in 103 career starts, two of them in St. Louis, after fanning 25 hitters his previous four outings in 28 1/3 innings. According to stats compiled by MLB.com, Cardinals batters swung and missed only four times.

“It’s about getting late into the game, get seven, eight innings,” Cueto said. “If I look for strikeouts, then I throw more pitches and I don’t stay in the game as long.”

Joey Votto had three singles for his ninth three-hit game and Scott Rolen singled in the first for his 2,000th hit for Cincinnati. The Reds, the highest-scoring team in the National League, managed just three runners in scoring position.

Colby Rasmus opened the eighth with his second hit and advanced when Molina converted a sacrifice after fouling off two attempts and then fouling off a two-strike pitch. Rasmus went to third on a flyout before Hamilton spun a grounder off the end of his bat that curled just inside the third base line.

Rolen made a sliding stop at third but threw just late to first as Hamilton took a curious wide turn and belatedly slid headfirst into the bag. Hamilton is 6 for 26 as a pinch hitter and this was his first RBI.

Fernando Salas struck out two in a perfect ninth for his 15th save in 17 chances.

Bruce foiled the Cardinals’ first scoring opportunity, easily throwing out Skip Schumaker at the plate after fielding Ryan Theriot’s single to end the third. Schumaker appeared to get a bad jump on the hit but was waved home by third base coach Jose Oquendo, celebrating his 48th birthday.

Associated Press

Johnny Damon had an All-Star caliber weekend.

Damon drove in four runs, Jeremy Hellickson pitched into the eighth inning to stop a personal four-game losing streak and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the St. Louis Cardinals 8-3 on Sunday.

“It’s just everything that he does,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said of Damon, who was not named to the All-Star team. “We need that kind of influence here. He just handles it as well as it possibly can be handled. The way he goes about his business.”

The Rays designated hitter has 25 career games with at least four RBIs.

“I’ve appreciated him for years,” St. Louis manager Tony La Russa said. “He’s had a great career.”

Damon, who had four hits in Saturday night’s 5-1 win over the Cardinals, went 3 for 5 and moved past Harry Heilmann and Lave Cross into 69th place on the all-time hits list with 2,661. His three-run triple in the eighth made it 8-3.

“Things just happened to go right these past two games,” Damon said. “We beat a very good team. A team that will possibly be playoff bound and World Series bound. It’s good to beat a very good team, especially here at home, where we haven’t been playing well.”

Three of Damon’s teammates, pitchers David Price and James Shields, along with outfielder Matt Joyce were named before the game to the 2011 AL All-Star team.

“It’s awesome,” Maddon said. “I had no idea how it was going to shape up.”

Hellickson (8-7) allowed three runs and six hits in 7 1/3 innings. The Rays had been outscored 20-1 during the right-hander’s skid.

Kyle Farnsworth pitched the final 1 2/3 innings for his 17th save, entering with a runner on second and one out in the eighth. After retiring Matt Holliday on a flyball to right and walking Lance Berkman, the closer struck out David Freese.

Berkman and Yadier Molina homered for the Cardinals. Kyle Lohse (8-5) gave up five runs and seven hits over 5 1/3 innings.

“We just got beat,” La Russa said. “I really don’t have a whole lot to say. Credit to the other side. Fundamentally we didn’t play our best game. They score more than we scored, so they pitched better and played better.”

B.J. Upton and John Jaso both had RBI doubles in the sixth as Tampa Bay went ahead 5-3. The Rays (47-37) took two of three from St. Louis and improved to 21-21 at home.

Berkman pulled St. Louis even at 3 on an opposite-field, two-run homer to left during the sixth. He has 22 homers this season, including 18 on the road.

Elliot Johnson reached on a two-out bunt single in the fifth and scored when Damon doubled to deep right. Damon also crossed the plate on the play to give the Rays a 3-1 lead when second baseman Skip Schumaker was charged with an error for an errant relay throw home.

The eight runs was the Rays’ most at home this year.

