St. Louis ? Pitching with runners on base doesn’t faze St. Louis rookie Travis Smith.

Jim Edmonds and Albert Pujols hit solo home runs, and Smith worked out of trouble to win for the first time since May 1 as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-2 Thursday.

“Every outing I’ve had since I’ve been here, I’ve had men on base,” Smith said. “It seems like every inning I’m working out a jam. I have guys on base and I have to make big pitches. That’s what I pride myself on this year. I made big pitches when I need to. That’s my mentality. I fight them until I can’t do it anymore.”

Making his second start since being recalled from the minors June 27 following the death of Darryl Kile, Smith (2-0) pitched into the seventh inning. Facing the Dodgers for the first time, the right-hander allowed a run on seven hits.

The 29-year-old Smith opened the season with Triple-A Memphis before being called up in April and optioned back on May 13.

“He’s got terrific grit,” Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said.

The Dodgers, who outhit St. Louis 11-5, stranded five runners in the first four innings. In the third, the first two batters singled but Smith struck out Shawn Green for the second time and Eric Karros hit into an inning-ending double play.

“I got him (Green) out both times on changeups,” Smith said. “I threw a fastball on the outer half and he hit it right to the second baseman.”

“He’s got Green up there, and instead of fainting he throws three terrific pitches,” La Russa said. “He’s got a good assortment of pitches.”

Los Angeles manager Jim Tracey lamented the lack of a key hit by his club.

“The only thing that has kept us from winning the last two games is that we did not take advantage of all the opportunities we had,” he said.

“We didn’t come up with hits with runners in scoring position. But I have no complaints whatsoever abut the efforts of this ballclub. We’re only a couple of hits away over the last two days from having 54 wins instead of the 52 that we have.”

St. Louis has won its last four and increased its lead in the NL Central to three games over Cincinnati. The Cardinals are 6-4 with three games to go on a 13-game homestand, their longest of the season.

D’backs 6, Giants 3

Phoenix Brian Anderson won consecutive starts for the first time in more than a year, and Junior Spivey went 3-for-4 as Arizona beat San Francisco. Anderson (4-7) allowed two runs and four hits in seven innings to improve to 3-1 in his last four outings. He had last won consecutive starts on May 17 and May 22 of last season, at Cincinnati and at home against San Francisco.

Marlins 9, Mets 7

Miami Pinch-hitter Pablo Ozuna tripled to drive in two runs, and Florida beat New York’s Al Leiter. After nearly blowing a 6-1 lead, Marlins starter Julian Tavarez settled down for his sixth win in his last nine starts. Mike Piazza hit his 18th homer of the year for the Mets, giving him three home runs in his last two games.

Brewers 5, Reds 4

Cincinnati Eric Young’s two-out, two-run double in the ninth inning off Danny Graves rallied Milwaukee, the Brewers first victory this season against Cincinnati. Trying to protect a 4-3 lead, Graves (3-3) yielded singles to Robert Machado and Alex Sanchez between outs. Young then doubled to the gap in left-center, with both runners scoring easily.

Expos 2, Phillies 1

Philadelphia Brad Wilkerson hit a two-out, two-run homer off Jose Mesa in the ninth inning Montreal’s first hit since the fourth and Montreal beat Philadelphia. Mesa (2-5) relieved to start the ninth and walked Brian Schneider leading off. After Mike Mordecai sacrificed and with Jose Macias at the plate, Philadelphia tried a hidden-ball trick, with second baseman Tomas Perez tagging Schneider.

Astros 8, Pirates 6

Pittsburgh Lance Berkman drove in three runs and Houston won for the seventh time in nine games by beating Pittsburgh. Berkman’s two-run double highlighted a five-run third inning against Joe Beimel (1-3), and he added another RBI double in his next at-bat in the fifth as the Astros overcame a pair of two-run homers by Brian Giles.

Braves 5, Cubs 1

Atlanta Javy Lopez came through for the second straight game, hitting an RBI double to snap a seventh-inning tie and send Atlanta past Chicago. The Braves won for the 13th time in 15 games and improved to 54-31, tied with Seattle for the best record in the majors. The Cubs lost for the eighth time in 10 games.