Aurilia homers for the first time this season to lead Giants past Cardinals 5-3

Aurilia’s homer lifts Giants

SAN FRANCISCO — Rich Aurilia hit his first home run of the season to give San Francisco the lead in the seventh, Aaron Rowand doubled and scored twice and the San Francisco Giants took the rubber game from the St. Louis Cardinals 5-3 on Sunday.

The victory gave the Giants a winning month of May at 15-14 and a 5-1 homestand.

Merkin Valdez (2-0) pitched 1 2-3 innings with a 1-2-3 seventh for the win as San Francisco improved to 6-1 in rubber games and 5-0 at home in those contests. The Giants are 8-1 in home series this season. Brian Wilson finished for his 12th save in 15 chances.

Albert Pujols doubled, singled twice and scored a run after hitting two home runs in Saturday night’s 6-2 victory and was 7-for-11 in the series. St. Louis had a chance in the eighth but Jeremy Affeldt struck out Joe Thurston with runners on first and second to end the eighth.

The Cardinals fell one game back of NL Central-leading Milwaukee heading into June after the Brewers beat Cincinnati 5-2. St. Louis was trying to start June in first place for only the fourth time in Tony La Russa’s managerial tenure — joining the 2000, ‘05 and ‘06 teams.

The Cardinals now head home from this six-game road trip for eight games in eight days at Busch Stadium.

Nick Stavinoha hit a bases-loaded two-run double that gave St. Louis the lead in the fifth. But San Francisco got both runs back in the bottom of the inning, on Edgar Renteria’s RBI groundout and Pablo Sandoval’s single.

Rowand extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a leadoff single in the first, then doubled in the fifth. Aurilia, who entered in a double-switch in the fifth, singled and scored in the fifth then homered leading off the seventh with a drive into the left-field bleachers off Adam Wainwright (5-3) in his 65th at-bat of 2009. Pinch-hitter Bengie Molina provided insurance with a sacrifice fly in the eighth.

Wainwright was tagged for 10 hits and lost for the first time in five road starts after going 3-0 to start the year away from St. Louis.

San Francisco starter Jonathan Sanchez, who ended a six-start winless stretch last Monday against Atlanta, was done after only 4 1-3 innings for his second-shortest outing of the year.

La Russa batted his pitcher eighth in all three games of the series and has done so every game since May 18. The team is 8-5 during that stretch.