NEW YORK — St. Louis manager Tony La Russa repeated the same thing over and over again during Albert Pujols' brief slump.

"I said he's smart. He'll fix it," La Russa said. "He fixed it tonight."

Boy, did he.

Pujols hit a grand slam in the 10th inning for his second homer of the game and the Cardinals rallied to beat the New York Mets, 12-7, yesterday.

Pujols finished with four hits and five RBIs for the Cardinals, snapping out of an 0-for-13 skid with his ninth multihomer game of the season. Ryan Ludwick also went deep and drove in two runs for St. Louis.

"I didn't change my approach," Pujols said. "I just made sure I had good swings."

The Cardinals scored eight times in the last three innings to hand New York its fifth loss in six games. With two out and the bases loaded in the 10th, Sean Green replaced Pedro Feliciano (4-4) and hit Mark DeRosa on the left elbow with his first pitch to give St. Louis an 8-7 lead.

With the Citi Field crowd still jeering Green, Pujols hit an 0-2 pitch into the seats in left to tie Ernie Banks' NL record of five slams in a season set in 1955. The All-Star slugger is 7 for 9 with 24 RBIs with the bases loaded this year and leads the majors with 36 homers.

DODGERS 17, BREWERS 4:

Manny Ramirez ended his 10-game RBI drought with a homer and a two-run double, and Matt Kemp had a homer among his four hits while driving in five runs for host Los Angeles. The game got testy with two outs in the ninth when Guillermo Mota hit Brewers slugger Prince Fielder. Home plate umpire Marvin Hudson immediately ejected Mota.

CUBS 6, REDS 3:

Tom Gorzelanny turned his first appearance for visiting Chicago into his best of the season, allowing three hits and driving in a run. The Cubs got Gorzelanny (4-1) and reliever John Grabow from Pittsburgh in a five-player deal Thursday. He went 7 1/3 innings, giving up one run.

DIAMONDBACKS 6, PIRATES 0:

Yusmeiro Petit took a no-hitter into the eighth inning and combined with Leonel Rosales on a one-hitter, and visiting Arizona beat Pittsburgh. Petit (2-5) walked three and struck out four in eight innings. Ryan Roberts went 4 for 5 with two home runs for Arizona.

NATIONALS 6, MARLINS 4:

Adam Dunn capped Washington's six-run eighth-inning rally with a two-run homer and the host Nationals ended a 10-game losing streak against Florida. Dunn struck out in his first three at-bats before lining a 3-2 pitch from Dan Meyer over the left-field fence, breaking a 4-4 tie.

GIANTS 8, ASTROS 1:

Jonathan Sanchez snapped a nine-game road losing streak, striking out eight in seven shutout innings for San Francisco. Sanchez (5-9), who pitched a no-hitter against San Diego on July 10, held Houston to four hits, all singles.

BRAVES 9, PADRES 2:

Javier Vazquez pitched seven strong innings, and Martin Prado homered and drove in three runs to lead visiting Atlanta over San Diego. Vazquez (9-7) gave up two runs and four hits and won his fourth consecutive decision.

ROCKIES 8, PHILLIES 3:

Garrett Atkins homered and had a season-high four RBIs and Jason Hammel pitched into the seventh inning as visiting Colorado won its fifth straight. Hammel (6-6) gave up three runs and nine hits in 6 2/3 innings.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

MARINERS 7, ROYALS 6:

Ichiro Suzuki homered on the second pitch of the game then ended it with a great sliding catch as visiting Seattle beat Kansas City. Kansas City loaded the bases with two outs against David Aardsma. John Buck lifted a high fly ball to right and Suzuki went into a feet-first slide to make the game-ending catch in foul territory.

ATHLETICS 6, RANGERS 0:

Gio Gonzalez threw 6 2/3 scoreless innings and Kurt Suzuki homered for host Oakland. Gonzalez (3-2) took a no-hitter into the fifth before giving up a two-out hit to David Murphy. Suzuki, a Baldwin High alum from Maui, hit his seventh home run of the season, a solo shot, with one out in the first.

YANKEES 5, BLUE JAYS 3:

Andy Pettitte won for the first time in six starts and visiting New York hit three homers off Roy Halladay (11-5). Pettitte (9-6), who had not won since July 1, allowed one run and four hits in 6 2/3 innings, walking four and striking out six.

RAYS 4, RED SOX 2:

Evan Longoria's second homer of the game, a two-run shot off Takashi Saito (2-3) with two outs in the bottom of the 13th inning, gave host Tampa Bay a victory over Boston. Longoria, who struck out four times, homered in the eighth off Daniel Bard, tying the score 2-all.

ORIOLES 8, TIGERS 2:

Brian Matusz and visiting Baltimore spoiled Jarrod Washburn's debut with Detroit. Matusz (1-0) allowed a run and six hits in five innings in his major league debut. He walked three and struck out five. Washburn (8-7) was acquired from Seattle on July 31.

TWINS 10, INDIANS 1:

Scott Baker pitched seven scoreless innings, and was backed by home runs from Carlos Gomez and Jason Kubel in visiting Minnesota's victory. Baker (9-7) allowed three hits and one walk, striking out four to improve to 5-1 in eight starts since June 25.

WHITE SOX 5, ANGELS 4:

Scott Podsednik's RBI single with two outs in the ninth lifted Chicago and snapped Los Angeles' eight-game road winning streak. Kevin Jepsen (3-3) retired the first two batters in the ninth, then allowed Jayson Nix's double and Podsednik's single.

NOTES

Cardinals: Troy Glaus' bulging disk in his lower back has not responded to treatment, forcing St. Louis to shut down the third baseman's minor league rehab assignment. Glaus had arthroscopic shoulder surgery in January and hasn't played all season.

Padres: San Diego has released right-hander Mark Prior, whose once-promising career has been interrupted by two shoulder surgeries since April 2007. Prior hasn't pitched in the big leagues since Aug. 10, 2006, while with the Chicago Cubs.