The St. Louis Cardinals rallied early and Chris Carpenter held on after a rough eighth inning to stay in the race against the surging Brewers, beating Milwaukee by a score of 5-2. Albert Pujols had four hits, including a home run, to propel the Cardinals, who also got a leadoff homer from midseason acquisition Rafael Furcal. Carpenter's win was his eighth, while Fernando Salas picked up his 22nd save of the season with a perfect ninth inning. 

After a four-game sweep of the Marlins the Cardinals welcomed the Brewers into Busch Stadium only to lose two ugly games and fall five games back of the division leaders. Thursday, at least, was a vintage reminder of what the Cardinals can do when their ace and their superstar get things going on the same night. 

The Cardinals will host the Colorado Rockies on Friday night, when Kyle Lohse returns the mound against Aaron Cook. Jaime Garcia and Edwin Jackson will pitch over the weekend as the Cardinals try to avoid losing any more ground against a Brewers team that won't stop winning.