ST. LOUIS, April 29 (UPI) -- Albert Pujols' record-breaking home run in the bottom of the ninth inning Saturday afternoon have the St. Louis Cardinals a 2-1 victory over Washington.
The Cardinals slugger hit his 14th homer of 2006 and passed Ken Griffey Jr. and Luis Gonzalez for the most homers ever in April. Griffey hit 13 in April 1997, and Gonzalez matched that in 2001.
Scott Spiezio went 2-for-2 and knocked in the other St. Louis run, while Juan Encarnacion had one hit and scored once for the Cardinals (16-8), who have won five of their last six games.
Winning pitcher Braden Looper (2-0) worked a perfect eighth in relief of starter Chris Carpenter.
Jose Guillen hit his second homer of the season to produce the Nationals' only run. Guillen and Marlon Byrd combined for five hits for the Nationals (8-16), who have dropped six of their last seven games.
Losing pitcher John Rauch (0-1) gave up the game-winning home run.
