The Cardinals won big with a10-2 victory over the Phillies before the sixth straight sellout, a crowd of 44,872 Sunday at Citizens Bank Park. The game was also played before a nationally televised audience on ESPN.
But bigger than the crowd or the media was the fact that the loss to St. Louis earned the Phillies the distinction of becoming the first franchise in American professional sports to reach 10,000 losses.
The Cardinals sealed the victory with three runs in the fifth inning, highlighted by back-to-back home runs by Albert Pujols and Chris Duncan. It was the third straight game that Pujols homered. For good measure, Pujols blasted his second homer off Brian Sanches in the seventh for a 7-0 advantage.
After a 22-game drought without a home run, that’s now four homers in three games for Pujols, who also has hit at least 20 home runs in his first seven seasons, becoming the 21st player in Major League history to accomplish such a feat.
Two batters after Pujols, Juan Encarnacion and Adam Kennedy hit back-to-back shots for a 9-0 lead. It was Kennedy’s first home run this season.
Ryan Ludwick homered in the eighth, giving the Cards a season-high six homers in one game.
Adam Wainwright pitched seven solid shutout innings for the Cardinals and earned his eighth win.