Molina put the Cardinals up 1-0 on a second-inning homer. The Rays tied it at 1 in the third when Jaso doubled and later scored on Johnson’s grounder.

St. Louis right fielder Jon Jay made a nice sliding catch on Justin Ruggiano’s fourth-inning fly ball with two on and two outs.

Associated Press

Casey Kotchman gave the Tampa Bay Rays’ a much-needed offensive spark.

Kotchman drove in three runs with a double and Justin Ruggiano hit a two-run homer during a five-run sixth inning, helping the Rays beat the St. Louis Cardinals 5-1 on Saturday night.

“Casey has been rather clutch for us,” Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said. “He seems to work a good at-bat, and obviously that was the turning point.”

Kotchman’s bases-clearing hit with two outs off Kyle McClellan (6-5) put the Rays ahead 3-1. Ruggiano followed with his fourth homer of the season to make it 5-1.

Tampa Bay, 20-21 at home this season, came in averaging just 3.1 runs at Tropicana Field, compared to 5.24 on the road.

Jeff Niemann (3-4) allowed one run and nine hits in six-plus innings. The right-hander had been 0-3 with a 6.65 ERA in his previous four home starts this year.

Tampa Bay designated hitter Johnny Damon moved past Boston Red Sox star Ted Williams, who had 2,654 hits, into 71st place on the all-time list with an opposite-field single to left leading off the first. Damon went 4-for-4 and has 2,658 hits overall.

“Ted Williams, to many, is the greatest hitter of all-time,” Damon said. “Obviously, he could have had more hits. He walked so many times. Spent five years of (military) service to our country. Having the Boston ties that I do have and knowing the history of that franchise and the history of Ted Williams, it’s a special moment.”

Damon played four seasons with the Red Sox, including the 2004 World Series championship team.

McClellan gave up five runs and eight hits over 5 2/3 innings. He has lost five of his last six decisions.

“It’s just a tough one to take,” McClellan said. “It’s disappointing that I let it happen.”

Lance Berkman put the Cardinals up 1-0 with his 21st homer this season in the fourth. He had two homers in Thursday night’s 9-6 win at Baltimore.

St. Louis, which had a four-game winning streak end, loaded the bases with one out later in the fourth but failed to increase the lead when Skip Schumaker hit into a double play.

Cesar Ramos replaced Niemann with two on and no outs in the seventh and retired Jon Jay on a fly ball. Juan Cruz then entered and got a double-play grounder from Matt Holliday.

Ruggiano made a nice sliding catch on Schumaker’s foul ball down the left-field line with two on and two outs in the second.

“We actually did a terrific job of getting innings started and just didn’t play good baseball,” Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. “Didn’t do anything with it. We had some opportunties.”

Tampa Bay beat the Cardinals for the first time at home after dropping the first four meetings in Florida, including a three-game set in June 2005.

The Rays wore the home uniform of the 1951 Tampa Smokers, a Class B Florida International League team, on Turn Back the Clock Night. The Cardinals used their 1953 road uniform.

Associated Press

Colby Rasmus’ home run set off fireworks on and off the field.

Rasmus hit a three-run shot during a wild eighth inning that featured four ejections, leading the St. Louis Cardinals past the Tampa Bay Rays 5-3 on Friday night.

“Colby’s got so much talent,” Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. “When he gets into a game, a lot of good things happen. If he can keep that up, good at-bats, what a huge asset he would be.”

Jake Westbrook gave up two hits in seven scoreless innings for St. Louis, which has won four straight.

Rasmus, who also had a run-scoring groundout during the second inning, connected against J.P. Howell for his fourth homer in the last seven games and No. 9 on the season. The drive to right led to three ejections.

Howell was thrown out by plate umpire Vic Carapazza after the left-hander threw his glove to the ground after the homer and also spiked the new ball tossed to him by the umpire.

