Pineiro helps Cardinals end 9-game losing streak

ST. LOUIS -- The Cardinals ended their slide, probably too late to do them any good.

Miguel Cairo's RBI triple capped a four-run third inning, and St. Louis rallied past the Chicago Cubs 4-3 in the second game of a day-night doubleheader to end a nine-game losing streak.

Chicago's NL Central lead was cut to one game over Milwaukee, but St. Louis is six games back of the Cubs with just over two weeks remaining.

In the opener, Alfonso Soriano hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the eighth inning that powered the Cubs to a 3-2 win and gave Kerry Wood his first win since May 29 last year. St. Louis lost nine in a row for the first time since a 10-game skid in 1980.

Soriano hit another homer in the second game, a two-run drive in the second off Joel Pineiro (5-3). Chicago also got a first-inning RBI single from Aramis Ramirez and took a 3-0 lead, but the Cubs had two runners thrown out at the plate.

Center fielder Jim Edmonds caught Derrek Lee trying to score on Mark DeRosa's lineout to end the first and left fielder So Taguchi's relay made Ryan Theriot an easy out in the second.

A key error by catcher Jason Kendall hurt the Cubs in the third.

Kendall bounced a throw to first that eluded Lee after recovering the ball on a third strike in the dirt to Ryan Ludwick. Yadier Molina had a two-run double, Scott Spiezio tied it with a single _ his first RBI since substance-abuse rehab _ and Cairo tripled over center fielder Jacque Jones.

Pineiro allowed one hit his last five innings, retiring 15 straight hitters after Lee's leadoff double in the third. Russ Springer worked around an error to start the eighth and Jason Isringhausen finished for his 29th save in 31 chances.

Sean Marshall (7-8) made his first start since Aug. 31 and lasted 2 2-3 innings, giving up four runs _ two unearned _ and six hits.

Ryan Dempster shut down the Cardinals with a perfect ninth in the opener, only hours after his struggles made the Cubs scramble for a victory on Friday night.

"I had a little talk with him last night before he left the park and I said, 'Look, I have all the confidence in the world in you,'" manager Lou Piniella said. "Today wasn't a good day but tomorrow in a similar situation you're right back in there."

Wood (1-1) struck out one in a perfect seventh in relief of Ted Lilly, who worked six innings and gave up two runs and four hits.

"I'm so happy for him," Piniella said. "If this were a football game, we'd give him the game ball."

Braden Looper threw seven dominant innings and Edmonds hit a two-run double for the Cardinals in the makeup of a postponement the day after the death of Cardinals reliever Josh Hancock on April 29. The opener drew a season-high crowd of 45,918, including a vociferous Cubs contingent, and the second game also sold out (45,894).

Pinch-hitter Cliff Floyd drew a leadoff walk and Sam Fuld pinch ran before Soriano hit his 26th homer into the left-field stands on a 3-2 pitch from Ryan Franklin.

"It was a very good pitch and I think I made a very good swing," Soriano said. "That's the best swing I've made in maybe like a week."

Franklin (4-4) has lost four straight decisions after a 4-0 start, and has given up a two-run homer and taken the loss in two of his last three outings.

"There's no trying to figure out anything," Franklin said. "It's just a mistake and he's a good enough hitter, and he just hit it."

Dempster allowed two runs in two-thirds of an inning while pitching with a four-run ninth-inning lead on Friday, but was buoyed by the conversation with Piniella. The save was his 27th in 30 chances.

"He just told me 'You're in there tomorrow,'" Dempster said. "I expected that but it's nice to hear. You realize if you don't get it done, the next day you just come out and give your best effort."

Looper, a major league-leading 7-1 with a 1.69 ERA in day games, allowed three hits and a run with five strikeouts and two walks. He's 2-1 with a 1.67 ERA against the Cubs, three of four starts against Chicago coming in day games.

Looper retired 18 of his last 19 hitters after Geovany Soto's double in the first, a stretch interrupted only by Soriano's two-out single in the fifth.

Edmonds, who entered the game batting .195 off left-handers, hit a two-run double off the right-field wall in the first to put the Cardinals ahead. Lilly retired the first two batters before Albert Pujols singled and Ludwick walked ahead of Edmonds.

The Cubs cut the gap to a run in the second when Mark DeRosa drew a leadoff walk, went to third on Soto's double and scored on Mike Fontenot's sacrifice fly.

Soriano dropped a fly ball from Edmonds in the sixth inning for a two-base error, but the Cardinals didn't score.