Pujols pitches 9th, Cardinals roll over Giants

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Yadier Molina homered and drove in four runs and Adam Wainwright tossed six effective innings to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a 15-6 win over the San Francisco Giants on Sunday night that ended with veteran slugger Albert Pujols on the mound.

Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado each added a two-run homer for the Cardinals, who took two of three in the series after losing two of three to Baltimore. Goldschmidt drove in three runs.

Pujols, the Cardinals' designated hitter, came into the game as a pitcher for the first time in his career in the ninth inning. He gave up a three-run homer to Luis Gonzalez and a solo homer to Joey Bart but managed to get the final three outs.

Joc Pederson had a two-run homer for San Francisco, which lost its second in a row after winning six straight.

Molina capped a four-run outburst in the first inning off Carlos Rodon (4-2) with a two-run single. Molina added a two-run homer off reliver Zack Littell in the fifth to push the lead to 11-0.

Wainwright (4-3) gave up two runs and three hits. He struck out five and walked two. The right-hander retired 14 of the first 15 batters he faced. Gonzalez got the Giants' first hit with a two-out single in the fifth.

Wainwright and Molina set a major league record with 203 wins by a starting battery. They passed Warren Spahn and Del Crandall, who amassed 202 wins for the Boston/Milwaukee Braves from 1949-63.

The St. Louis duo has started 311 games together, third all-time behind Spahn/Crandall (316) and Mickey Lolich/Bill Freehan (324) of the Detroit Tigers from 1963-75.

Rodon (4-2) allowed eight runs and 10 hits over 3 2/3 innings. He struck out three and walked one. He had given up just seven earned runs over his previous six starts