Pujols’ 2 homers, Duncan’s big hit lead Cardinals’ late rally for 6-2 win over Giants

Duncan, Cards rally late for 6-2 win over Giants

SAN FRANCISCO — Albert Pujols burst out of his power slump with two homers, and Chris Duncan drove in the go-ahead run with a two-out double in the seventh inning of the St. Louis Cardinals’ 6-2 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Saturday night.

Skip Schumaker’s double drove home the tying run earlier in the seventh for the Cardinals, who overcame Chris Carpenter’s first earned runs allowed this season for their eighth victory in 11 games.

Carpenter (3-0), who pitched 23 innings in his first four starts without giving up an earned run, yielded Juan Uribe’s RBI triple in the second inning. Carpenter also gave up Bengie Molina’s run-scoring double in the third for the Giants, whose four-game winning streak ended.

Pujols hit homers in the second and ninth innings for his third multihomer game of the season. The defending NL MVP had just one homer in his previous 15 games, driving in just six runs during the stretch — a bonafide drought by his formidable standards.

Carpenter’s teammates kept his record spotless with a late rally against Barry Zito (1-6), who took yet another tough loss when he couldn’t hold a seventh-inning lead. Zito, who gave up 10 hits and two walks, has the best home ERA among the Giants’ starters, but began the night with the worst average run support in the majors (2.09).

Carpenter finished strong, allowing six hits with five strikeouts over six innings. He appeared in just five games over the past two seasons, and he spent more than a month on the disabled list this spring — but the right-hander has been nearly perfect when healthy.

Pinch-hitting rookie Nick Stavinoha kicked off St. Louis’ seventh-inning rally with a one-out double, and Schumaker drove him home. Duncan then slipped a drive down the right field line, delighting the thousands of Cardinals fans at the Giants’ waterfront ballpark.

Pinch-hitter Joe Thurston added an RBI triple in the eighth for the Cardinals, and Schumaker drove him home moments later.

Carpenter’s scoreless streak — he allowed an unearned run in his first start of the year — ended at 21 1-3 innings when Fred Lewis doubled and scored on Uribe’s triple. San Francisco went up 2-0 in the third inning on back-to-back doubles by Randy Winn and Molina, who leads the Giants with 31 RBIs.

Pujols connected in the fourth for his 15th homer. He added a long shot to left in the ninth against reliever Justin Miller.