ST. LOUIS — Pinch-hitter Greg Norton delivered a tiebreaking single with two outs in the eighth inning, and the Atlanta Braves beat the St. Louis Cardinals 8-4 on Saturday to snap a six-game losing streak.

Albert Pujols homered and drove in three runs for the Cardinals, who began the day 2½ games behind Milwaukee, the NL wild-card leader.

Buddy Carlyle (1-0) pitched two scoreless innings for the win in relief of starter Jorge Campillo. It marked the ninth time in his past 10 appearances that Carlyle has kept an opponent from scoring.

Mike Gonzalez got four outs for his sixth save, securing Atlanta’s second victory in 13 games.

Rain delayed the game for 49 minutes in the top of the ninth. When play resumed, Atlanta scored three times.

Kelly Johnson fouled off eight consecutive 3-2 pitches from Russ Springer before drawing a bases-loaded walk. Jeff Francouer singled up the middle to drive in the final two runs, making it 8-4.

Kyle McClellan (2-6) walked Johnson in the eighth and a wild pitch put runners at second and third. Norton’s two-run single on a two-strike pitch from McClellan — just under the glove of diving second baseman Felipe Lopez — gave the Braves a 5-3 lead.

Cardinals starter Kyle Lohse allowed three runs and eight hits in six innings. Martin Prado’s two-run single off Lohse tied the score at 3 in the sixth.

Pujols hit a two-run double in the third and added a solo homer in the fifth to give St. Louis a 3-1 lead.

The home run was Pujols’ seventh hit in seven consecutive at-bats over a three-game span. He walked once Friday in four plate appearances.

Left fielder Gregor Blanco ended the streak with a diving catch to end the seventh.

You must be logged in to comment.