Toronto, ON (Sports Network) - Matt Holliday continued his strong play with the decisive base hit in the ninth to score the game's lone run and secure a 1-0 Cardinals win against Toronto.
Chris Carpenter (9-1) made the late-inning heroics possible by controlling the Blue Jay bats for eight innings in his second career start versus his former club. The right-hander yielded only three hits, walked four and struck out seven.
Albert Pujols went 4-for-5 while Randy Winn collected three hits and scored the lone run as St. Louis won for the fourth time in five games in a continuation of this three-game set. Ryan Franklin got a key double-play ball in the bottom of the ninth, on the way to his 14th save.
Toronto's Ricky Romero matched Carpenter over eight scoreless frames. The left-hander worked around eight hits and struck out five with one walk.
Kevin Gregg (0-3) allowed a trio of hits in the ninth to take the loss, the Jays' third straight.
Winn singled to left with one out in the ninth and Felipe Lopez moved him into scoring position with a base hit to center two batters later. Holliday then ripped a two-out hit between third and short with runners at the corners to plate the deciding run.
Franklin erased a leadoff hit from Vernon Wells with a 5-4-3 double play from Alex Gonzalez. Jose Bautista drew a walk to keep hope alive, but Lyle Overbay's grounder to first ended any hopes of a comeback.
The Cardinals missed a chance to break the game open in their first at-bat after loading the bases with nobody out. Romero buckled down and induced a weak grounder that turned into a force play at home before fanning the final two batters.
Toronto's lineup didn't have many chances against Carpenter, who allowed a runner to reach as far as second only once on Jarrett Hoffpauir's third-inning double.
Carpenter has won five straight decisions over eight starts, having not lost since May 13. He pitched his first six years in the majors for Toronto before signing with St. Louis for the 2004 season...Holliday had two hits Wednesday and had homered in each of the last four games, swatting five over the impressive span. He is 13-for-22 at the plate over his last five games with 11 RBI...Wells had two of the four Blue Jay hits...These two clubs are meeting for the first time since the Blue Jays took two of three at home over the Cardinals from June 13-15, 2005...The Cardinals will aim for a three- game sweep on Thursday behind 10-game winner Adam Wainwright...Right-hander Brandon Morrow will go for Toronto.