Apr 16, 2007 6 min read

ST. LOUIS (AP) – Albert Pujols broke out of an April drought with two home runs and five RBIs, and Chris Duncan was 4-for-5 with a homer to help the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers 10-2 on Sunday. Converted reliever Braden Looper was effective in his third straight start for the Cardinals, who scored four runs during an 0-4 start at Busch Stadium. Their first home victory since beating the Tigers in Game 5 of the World Series came against Brewers ace Ben Sheets, who fell to 4-14 in 22 career starts against St. Louis.

Pujols, who entered the game batting .158 with two RBIs, has 17 career multihomer games.

Looper (2-1) has won two of his first three major league starts after making 572 consecutive relief appearances. He allowed two runs and five hits in six innings, and had his first career RBI on an infield chopper.

Braves 8, Marlins 4

ATLANTA – Chipper Jones hit a three-run homer and Andruw Jones added a two-run shot to back Tim Hudson’s strong pitching in Atlanta’s victory over Florida.

It was the third home run in four games for Chipper Jones, who has seven RBIs during that stretch. His drive in the third inning off Scott Olsen (2-1) capped a five-run inning. Andruw Jones hit his third of season in the fifth off Rick Vanden Hurk.

Hudson (2-0), who is 102-17 when his team scores at least four runs, allowed one run and six hits in seven innings.

Reds 1, Cubs 0

CHICAGO – Kyle Lohse struck out a career-high 12 in eight innings and Jeff Conine hit an RBI single, leading Cincinnati past Chicago.

Lohse (1-0) allowed four hits and one walk, outpitching Ted Lilly. Ryan Theriot had three hits for the Cubs, but they couldn’t muster much else.

Conine singled home the lone run in the fourth.

Chicago wasted another solid outing by Lilly (1-1), who allowed two hits while striking out 10 and walking one in six innings.

David Weathers got two outs for his fifth save in five chances.

Diamondbacks 6, Rockies 4

PHOENIX – Tony Clark is a graybeard among all the youngsters in the Arizona Diamondbacks’ lineup, and he gave the kids a lesson in power hitting.

Clark drove in three runs with two homers and the Diamondbacks beat Colorado to take two of three from the Rockies. It was the 22nd multi-homer game for the 34-year-old Clark.

Indians 2, White Sox 1

CLEVELAND – C.C. Sabathia pitched eight overpowering innings and the Cleveland Indians got only one hit – a leadoff double in the first – to defeat the Chicago White Sox.

Sabathia (3-0) allowed five hits, struck out 10, walked three and improved to 14-3 – 2-0 this season – in 22 starts against Chicago.

The Indians’ only hit was Grady Sizemore’s double in the first off Jose Contreras (1-2). Cleveland took advantage of three errors and some walks to take two of three in the series.

Joe Borowski worked the ninth for his fifth save, striking out pinch-hitter A.J. Pierzynski with a runner on first to end it.

Contreras did a remarkable job of keeping the game close, considering the White Sox made three errors behind him and he walked five in the first four innings.

The right-hander allowed only Sizemore’s hit and was able to get big outs when he needed them. However, Contreras ran into trouble again in the fourth with a leadoff walk and an error by third baseman Joe Crede.

Contreras walked No. 9 hitter Kelly Shoppach to load the bases and then put on Sizemore, giving the Indians a 2-0 lead.

Blue Jays 2, Tigers 1

TORONTO – John McDonald drove in the go-ahead run with a seventh-inning single and Josh Towers recovered from a shaky outing with seven-plus strong innings for Toronto.

McDonald broke a 1-1 tie with a two-out single that brought in Royce Clayton, who ran through third base coach Brian Butterfield’s stop sign and scored without a play at the plate.

Shaun Marcum worked a perfect ninth for his first career save.

Towers (1-1) scattered three hits over 7 2-3 innings to win a start for the first time since last May 14 at Tampa Bay.

Devil Rays 6, Twins 4

MINNEAPOLIS – Dioner Navarro hit a tiebreaking double off Joe Nathan in the ninth inning and Tampa Bay earned a split of the four-game series.

Navarro’s second hit of the game snapped a 4-all tie and sent Nathan (1-1) to his first loss since September 6, 2005.

Akinori Iwamura greeted Nathan with a double and scored on Navarro’s double. Carlos Pena’s RBI single made it 6-4.

Brian Stokes (1-2) worked a scoreless eighth and Al Reyes struck out two in a perfect ninth for his fourth save.

Delmon Young extended his AL-leading hitting streak to 12 games with a two-run homer in the sixth inning.

Mariners 14, Rangers 6

SEATTLE – Jose Vidro homered in his first two at-bats, and Ichiro Suzuki had four hits for Seattle, which scored a season high in runs.

Suzuki led off with his 21st career home run and one out later Vidro connected for a solo shot, quickly erasing a 2-0 deficit. Vidro added a three-run homer in the second inning.

It was the 26th career four-hit game for Suzuki, who snapped an 0-for-13 slump on Saturday.

The top three hitters in Seattle’s order – Suzuki, Adrian Beltre and Vidro – were 9-for-14 with 10 RBIs and nine runs scored.

Horacio Ramirez (1-0) allowed a run in six innings for the win.

Athletics 5, Yankees 4

OAKLAND, Calif. – Marco Scutaro hit a three-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning off Mariano Rivera to give Oakland its first series victory of the season.

Scutaro’s shot spoiled a strong start by Andy Pettitte, who allowed five hits and two runs – one earned – in seven innings.

Rivera (1-1) blew his first save chance of the season, despite retiring the first two batters in the ninth. Todd Walker singled for Oakland’s first hit since the third inning and Jason Kendall then walked, bringing up Scutaro.

Oakland right-hander Rich Harden struck out seven through six innings, then left with tightness in his pitching shoulder. Jay Marshall (1-0) pitched 1 1-3 scoreless innings for his first major league win.