VERO BEACH, Fla., March 13 (UPI) -- Albert Pujols went three for three with his fifth spring homer and Jason Simontacchi pitched five solid innings Thursday to lead a split squad of St. Louis Cardinals to a 6-5 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Pujols slugged a solo shot in the fifth off starter Hideo Nomo to give the Cardinals a 3-1 lead.
Simontacchi allowed one run and two hits while walking two and striking out one in his longest outing of the spring. Kevin Ohme gave up a hit in the ninth before recording the save.
Joe Girardi had three hits and two RBI and Wilson Delgado chipped in two hits for the Cardinals.
St. Louis managed three runs and nine hits off Nomo. The veteran righthander struck out five without a walk while battling for 4 2/3 innings.
Ron Coomer, Larry Barnes and Ching-Feng Chen homered for the Dodgers, who rallied for four runs in the eighth.
