Matt Holliday hit a go-ahead, three-run homer to back Chris Carpenter's latest dominant effort against Cincinnati, helping the St. Louis Cardinals take two of three from the NL Central-leading Reds with a 4-2 victory Sunday.

Even their opponents are surprised by the St. Louis Cardinals' slide.

Losing teams are bringing out the worst in the St. Louis Cardinals at a most inopportune time.

Charlie Manuel scoffed at the notion of second place. So did Phillies stars Jimmy Rollins and Roy Oswalt.

Adam Wainwright matched a career best with a two-hitter for his 16th victory, helping St. Louis beat the reeling Florida Marlins 7-0 on Friday night.

Albert Pujols drove in the go-ahead run with two outs in the 13th inning, and the St. Louis Cardinals survived a frantic comeback to beat the New York Mets 8-7 on Wednesday night.

Although the Chicago Cubs might be too far gone to be big winners this season, rookies Starlin Castro, Tyler Colvin and Andrew Cashner have the team excited about their future.

No worries about offense on Matt Holliday's day off. The St. Louis Cardinals had plenty of it without their cleanup hitter.

The St. Louis Cardinals are running out of places to park Matt Holliday, who's been unproductive batting fourth, third and now second in the order.

Albert Pujols has no RBIs in nine games and he's just a few more towering pop-ups or infield choppers from having his average drop below .300. No wonder the frustration is showing at times for a player who's always made production look easy.

Two doubles and two RBIs qualifies as a monster day for Matt Holliday. So far, it's been a fairly weak season for the St. Louis Cardinals' big free agent pickup.

David Freese waited so long for his first home run, St. Louis Cardinals pitchers were teasing him.