Cards Win 1st Game Since Hancock's Death

ST. LOUIS - Albert Pujols hit a go-ahead two-run double in the fifth inning, and the St. Louis Cardinals ended a five-game losing streak with a 3-2 victory over the Houston Astros on Friday night.

It was the Cardinals' first home game since relief pitcher Josh Hancock's fatal accident on Sunday. The team honored him with a video montage and put his initials and uniform number in a black circle against the bullpen wall not far from an identical remembrance of Darryl Kile, who died in 2002.

Before the game, about a dozen teammates gathered near the warning track in center field beneath the video board during the Hancock montage, and a sellout crowd observed a moment of silence.

The Cardinals were outscored 36-7 during a five-game skid, including a sweep at Milwaukee earlier this week in which the defending World Series champions were outscored 23-3 and fell to last place in the NL Central.

Adam Wainwright (2-2) allowed two runs and seven hits in six innings in his strongest outing since winning at Houston on April 6 in his first major league start. In his previous three starts, Wainwright was 0-2, allowing 17 earned runs and 27 hits in 15 2-3 innings.

Pujols' two-run double off Woody Williams (0-5) put the Cardinals ahead 3-2 in the fifth. Pujols is 18-for-44 (.409) with two homers and eight RBIs during a 12-game hitting streak.

The Astros used two hits, a walk and Carlos Lee's sacrifice fly to take the lead in the first, and made it 2-0 in the fourth on Humberto Quintero's two-out run-scoring single, his first RBI.

The Cardinals took the lead in the fifth, ending a 19-inning scoreless streak. Chris Duncan's two-out RBI single cut the deficit to one and Pujols hit a full-count pitch just inside the third-base line for a two-run double.

Jason Isringhausen, the fourth St. Louis pitcher, got the last five outs for his seventh save in eight chances. It's his first save longer than an inning since undergoing hip surgery last September.

Williams moved up a day in the rotation to replace Chris Sampson, who was experiencing sinus problems. He allowed three runs and five hits in six innings and is 1-3 against his former team.

Notes:@ The Cardinals have been outscored 19-3 in the first inning and have scored first in only seven of their first 27 games. ... Pujols is 4-for-7 with a homer against Williams. ... Lee has 20 RBIs in his last 20 games. ... Craig Biggio singled twice for his team-leading eighth multihit game and has 2,959 hits. ... The Cardinals improved to 4-9 at home.