“The one he was giving me wasn’t good enough. I wanted a new ball, and he took it personal,” Howell said. “We’re supposed to take it but he can’t take it, and if he’s allowed to ring me, that’s the way it is. They’re human too, and you gotta move on, and I know he’ll be better down the road.”

Howell walked toward the plate area and had to be restrained. Rasmus crossed the plate while the arguing continued.

“I didn’t think his beef was with me, you know,” Rasmus said. “I understand. I know the game is tough. Maybe he’s falling on some hard times. Just mad at the world or whatever it may be. Some things didn’t go his way. I just hit the ball, run around, touch the plate and take my happy self back to the dugout.”

First base umpire Doug Eddings ejected Rays pitcher David Price and reserve infielder Elliot Johnson for comments made from the dugout.

“I was just trying to defend my teammate,” Johnson said. “It just seemed like (umpire Dana) DeMuth came in from second base and it seemed like he kind of lost control of himself in that situation. It just seemed like he was yelling at J.P. and I was just trying to defend him. I wasn’t swearing at the man or name-calling or anything like that.”

Earlier in the eighth, Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon was ejected by Carapazza for arguing from the dugout after Lance Berkman drew a two-out walk on 3-2 pitch.

DeMuth said Howell was tossed for arguing balls and strikes, and the glove spike got the umpires’ attention.

“The home plate asked him, ‘Was that directed toward me?'” DeMuth said. “I’m glad it only end up with (four ejections). It was headed for more.”

Westbrook (7-4) struck out seven and walked three in his first victory since June 7 at Houston. The right-hander was 0-1 with a 6.61 ERA in his previous three starts.

“Outstanding,” La Russa said. “Just kept going after them. He was in command of his delivery, his emotions, his concentration.”

Tampa Bay scored three times in the eighth. Evan Longoria had a run-scoring double and Matt Joyce added a two-run homer against Lance Lynn. Longoria has driven in 14 runs over his last seven games.

“I thought we were kind of flat at the beginning of the game,” Maddon said. “I was kind of annoyed with that. We just had a day off Thursday and we didn’t have a day off listed for Friday, so I was a little upset with that.”

Fernando Salas pitched the ninth for his 14th save.

The Cardinals grabbed a 2-0 lead against Wade Davis (7-6) in the second inning. Yadier Molina hit an RBI single to snap an 0-for-13 slide.

Davis allowed six hits in seven innings. He had won his previous three starts.

Westbrook worked out of two-on, two-out jams in the second and third before striking out Sam Fuld with a runner on third to end the fourth.

“It took me a little while to get into a groove,” Westbrook said. “Once I did, I made some pitches early on when I needed to.”

The Cardinals are playing just their second ever road series against Tampa Bay. St. Louis swept the previous three-game set at Tropicana Field in June 2005.

Associated Press

Playing in a ballpark known as a haven for hitters, Lance Berkman hit a couple of drives that would have cleared the wall in just about any stadium in the country.

Berkman had his 29th career two-homer game, Jon Jay hit a three-run shot, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Baltimore Orioles 9-6 on Thursday night to complete a three-game sweep.

The Cardinals never trailed in the series and outscored Baltimore 20-9. In the finale, St. Louis built an 8-0 lead in the fourth inning and coasted to its fourth win in nine games since slugger Albert Pujols went on the disabled list with a fractured wrist.

Berkman hit a two-run drive in the second inning measured at 422 feet and led off the seventh with a clout that traveled an estimated 444 feet.

“It just feels good,” he said with a laugh. “A lot of times, even when you hit a home run, you don’t quite catch all of it. But I got most of both of those balls.”

The last one easily cleared the 25-foot scoreboard in right field and scattered the crowd on Eutaw Street.

It was his fourth multihomer game of the season, and marked the second time in 2011 that he homered from both sides of the plate.

“I’m better right-handed than I’ve been in a couple of years,” Berkman said, “I don’t know if there’s anything more to it than that.”

With Berkman leading the way, the Cardinals righted themselves after being swept at home by Toronto.

