ST. LOUIS (AP) — The St. Louis Cardinals have acquired shortstop Rafael Furcal from the Los Angeles for a minor league prospect, fortifying their infield.

St. Louis sent outfielder Alex Castellanos, who was playing at Double-A Springfield, to the Dodgers.

The 33-year-old Furcal, a two-time All-Star, is batting just .197 in 37 games while struggling with injuries this season. But the Cardinals noted he had three multihit games the last week.

Furcal was held out of the lineup Saturday and cleaned out his locker, although the team made no announcement then.

Cardinals shortstop Ryan Theriot had been in a 2-for-38 slump earlier in the week before getting four hits on Saturday, starting at second base against the Cubs. The Cardinals also got Theriot from the Dodgers, acquiring him last winter.

General manager John Mozeliak said Furcal would add veteran experience for the NL Central race. The Cardinals were 1½ games behind the Brewers. Furcal has a career batting average of .283 with 298 stolen bases and has been considered one of the best leadoff hitters in the game.

Three of Furcal’s last four seasons have been injury-shortened and he mentioned retirement when sidelined by a fractured left thumb this April and also has missed time with a strained left side. He played in 150 games in 2009, but in `08, ’10 and ’11 he has played a total of 170 games.

Furcal has 26 career leadoff homers and is second on the Dodgers’ career list with 14. He’s been to the postseason eight times, five with the Braves and three with the Dodgers, and hit .500 (6 for 12) in Los Angeles’ three-game Division series sweep of the Cardinals in 2009.

“Rafael has been an excellent top of the order hitter and he brings plenty of athleticism and defense,” Mozeliak said.

Castellanos, who turns 25 next week, was St. Louis’ 10th-round draft pick in 2008 and was batting .319 with 19 homers, 62 RBIs and 10 steals in 93 games.

Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The St. Louis Cardinals have acquired shortstop Rafael Furcal from the Los Angeles for a minor league prospect, fortifying their infield.

St. Louis sent outfielder Alex Castellanos, who was playing at Double-A Springfield, to the Dodgers.

The 33-year-old Furcal, a two-time All-Star, is batting just .197 in 37 games while struggling with injuries this season. But the Cardinals noted he had three multihit games the last week.

Furcal was held out of the lineup Saturday and cleaned out his locker, although the team made no announcement then.

Cardinals shortstop Ryan Theriot had been in a 2-for-38 slump earlier in the week before getting four hits on Saturday, starting at second base against the Cubs. The Cardinals also got Theriot from the Dodgers, acquiring him last winter.

General manager John Mozeliak said Furcal would add veteran experience for the NL Central race. The Cardinals were 1½ games behind the Brewers. Furcal has a career batting average of .283 with 298 stolen bases and has been considered one of the best leadoff hitters in the game.

Three of Furcal’s last four seasons have been injury-shortened and he mentioned retirement when sidelined by a fractured left thumb this April and also has missed time with a strained left side. He played in 150 games in 2009, but in `08, ’10 and ’11 he has played a total of 170 games.

Furcal has 26 career leadoff homers and is second on the Dodgers’ career list with 14. He’s been to the postseason eight times, five with the Braves and three with the Dodgers, and hit .500 (6 for 12) in Los Angeles’ three-game Division series sweep of the Cardinals in 2009.

“Rafael has been an excellent top of the order hitter and he brings plenty of athleticism and defense,” Mozeliak said.

Castellanos, who turns 25 next week, was St. Louis’ 10th-round draft pick in 2008 and was batting .319 with 19 homers, 62 RBIs and 10 steals in 93 games.

Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The St. Louis Cardinals have acquired shortstop Rafael Furcal from the Los Angeles for a minor league prospect, fortifying their infield.

St. Louis sent outfielder Alex Castellanos, who was playing at Double-A Springfield, to the Dodgers.

The 33-year-old Furcal, a two-time All-Star, is batting just .197 in 37 games while struggling with injuries this season. But the Cardinals noted he had three multihit games the last week.

Furcal was held out of the lineup Saturday and cleaned out his locker, although the team made no announcement then.

Cardinals shortstop Ryan Theriot had been in a 2-for-38 slump earlier in the week before getting four hits on Saturday, starting at second base against the Cubs. The Cardinals also got Theriot from the Dodgers, acquiring him last winter.

General manager John Mozeliak said Furcal would add veteran experience for the NL Central race. The Cardinals were 1½ games behind the Brewers. Furcal has a career batting average of .283 with 298 stolen bases and has been considered one of the best leadoff hitters in the game.

