Lance Berkman hit his fifth and six home runs of the road trip and Albert Pujols hit two home runs of his own to propel the St. Louis Cardinals past the Los Angeles Dodgers by a score of 11-2 Friday, finally propelling the astoundingly hot Cardinals to the .500 mark. The Cardinals have scored at least eight runs in their last five games after a start that saw them score three or fewer in their first six. Colby Rasmus doubled thrice, and Yadier Molina had four hits and reached base five times. Every Cardinal starter but Skip Schumaker had at least one hit, including Kyle Lohse, who picks up his second win of the season with 7 1/3 innings of two-run ball, striking out six and walking just one. Jon Garland took the loss in his first start of 2011, allowing five earned runs in four innings before being removed.
After a 2-6 start the Cardinals have won five of their last six; they'll remain in Los Angeles on Saturday and Sunday before returning home on April 19 for a Busch Stadium series against the Washington Nationals. After that it's one of the first big NL Central series of the year, when the first-place Cincinnati Reds come to visit over the weekend.