Rockies Pound Cardinals

Todd Helton and Mike Lansing each drove in three runs in a 10-run second inning to lead the Colorado Rockies to a 12-6 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday night.

Colorado shelled former Rockie Darryl Kile (2-1) for eight hits and 11 runs in just 1 2-3 innings.

Reliever Rick Croushore (1-0) pitched three hitless innings to earn the victory after starter Scott Karl struggled into the fourth.

Neifi Perez led off the inning by reaching on shortstop Edgar Renteria's throwing error. With one out, Karl was hit by a pitch. Tom Goodwin followed with an RBI single, Lansing a two-run single and Larry Walker an RBI double.

Jeff Cirillo was hit by a pitch, and Helton hit a three-run, 421-foot homer. Darren Bragg hit a solo homer, and Perez tripled and scored on Scott Servais' sacrifice fly. Karl singled, chasing Kile, and Goodwin singled off Justin Brunette, who made his major league debut. Lansing then got his third RBI of the inning with another single to make it 11-3.

The Cardinals appeared to take control early, hitting three solo homers off Karl in the first. Leadoff hitter Placido Polanco, who had a career-high four hits, sent Karl's first pitch into the right-field seats. With two outs, Fernando Tatis and Jim Edmonds hit back-to-back homers, their second and fifth, respectively.

Colorado got a run in its half on Walker's RBI single to make it 3-1.

St. Louis loaded the bases with no outs in the third, but Karl averted major damage, allowing only one run on Tatis' double-play grounder.

The Cardinals chased Karl in the fourth after Mike Matheny doubled, Brunette singled for his first major league hit and Polanco had an RBI single to make it 11-5.

Perez added a solo homer in the eighth to make it 12-5.

With runners on second and third and one out in the ninth, Thomas Howard's groundout drove in Polanco to make it 12-6.

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