Three of Furcal’s last four seasons have been injury-shortened and he mentioned retirement when sidelined by a fractured left thumb this April and also has missed time with a strained left side. He played in 150 games in 2009, but in `08, ’10 and ’11 he has played a total of 170 games.

Furcal has 26 career leadoff homers and is second on the Dodgers’ career list with 14. He’s been to the postseason eight times, five with the Braves and three with the Dodgers, and hit .500 (6 for 12) in Los Angeles’ three-game Division series sweep of the Cardinals in 2009.

“Rafael has been an excellent top of the order hitter and he brings plenty of athleticism and defense,” Mozeliak said.

Castellanos, who turns 25 next week, was St. Louis’ 10th-round draft pick in 2008 and was batting .319 with 19 homers, 62 RBIs and 10 steals in 93 games.

Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Ryan Theriot regained his hitting touch at the expense of his old teammates.

Theriot, who broke a 2-for-38 slump with two hits after coming in as a pinch-hitter Friday, rapped four hits and drove in three runs Saturday to help the St. Louis Cardinals overcome a five-run deficit in a 13-5 victory over the Chicago Cubs.

“It’s been a rough couple of weeks,” Theriot said. “You search and look for something that’s wrong and you realize it’s nothing and get back to what you were doing.”

Theriot said he sat down recently with teammate Skip Schumaker and the left-hander showed him a few things.

“I don’t want to go into any details. It’s a secret,” Theriot quipped. “It’s just good to have some fresh eyes.”

Theriot is 6 for 7 with six RBIs against his former team in two games and is hitting .571 against the Cubs.

“It’s funny because they said he was in a big slump,” Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramirez said. “I guess he picked the right time to get for him and the wrong time for us.”

St. Louis manager Tony La Russa said Theriot is playing like he did earlier this season.

“He gets base hits and he gets clutch hits. That’s what he did the whole first half and he just went into this funk,” La Russa said. “This looks more like him. He’s spraying the ball all over.”

Albert Pujols and David Freese each homered for the Cardinals. They have won six in a row over the Cubs, who have lost five consecutive games.

It was the 432nd homer of Pujols’ career and came one day after he reached 2,000 hits. The home run places him alone in 40th place on the career list. He just missed getting a second one when the ball sailed just outside the left-field foul pole in the seventh inning.

Kyle Lohse (9-7) pitched five innings before being lifted for a pinch-hitter. He allowed five runs — none earned — and gave up two hits.

Chicago was unable to score again and did not get another hit until the ninth inning.

St. Louis sent 12 men to the plate in the fifth and scored eight runs on four hits to take a 10-5 and chase starter Rodrigo Lopez (2-3), who pitched 4 1-3 innings.

Theriot got two of his hits in the big inning and drove in two runs. He singled with one out and John Jay followed with a double. Pujols was given an intentional walk to load the bases. Matt Holliday walked to score Theriot.

Reliever Jeff Samardzija entered and Freese hit a grounder to second baseman Darwin Barney, who threw to shortstop Starlin Castro to start a double play. However, a hard slide by Holliday took out Castro as Jay scored. As he was lying on the infield, Pujols scooted home to tie it at 5.

Cubs manager Mike Quade come out to argue and was ejected by second base umpire Derryl Cousins.

“There’s not much to talk about,” Quade said. “I disagreed with Derry’s assessment that is was a clean play. I think that’s why they have the rule in place. There wasn’t an attempt at the bag and he got a pretty good piece of Castro as well.

“That was a huge play obviously in the game, too. It gets us out of there with a 5-3 lead.”

After Schumaker walked, Yadier Molina singled to center and took second on the throw home. Daniel Descalso was intentionally walked to load the bases. Tony Cruz pinch-hit for Lohse and drew the third walk by Samardzija to force in Schumaker.

Theriot drove in the final two runs with a double to left field. Cruz scored on a throwing error by left fielder Alfonso Soriano.

“That was a heck of an at-bat he had against Samardzija,” La Russa said about Theriot. “That to me was one of the big at-bats to the game that big guy’s throwing 94-95. That was as big as anything that happened.”

John Russell relieved Samardzija, who walked three and gave up four runs and two hits in one-third on an inning, and struck out Jay to end the inning.

Freese hit a two-run homer in the sixth for a 12-5 St. Louis advantage. St. Louis added a run in the seventh when Theriot hit his second double.

The Cardinals began chipping away at the early Cubs lead with two runs in the first. Pujols blasted a two-out solo homer. His last four home runs have all come in the first inning. Holliday followed with a double and he scored on Schumaker’s single to center.

