Cardinals Top Reds in 10th

Ken Griffey Jr. came up empty again in his bid to hit his 500th homer. Cincinnati also came up empty, in its eighth consecutive road loss.

Albert Pujols homered off Mike Matthews to lead off the bottom of the 10th inning to give St. Louis a 4-3 victory over the Reds on Friday night at St. Louis. The Cardinals have won five in a row.

The National League Central leaders have won 14 of 18 overall and have won their last two games in their final at-bat.

Griffey was hitless in four at-bats, taking a called third strike in the second, lining out to shortstop in the fourth, flying out to center in the seventh and tapping out on a checked swing in the ninth.