“We’ve got some hot bats right now,” manager Tony La Russa said. “Lance had a big game. This game over here is so tough because you have the American League rules and the ballpark. But we were swinging tonight.”

The Cardinals did most of their damage against Brian Matusz (1-4), who was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk after the game. Matusz yielded a career-high eight runs and nine hits in 3 1/3 innings, lost his fourth straight start and departed with an 8.77 ERA.

The left-hander started six games since coming off the disabled list with a rib injury and still hasn’t regained the velocity he displayed in 2010. His fastball reached 90 mph at least once in this outing, but most of the time it was in the 86-88 range.

“I am not getting it done up here. It’s not fair for the team, every fifth day I go out there and make starts like this,” Matusz said.

Nolan Reimold homered and had four RBIs and Mark Reynolds also connected for the Orioles, who fell a season-worst eight games under .500 (35-43).

Baltimore’s Nick Markakis extended his career-high hitting streak to 19 games and Derrek Lee got his 1,900th career hit, a single in the second inning. He’s the 315th player to accomplish the feat, according to the Orioles.

Cardinals starter Jaime Garcia (7-3) gave up five runs, 10 hits and a walk in 5 1/3 innings. It was only the second time in 17 starts this season that the left-hander allowed more than three earned runs.

“I made a couple of mistakes and I paid for it,” Garcia said. “It was great that we scored some runs so that made it easier for me, because they have a good lineup.”

Fernando Salas worked the ninth to earn his 13th save and conclude the Cardinals’ first sweep on the road this season.

For a third straight game, St. Louis took the lead for good in the second inning. David Freese singled, took second on a walk to Yadier Molina and scored on a single by Tony Cruz. Skip Schumaker followed with a sacrifice fly.

The Cardinals made it 4-0 in the third when Matt Holliday doubled and Berkman drove a 1-2 pitch into the seats in left.

In the fourth, Ryan Theriot singled in a run and Jay hit his sixth homer with two aboard to chase Matusz, who was booed by many in the crowd of 28,340.

The next time Matusz throws in a game, it will be at the Triple-A level.

“I think he needs to get the ball every fifth day and continue to work on some things that he’s aware of,” Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. “It’s a tough time for him. He’s a young man who hasn’t had much failure pitching in his career, but just about everybody does at some point. It’s how you handle it.”

Reimold hit a three-run homer in the fourth and Reynolds ended Garcia’s night with a two-run drive in the sixth.

Berkman made it 9-5 with his 20th home run of the season, off Alfredo Simon, and Reimold singled in a run in the eighth.

Associated Press

BALTIMORE — The St. Louis Cardinals were operating with a depleted bullpen on Wednesday night, and manager Tony La Russa was counting on Chris Carpenter to go deep into the game against the Baltimore Orioles.

Carpenter did so with a marvelous 132-pitch effort that inflicted more pain on the Orioles than the pitcher’s tireless right arm.

Carpenter scattered seven hits for his second complete game of the season and Colby Rasmus homered to help the Cardinals cruise to a 5-1 victory on Wednesday night.

Carpenter (3-7) won his second straight start following a five-game losing streak. The right-hander struck out five, walked one and surrendered just one extra-base hit — an RBI double to Nick Markakis in the third inning.

As Carpenter’s pitch count mounted, pitching coach Dave Duncan began to wonder if Carpenter had enough strength to go the distance.

“Dunc asked me after the sixth, after the seventh, after the eighth,” Carpenter said. “To be honest with you, I felt just as good at the end of the game as I did at the beginning.”

The Cardinals cut struggling reliever Ryan Franklin before the game, and La Russa used three relievers in a win on Tuesday night. So the objective was to avoid going to the bullpen unless it was absolutely necessary.

“Today we were a little short. That was classic there; he knew what he had to do,” La Russa said of Carpenter. “Carp was the best guy we had. He has no fear, has a lot of talent. Pitching like he was tonight is what you hope for.”

