MLB: St. Louis 4, Pittsburgh 2

ST. LOUIS, May 6 (UPI) -- Albert Pujols hit his 11th homer of the season Wednesday, tops in the National League, and had four hits in leading St. Louis to a 4-2 win over Pittsburgh.

Pujols scored twice, boosted his batting average to .364 and helped the Cardinals halt a three-game losing skid.

A two-run triple by Chris Duncan highlighted a three-run fourth that gave St. Louis the lead for good. Pittsburgh has lost four in a row and eight out of nine.

St. Louis starter Mitchell Boggs was unable to stay around long enough to get the victory, which went to reliever Kyle McClellan (2-1).

McClellan recorded four outs and Ryan Franklin worked a perfect ninth for his eighth save.

Pujols hit his homer in the first inning, then singled in the fourth, sixth and eighth. He has 36 hits in 28 games this season.

The loss went to Zach Duke (3-3), who allowed four runs on six hits in 5 1/3 innings.