Ankiel, Pujols power Cardinals past Astros <h3>ST LOUIS 4, HOUSTON 3</h3>ST. LOUIS (Ticker) - One big hit deserved another. Rick Ankiel and Albert Pujols keyed a three-run rally in theNinth inning off Brad Lidge as the St. Louis Cardinals posted a4-3 victory over the Houston Astros on Sunday. The Astros carried a 3-1 lead into the bottom of the ninthbefore turning the ball over to Lidge (5-3), who suffered yetanother ninth-inning meltdown. "Getting guys on base is kind of what killed me," said Lidge,who blew his eighth save of the season. "Ankiel did a good jobof putting it in play and hitting it down the line. I thoughtit was a pretty good pitch." Miguel Cairo hit a leadoff single, and pinch hitter Ryan Ludwickwalked before Pujols smoked a pinch-hit RBI single off the wallin left to cut the deficit to 3-2. After fighting off severalpitches, Ankiel hit the game-winning two-run triple to the rightfield corner. "It was a great game for both sides," said Pujols, who missedhis fifth straight start due to a strained left calf. "I wastrying to get a good pitch to hit and put my best swing on it." "It was exciting, especially since it was the last game here,"Ankiel said. "I was just up there trying to battle. (Lidge)throws so hard, it's hard to just sit on a slider. "With the runner on third and there are no outs, I was justtrying to get something in the outfield or get something I couldput good hard contact on. I think it was a good at-bat and I'mglad I was able to come through." In the top half of the ninth, Carlos Lee blasted a two-run homerinto the left-center field stands off of Jason Isringhausen tosnap a 1-1 tie. It was Lee's 31st homer of the season. Kelvin Jimenez (3-0) picked up the win for the Cardinals. "We have great heart on this team and you can't deny that,"Cardinal manager Tony La Russa said. "We finally got the win wedeserve with as many times as we kept pushing. Last game athome, that's fantasy island stuff. I can't be any happier forthe guys in the club and our fans." St. Louis starter Todd Wellemeyer struck out five batters infive scoreless frames. "When I'm throwing strikes and my stuffis good, they have a problem hitting it," Wellemeyer said. "Fanslove winning games like that." Mark Loretta extended his hitting streak to 13 games with arun-scoring single in the seventh off Cardinals reliever RussSpringer, tying the score at 1-1. Houston's Roy Oswalt yieldedone unearned run and eight hits in seven innings. "I had pretty good command most of the night," Oswalt said. "Iwas just trying to keep them off balance. I was able to getthrough seven."