Carpenter’s other complete game came on May 25, an eight-inning effort in a 3-1 loss at San Diego. The last time he had a complete-game victory was Sept. 30, 2010, against the Colorado Rockies.

The 35-year-old has 31 complete games over 14 seasons.

Carpenter last faced the Orioles nine years earlier, when he was with the Toronto Blue Jays. He now has eight career wins over Baltimore, more than any other AL opponent.

“He’s a big horse. He was able to locate on both sides of the plate,” Orioles catcher Matt Wieters said. “He used his cutter, used his sinker, got a good curveball. We got him up to 132 pitches but couldn’t get him out of the game.”

Rasmus hit a two-run shot in the second inning to give St. Louis a 2-0 lead. It was his second homer of the series, third in five games and No. 8 on the year. He went 17 games without a home run before his recent run.

That was enough offense for the Cardinals, who will attempt to complete a three-game sweep on Thursday night.

Markakis went 2-for-4 to extend his hitting streak to a career-high 18 games. Over that time he has raised his batting average from .236 to .282.

Orioles starter Chris Jakubauskas (2-1) gave up five runs and seven hits in five innings.

It was the first time Jakubauskas faced Lance Berkman since the slugger hit a line drive off the pitcher’s head in April 2010, when Jakubauskas was with Pittsburgh. The rematch was far less eventful: Berkman walked in the second inning ahead of Rasmus’ homer, hit a sacrifice fly in the third and received an intentional walk in the fifth.

St. Louis made it 4-0 in the third. Nick Punto doubled and scored on a double by Skip Schumaker, who came home on a fly ball by Berkman.

Baltimore got a run in the bottom half when J.J. Hardy hit a two-out single off Carpenter’s leg before Markakis doubled.

David Freese hit an RBI single in the fifth, and the Orioles loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom half but failed to score. After giving up three straight singles, Carpenter got Markakis to hit into a fielder’s choice at the plate before retiring Adam Jones and Vladimir Guerrero on fly balls.

“He rose to the occasion,” La Russa said. “Pitching out of that one inning was the game.”

Carpenter gave up only one hit the rest of the way.

“He’s our ace,” Schumaker said. “He is the kind of pitcher who can rattle off a 10-game string, or the kind of guy who can bring us out of a funk.”

St. Louis has won two straight after dropping five of six.

Associated Press

Kyle Lohse pitched five shutout innings in a performance shortened by rain, and the St. Louis Cardinals got solo home runs from Colby Rasmus and Matt Holliday in a 6-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday night.

It was only the second win in seven games for St. Louis since three-time NL MVP Albert Pujols was placed on the disabled list with a broken left wrist. The Cardinals were off Monday after being swept at home in a three-game series by Toronto.

Lohse (8-4) gave up four hits, walked one and was aided by two double plays. He threw only 69 pitches before a thunderstorm stopped play for 28 minutes with St. Louis ahead 4-0 in the top of the sixth.

That ended Lohse’s night, but the bullpen preserved his first win in five starts since May 29.

It was the Cardinals’ first regular-season game in Baltimore. The Orioles had hosted every other NL team since the introduction of interleague play in 1997.

J.J. Hardy homered for the Orioles, who trailed 6-0 before scoring twice in the eighth. Nick Markakis went 2 for 4 to extend his hitting streak to 17 games, tying a career high. He’s batting .410 during that span.

Orioles rookie Zach Britton (6-6) gave up four runs and seven hits in 5 2/3 innings. The left-hander is 1-5 in his last 10 starts.

Back from extended stays on the disabled list, David Freese and Nick Punto immediately made their presence felt by helping the Cardinals go up 3-0 in the second inning. Freese started the uprising with a one-out infield hit and Rasmus walked before Mark Hamilton, Punto and Ryan Theriot delivered successive two-out RBI singles.

Freese missed 51 games with a broken left hand and Punto sat out 38 games with a right forearm strain. Both were activated from the DL on Monday.

Rasmus connected in the sixth off Britton as the rain began to intensify.

