MLB: St. Louis 5, Houston 3

ST. LOUIS, April 11 (UPI) -- Ryan Ludwick homered and drove in two runs Friday night and the St. Louis Cardinals beat Houston 5-3.

Skip Schumaker had three hits and one RBI, Chris Duncan had an RBI, and Joel Pineiro (1-0) limited the Astros to two runs on eight hits over 6 2/3 innings for the Cardinals.

Kyle McClellan got the final two outs of the game to earn his first save of 2009.

Carlos Lee had three hits including a solo home run for Houston, and Geoff Blum had two hits and scored a run.

Houston starter and loser Mike Hampton (0-1) allowed three runs on four hits and four walks with five strikeouts in five innings.