Albert Pujols rewarded an adoring crowd by hitting a first inning home run in his return to Busch Stadium, sending the Los Angeles Dodgers toward a 7-2 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday night.
Justin Turner homered twice and Will Smith also homered for the playoff-contending Dodgers, who won for the sixth time in eight games. St. Louis has lost four in a row.
J. A. Happ (8-8) allowed four runs on seven hits over five innings.
RHP Adam Wainwright (14-7, 2.91 ERA) will start for the Cardinals in the third game of the four-game series Wednesday, 5:50 with the pregame and the first pitch at 6:45 on KIRX.
In the wild card chase, the Dodgers are the number one team, 14 1/2 ahead of San Diego and Cincinnati who are tied for the number two spot. Philadelphia is two games out, the Cardinals and Mets are both 3 1/2 out.