ST. LOUIS (AP) – Albert Pujols hit a three-run homer and Jason Marquis pitched seven innings to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a 9-7 win over the Kansas City Royals on Sunday.

Scott Rolen and Jim Edmonds also homered for the second straight game for the Cardinals, who had lost nine of their last ten. Pujols went 3-for-5 with four RBIs.

St. Louis grabbed a one-game lead over the Reds for first place in the NL Central with the win. Cleveland beat Cincinnati 6-3 Sunday.

Marquis (10-6) had dropped his previous two starts. He allowed four runs and nine hits, struck out five and walked one against Kansas City.

Mike Wood (3-4) lost his fourth straight start. He lasted 4 2-3 innings and gave up eight runs and seven hits. He struck out four and walked four for the Royals, who completed the road trip with a 3-3 record and have won seven of their last 11.

The Cardinals scored six runs in the third with the help of a hit batter and three walks. With one out, David Eckstein, who had been 0-for-9, singled and John Rodriguez walked. Pujols then hit a 1-1 pitch for his 27th homer to make it 3-1.

Wood hit Scott Rolen with a pitch and walked Jim Edmonds and Scott Spiezio ahead of Yadier Molina’s two-run single. One batter later, Marquis singled in Spiezio.

Rolen and Edmonds hit back-to-back home runs in the fifth to make it 8-1. Rolen and Edmonds each homered for the second straight game.

After allowing one run and two hits in the first inning, Marquis scattered four hits over the next five innings with no walks and three strikeouts. David DeJesus singled and scored in the first for the Royals.

Marquis threw 112 pitches in 95-degree heat and gave a lift to the Cardinals’ beleaguered bullpen, which had lost the last two games in extra innings.

The Royals scored three runs in the eighth. Tony Graffanino singled in a run and pinch-hitter Reggie Sanders drove in two with a base hit.

Pujols singled in a run in the eighth.

Notes: DeJesus has a nine-game hitting streak (21-for-42, .500). … Rolen’s home run, measured at 446 feet, was the longest by a Cardinal in the new ballpark. Cleveland’s Todd Hollandsworth also hit a home run this season measured at 446 feet. … Pujols tied Ray Lankford for third place on the Cardinals’ career home run list with 228.

AP-ES-07-02-06 1729EDT