Cardinals blast past Braves

ST. LOUIS -- David Eckstein hit a grand slam off Chris Reitsma with one out in the ninth inning, giving the St. Louis Cardinals a 5-3 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Sunday.\nEckstein hit his fourth career grand slam and the second game-winning home run of his career on a 1-0 pitch from Reitsma (3-3), who had entered the game with nine straight saves. The drive over the left-field wall gave the Cardinals two of three in a series matching NL division leaders and the teams with the two best records in the league.\nAbraham Nunez and So Taguchi singled and pinch-hitter Hector Luna reached on an infield hit to start the ninth. Pinch-hitter Scott Seabol popped up before the game-winner from Eckstein, the 5-foot-7 leadoff hitter who won two games in July with squeeze bunts. Eckstein also doubled, walked twice and stole a base.\nRay King (3-2) got the last out in the top of the ninth in relief of 16-game winner Chris Carpenter, who allowed two runs and four hits in eight innings with 10 strikeouts and two walks.\nThe winning grand slam was the Cardinals' first since Tommy Herr beat the New York Mets on April 18, 1987, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.\nBraves starter Jorge Sosa allowed four hits in seven scoreless innings and the Braves got home runs from Kelly Johnson and Jeff Francoeur, who drove in another run with a ninth-inning double off Jason Isringhausen.\nAlbert Pujols added his 31st homer for the Cardinals, who completed a 4-3 homestand.\nCarpenter, who hasn't lost in 10 starts since June 8, gave up only one hit in his last six innings. He allowed two homers in a start for only the second time this season, and the first since May 2 at Cincinnati.\nJohnson hit his eighth homer on a 3-2 pitch with one out in the first and Francoeur hit his eighth in only 22 major league games. leading off the second.\nThe Cardinals were 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position during Sosa's stint, with Pujols stranding two runners in the first and leaving a man on third with one out in the third on a pair of popups. Pujols took out his frustration on Kyle Farnsworth with a homer to straightaway center in the eighth, cutting the gap to one.