Chicago jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first inning. Shortstop Daniel Descalso booted leadoff hitter Castro’s grounder. After a sacrifice, Lohse walked two batters before getting Marlon Byrd to pop out to second. Geovany Soto then hit a two-run double to center before Soriano cleared the bases with a home run to left field.

NOTES: Theriot, who has been charged with a team-high 16 errors at shortstop, started at second base for the first time this season. … St. Louis’ right fielder Lance Berkman did not play Saturday as he remained sidelined with a strained right shoulder. Berkman has started just one of the first six games on the homestand. … With their five runs in the first, the Cubs have scored 63 runs, making it their most productive frame of year. … After allowing two St. Louis runs in the first inning, Chicago now has surrendered 87 first-inning runs, the most of any team in baseball. … Molina hit into a double play in the fourth to raise the Cardinals’ major-league leading total to 114. … Chicago committed two errors in the loss giving them a major-league leading 93 for the season.

ST. LOUIS (AP)—Ryan Theriot(notes) regained his hitting touch at the expense of
his old teammates.

Theriot, who broke a 2-for-38 slump with two hits after coming in as a
pinch-hitter Friday, rapped four hits and drove in three runs Saturday to help
the St. Louis Cardinals overcome a five-run deficit in a 13-5 victory over the
Chicago Cubs.

“It’s been a rough couple of weeks,” Theriot said. “You search and look
for something that’s wrong and you realize it’s nothing and get back to what you
were doing.”

Theriot said he sat down recently with teammate Skip Schumaker(notes) and the
left-hander showed him a few things.

“I don’t want to go into any details. It’s a secret,” Theriot quipped.
“It’s just good to have some fresh eyes.”

Theriot is 6 for 7 with six RBIs against his former team in two games and is
hitting .571 against the Cubs.

“It’s funny because they said he was in a big slump,” Cubs third baseman
Aramis Ramirez(notes) said. “I guess he picked the right time to get for him and the
wrong time for us.”

St. Louis manager Tony La Russa said Theriot is playing like he did earlier
this season.

“He gets base hits and he gets clutch hits. That’s what he did the whole
first half and he just went into this funk,” La Russa said. “This looks more
like him. He’s spraying the ball all over.”

Albert Pujols(notes) and David Freese(notes) each homered for the Cardinals. They have won
six in a row over the Cubs, who have lost five consecutive games.

It was the 432nd homer of Pujols’ career and came one day after he reached
2,000 hits. The home run places him alone in 40th place on the career list. He
just missed getting a second one when the ball sailed just outside the
left-field foul pole in the seventh inning.

Kyle Lohse(notes) (9-7) pitched five innings before being lifted for a
pinch-hitter. He allowed five runs—none earned—and gave up two hits.

Chicago was unable to score again and did not get another hit until the
ninth inning.

St. Louis sent 12 men to the plate in the fifth and scored eight runs on
four hits to take a 10-5 and chase starter Rodrigo Lopez(notes) (2-3), who pitched 4
1-3 innings.

Theriot got two of his hits in the big inning and drove in two runs. He
singled with one out and John Jay followed with a double. Pujols was given an
intentional walk to load the bases. Matt Holliday(notes) walked to score Theriot.

Reliever Jeff Samardzija(notes) entered and Freese hit a grounder to second baseman
Darwin Barney(notes), who threw to shortstop Starlin Castro(notes) to start a double play.
However, a hard slide by Holliday took out Castro as Jay scored. As he was lying
on the infield, Pujols scooted home to tie it at 5.

Cubs manager Mike Quade come out to argue and was ejected by second base
umpire Derryl Cousins.

“There’s not much to talk about,” Quade said. “I disagreed with Derry’s
assessment that is was a clean play. I think that’s why they have the rule in
place. There wasn’t an attempt at the bag and he got a pretty good piece of
Castro as well.

“That was a huge play obviously in the game, too. It gets us out of there
with a 5-3 lead.”

After Schumaker walked, Yadier Molina(notes) singled to center and took second on
the throw home. Daniel Descalso(notes) was intentionally walked to load the bases. Tony
Cruz(notes) pinch-hit for Lohse and drew the third walk by Samardzija to force in
Schumaker.

Theriot drove in the final two runs with a double to left field. Cruz scored
on a throwing error by left fielder Alfonso Soriano(notes).

“That was a heck of an at-bat he had against Samardzija,” La Russa said
about Theriot. “That to me was one of the big at-bats to the game that big
guy’s throwing 94-95. That was as big as anything that happened.”

John Russell relieved Samardzija, who walked three and gave up four runs and
two hits in one-third on an inning, and struck out Jay to end the inning.

