Cincinnati ? Albert Pujols picked up Sunday where Jim Edmonds left off the night before.

Pujols homered twice and tied a career high with five RBIs, and Sterling Hitchcock threw six shutout innings in the St. Louis Cardinals’ 5-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds.

“It went from the Edmonds show to the Pujols show,” Reds manager Dave Miley said.

Edmonds didn’t start Sunday after driving in four runs and saving two with a circus catch Saturday.

Pujols has 37 homers this season and 108 for his career to move past Joe DiMaggio for third place on the list for most homers in a player’s first three years.

“I’m not thinking about that now,” Pujols said. “After the season’s over, I’ll look back at it, but September’s going to be a tough month. I need to finish strong. We need to finish strong.”

Hitchcock (2-0) allowed three hits, walked one and struck out four in his second appearance and first start for the Cardinals, who won for the fourth time in five games.

“Hitchcock kept us off balance,” Miley said. “We had a couple of opportunities, but we couldn’t get the two-out hit.”

With the win, the Cardinals guaranteed that they would at least share first place with Houston in the NL Central heading into a five-game series with the third-place Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field starting today.

The Cardinals' Albert Pujols (5) is congratulated by Miguel Cairo after Pujols hit a two-run home run off Cincinnati Reds pitcher Danny Serafini in the fifth inning. The Cards won, 5-0, Sunday in Cincinnati.

Hitchcock, making his second start of the season and first since being traded from the New York Yankees August 22, retired the first 10 batters he faced before Ray Olmedo singled to left with one out in the fourth.

“He threw six great innings for us, and we’re not struggling with the bullpen like we were earlier in the year,” Pujols said. “All our starters have to do now is throw six good innings.”

Cal Eldred, Steve Kline and Russ Springer each pitched one inning of scoreless relief to complete the shutout.

Phillies 4, Mets 1

New York — Vicente Padilla held the Mets hitless for six innings, and Jim Thome homered as Philadelphia completed a three-game sweep of New York.

Mets rookie Jose Reyes, who broke up the no-hit bid with an infield single leading off the seventh, sprained his left ankle trying to break up a game-ending double play.

Braves 10, Pirates 4

Pittsburgh — Andruw Jones, Vinny Castilla and Javy Lopez homered, and Atlanta roughed up Pittsburgh’s pitching staff for the second straight day. The Braves can complete a sixth 100-win season under manager Bobby Cox by going 13-13 in September. Only the Yankees’ Joe McCarthy has managed six 100-victory seasons with the same team.

Marlins 5, Expos 3

Miami — Derrek Lee hit a three-run homer, and Mark Redman snapped a personal three-game losing streak as Florida beat Montreal for its third consecutive victory. The Marlins won without injured third baseman Mike Lowell, who is out for the rest of the regular season with a broken left hand.

Padres 3, Astros 1

Houston — Jake Peavy and four relievers combined on a three-hitter as San Diego dropped Houston into second place in the NL Central. Mark Loretta hit a two-run single for the Padres, who won the series, 2-1, and improved to 11-4 at Minute Maid Park.

Brewers 2, Cubs 0

Chicago — Doug Davis pitched into the ninth inning, and right fielder Jason Conti made a sliding, game-ending catch with the bases loaded to preserve the 12th victory in 13 games for Milwaukee. The Brewers, who had a 10-game winning streak snapped Friday, won their fourth straight series — the first time they’ve done that since August 1996.

Dodgers 3, Rockies 0

Los Angeles — Eric Gagne tied the major-league record with his 54th consecutive save as Los Angeles beat Colorado. Gagne, moved to the bullpen during spring training last year after two mediocre seasons as a starter, preserved the victory for Odalis Perez (11-10).

Giants 3, D’backs 1

Phoenix — Jason Schmidt pitched into the ninth inning and San Francisco beat Arizona.