Marrero’s Power Lifts Cardinals Over Cubs

Eli Marrero showcased his power after a six-week homer drought, helping the St. Louis Cardinals sweep a doubleheader from the Chicago Cubs and pad their lead in the National League Central.

Marrero, who hadn’t homered since July 20, hit a grand slam in the second game at Chicago to cap a six-run third inning Saturday night as the Cardinals rolled to a 10-4 victory.

“It gave us a comfortable lead,” said Marrero, who later made a great throw to stop a Chicago rally. “I was just trying to relax, put the ball in play and let good things happen. You learn from that.”

Marrero also homered in the opener, as did Albert Pujols and Eduardo Perez, leading the Cardinals to an 8-1 win.

Andy Benes (4-4) won for the fourth time in his last seven starts, giving up three hits and six walks in five innings of the nightcap. He also homered in the fourth off Jason Bere (1-10).

Pujols, who went three for four in the opener, hit his 32nd homer, a solo shot that extended the Cardinals’ lead to 2-0 in the fifth.

Marrero hit his 11th homer in the eighth to make it 5-1 and Perez hit his third pinch homer, a three-run shot in the ninth.

Cubs starter Mark Prior (6-6) left the game because of a strained left hamstring, departing before delivering a pitch to start the top of the sixth.

In the bottom of the fifth, Prior ran to first after a third-strike wild pitch by Hackman and then slid hard into second base on a fielder’s choice.

Philadelphia 1, New York 0--The Mets completed the worst home month in National League history, losing to Randy Wolf and Phillies for their 13th consecutive defeat at Shea Stadium. Wolf pitched a four-hitter and Jimmy Rollins hit an RBI single in the eighth inning as the Mets tied a team record for consecutive home losses set in 1979.

At 0-13, the Mets became the first NL team to go winless at home in a month while playing at least 10 games. Wolf struck out Roger Cedeno for the fourth time with runners on first and second to end the game, triggering a chorus of loud boos.

Milwaukee 11, Cincinnati 2--Jorge Fabregas hit two of Milwaukee’s five home runs off Chris Reitsma as the Brewers won at Cincinnati. Alex Sanchez, Ryan Thompson and Matt Stairs also homered off Reitsma (5-10). The last Cincinnati pitcher to give up five home runs in a game was Brett Tomko on June 15, 1999, against the New York Mets.

Thompson was not in the Brewers’ original starting lineup but was inserted when Milwaukee announced just before the game that Mark Loretta had been traded to Houston.

Atlanta 5, Montreal 3--Andruw Jones and Mark DeRosa homered and Chris Hammond pitched two scoreless innings for his seventh relief win as the Braves won at Montreal. Jones led off the seventh with his 27th homer--his first since Aug. 17--to break a 3-3 tie. John Smoltz saved his second consecutive game, pitching the ninth for his major league-leading 48th save.

San Diego 3, Colorado 0--Rookie Clay Condrey pitched 7 1/3 shutout innings in his first major league start as the Padres won at San Diego to hand the Rockies their eighth consecutive loss. The Padres shut out the Rockies for the second consecutive game.

Florida 3, Pittsburgh 2--Kevin Millar hit a tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the eighth inning and the Marlins won at Miami.