Freese hit a two-run homer in the sixth for a 12-5 St. Louis advantage. St.
Louis added a run in the seventh when Theriot hit his second double.

The Cardinals began chipping away at the early Cubs lead with two runs in
the first. Pujols blasted a two-out solo homer. His last four home runs have all
come in the first inning. Holliday followed with a double and he scored on
Schumaker’s single to center.

Chicago jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first inning. Shortstop Daniel
Descalso booted leadoff hitter Castro’s grounder. After a sacrifice, Lohse
walked two batters before getting Marlon Byrd(notes) to pop out to second. Geovany Soto(notes)
then hit a two-run double to center before Soriano cleared the bases with a home
run to left field.

NOTES: Theriot, who has been charged with a team-high 16 errors at
shortstop, started at second base for the first time this season. … St. Louis’
right fielder Lance Berkman(notes) did not play Saturday as he remained sidelined with
a strained right shoulder. Berkman has started just one of the first six games
on the homestand. … With their five runs in the first, the Cubs have scored 63
runs, making it their most productive frame of year. … After allowing two St.
Louis runs in the first inning, Chicago now has surrendered 87 first-inning
runs, the most of any team in baseball. … Molina hit into a double play in the
fourth to raise the Cardinals’ major-league leading total to 114. … Chicago
committed two errors in the loss giving them a major-league leading 93 for the
season.

Albert Pujols and David Freese each homered and Ryan Theriot added four hits and three RBIs on Saturday to help the St. Louis Cardinals overcome a five-run deficit in a 13-5 victory over the Chicago Cubs.

It was the 432nd homer of Pujols’ career and came one day after he reached 2,000 hits. The home run places him alone in 40th place on the career list. He just missed getting a second one when the ball sailed just outside the left-field foul pole in the seventh inning.

Kyle Lohse (9-7) pitched five innings before being lifted for a pinch-hitter. He allowed five runs — none earned — and gave up two hits.

Chicago was unable to score again and did not get another hit until the ninth inning.

The Cardinals have won six in a row over the Cubs, who have lost five consecutive games.

St. Louis sent 12 men to the plate in the fifth and scored eight runs on four hits to take a 10-5 and chase starter Rodrigo Lopez (2-3), who pitched 4 1-3 innings.

Theriot, who broke a 2-for-38 slump with two hits after coming in as a pinch-hitter Friday, got two of his hits in the big inning and drove in two runs. He singled with one out and John Jay followed with a double. Pujols was given an intentional walk to load the bases. Matt Holliday walked to score Theriot.

Reliever Jeff Samardzija entered and Freese hit a grounder to second baseman Darwin Barney, who threw to shortstop Starlin Castro to start a double play. However, a hard slide by Holliday took out Castro as Jay scored. As he was lying on the infield, Pujols scooted home to tie it at 5.

Cubs manager Mike Quade come out to argue and was ejected by second base umpire Derryl Cousins.

After Skip Schumaker walked, Yadier Molina singled to center and took second on the throw home. Daniel Descalso was intentionally walked to load the bases. Tony Cruz pinch-hit for Lohse and drew the third walk by Samardzija to force in Schumaker.

Theriot drove in the final two runs with a double to left field. Cruz scored on a throwing error by left fielder Alfonso Soriano. John Russell relieved Samardzija, who walked three and gave up four runs and two hits in one-third on an inning, and struck out Jay to end the inning.

Freese hit a two-run homer in the sixth for a 12-5 St. Louis advantage. St. Louis added a run in the seventh when Theriot hit his second double.

The Cardinals began chipping away at the early Cubs lead with two runs in the first. Pujols blasted a two-out solo homer. His last four home runs have all come in the first inning. Holliday followed with a double and he scored on Schumaker’s single to center.

Chicago jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first inning. Shortstop Daniel Descalso booted leadoff hitter Castro’s grounder. After a sacrifice, Lohse walked two batters before getting Marlon Byrd to pop out to second. Geovany Soto then hit a two-run double to center before Soriano cleared the bases with a home run to left field.

NOTES: Theriot, who has been charged with a team-high 16 errors at shortstop, started at second base for the first time this season. … St. Louis’ right fielder Lance Berkman did not play Saturday as he remained sidelined with a strained right shoulder. Berkman has started just one of the first six games on the homestand. … With their five runs in the first, the Cubs have scored 63 runs, making it their most productive frame of year. … After allowing two St. Louis runs in the first inning, Chicago now has surrendered 87 first-inning runs, the most of any team in baseball. … Yadier Molina hit into a double play in the fourth to raise the Cardinals’ major-league leading total to 114. … Chicago committed two errors in the loss giving them a major-league leading 93 for the season.