Albert Pujols finished off a three-day romp in Kansas City with two homers and six RBIs to help the St. Louis Cardinals rout the Royals 12-5 Sunday in win No. 2,500 for manager Tony La Russa. Pujols made a mockery of Kansas City pitching in his return to the town where he went to high school, hitting three homers and driving in 10 runs in the Cardinals' three-game sweep over their cross-state rivals. The two-time National League MVP had four hits Sunday and delivered the decisive blow in the Cardinals' eight-run fourth inning, pounding his club record-tying third grand slam of the season. He also had a run-scoring single in the first and added his major league-leading 26th homer in the fifth to put the Cardinals up 12-4. Pujols matched Stan Musial's team record of nine career slams. His fifth multi-homer game this season helped La Russa join Connie Mack (3,831) and John McGraw (2,763) as the only managers with 2,500 victories. Khalil Greene homered for the third straight game but left in the fourth after being hit on the right knee by a pitch. Jose Guillen homered for Kansas City, which has allowed 53 runs during a five-game losing streak. Orioles 2, Phillies 1: At Philadelphia, Brian Roberts had the decisive hit for the second straight game, a tiebreaking single in the eighth inning as Baltimore completed a three-game sweep of Philadelphia. Roberts hit an RBI single off Cole Hamels (4-3) that made it 2-1 and sent the Orioles to their fifth straight win, matching a season high. Roberts hit a two-run homer with two outs in the ninth off Ryan Madson in a 6-5 win Saturday night. The World Series champion Phillies have lost a season-worst six straight, getting swept at home in consecutive interleague series by Toronto and Baltimore. Philadelphia fell to 13-22 at home – the Phillies are a major league-best 23-9 on the road. Marlins 6, Yankees 5: At Miami, Hanley Ramirez and Cody Ross homered as Florida held off a late rally to beat the struggling New York Yankees after CC Sabathia left early with an injury. The game was protested by New York manager Joe Girardi because of an eighth-inning mixup with the Marlins lineup. Sabathia came out in the second with tightness in his left biceps and the Marlins took advantage, handing New York its fourth loss in five games – all against Washington and Florida. Sabathia is day to day. Ramirez tied it with a two-run homer in the fifth, and Ross' solo shot off Brett Tomko (0-2) in the sixth put the Marlins ahead for good. Alex Rodriguez returned to the Yankees' lineup after being benched the past two games, ending his 0-for-16 skid with a two-run single during his first start ever in his hometown of Miami. In other games it was: Red Sox 6, Braves 5; Tigers 3, Brewers 2; Rays 10, Mets 6; White Sox 4, Reds 1; Blue Jays 9, Nationals 4; Astros 4, Twins 1; Cubs 6, Indians 2; Padres 4, Athletics 1; Giants 3, Rangers 2; Mariners 3, Diamondbacks 2. Rockies 5, Pirates 4: At Denver, Clint Barmes homered, drove in two runs and scored two more as surging Colorado completed a sweep of Pittsburgh for its 16th victory in 17 games in the National League. Dodgers 5, Angels 3: At Anaheim, California, James Loney hit a two-run homer that was upheld by video review and Clayton Kershaw pitched seven shutout innings as the Los Angeles Dodgers took two of three in the Freeway Series against the Angels also in the NL.