In the seventh, Punto tripled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Jon Jay before Holliday hit his 10th home run of the season, a drive to center off Jason Berken.

After St. Louis reliever Lance Lynn struck out five in two innings, Hardy hit his 11th homer in the eighth off Ryan Franklin. Markakis followed with a single and Adam Jones doubled in a run before Fernando Salas got the final five outs.

Associated Press

The Toronto Blue Jays expected Ricky Romero to go deep into the game. Getting a major contribution from his bat was a huge bonus.

Romero threw a four-hitter for his second career shutout and helped break it open with his first career hit as the Blue Jays whipped the St. Louis Cardinals 5-0 Sunday for a three-game sweep.

“I’m not a good hitter,” Romero said. “So it definitely feels good to help myself out in that situation.”

J.P. Arencibia homered and Yunel Escobar had two hits and an RBI for the Blue Jays, who had lost four in a row before arriving at Busch Stadium. All three starters worked at least six innings for Toronto, which climbed back to .500 and earned its first series sweep since May 13-15 at Minnesota.

Manager John Farrell said he anticipated in spring training that Romero would assume a leadership role in the rotation, and hasn’t been disappointed.

“He’s the lead guy and guys follow his example,” Farrell said. “He’s on a very good run in terms of total innings pitched but yet you look at total number of pitches thrown he’s been very efficient for the better part of two months.”

The Cardinals wound up a 3-6 homestand and have lost 12 of 15 overall. They are 1-5 since Albert Pujols was sidelined for an anticipated six weeks with a broken left wrist, and have scored three or fewer runs in four of those games.

“We’ve just got to play better, hit better, manage better, all that stuff,” manager Tony La Russa said. “When you only have one opportunity or two, you’re not doing enough offensively.”

Reinforcements are expected soon. Third baseman David Freese and utilityman Nick Punto are likely to come off the 15-day disabled list during the upcoming six-game trip starting Tuesday.

“I think any of our guys on the DL, if we can get them back it’s going to be huge,” pitcher Kyle McClellan said. “We’ve got a pretty good team on the DL.”

McClellan (6-4) gave up five runs in 5 1/3 innings. Romero got the big hit against him, a two-run single the other way, just inside the first-base line in a four-run sixth.

“It was up,” McClellan said. “It wasn’t a good pitch. I ended up throwing it thigh high.”

Romero had been 0 for 14 with nine strikeouts for his career and 0 for 4 this year before the hit that made it 4-0.

Romero (7-7) threw his first shutout since May 15, 2010, against Texas. He struck out five, walked two and kept going after taking a liner off the top of his left foot on Lance Berkman’s infield hit with one out in the ninth, throwing one warmup pitch before resuming his attack against the Cardinals.

“It was just a little stinger at the time, but now it feels as if it didn’t get hit,” Romero said. “It feels fine.”

The left-hander retired the first 10 in order before Skip Schumaker singled with one out in the fourth. The Cardinals’ lone baserunner to make it into scoring position was Andrew Brown after getting a gift double in the fifth when both center fielder Corey Patterson and left fielder Juan Rivera pulled up on a catchable ball near the warning track.

In two career starts against the Cardinals, Romero hasn’t allowed a run in 17 innings. He worked eight scoreless innings in a 1-0 loss at Toronto June 23, 2010.

“Good sinker and he keeps you off-balance with the changeup to righties and the little cutter and curveball to lefties,” said Daniel Descalso, who was 0 for 2 with a pair of groundouts and a walk. “When you run into him on a good day, he’s got shutdown stuff.”

Half of Romero’s six career complete games have come this season, and he ended up the loser in the other two. He worked at least seven innings for the ninth straight start, the longest active streak in the majors, going 5-3 with a 1.95 ERA during that stretch.

Toronto had three of its 10 hits in the sixth, plus Patterson’s RBI grounder. Berkman threw wildly to the plate from the first base, allowing runners to take an extra base.