ST. LOUIS – Rick Ankiel isn’t just hitting, he’s turning into a force.

The pitcher-turned-outfielder homered twice and had a career-high seven RBIs, leading the St. Louis Cardinals over the Pittsburgh Pirates 16-4 Thursday in a game shortened to eight innings because of rain.

Ankiel hit a tiebreaking, three-run homer in the second inning for a 5-2 lead against Bryan Bullington (0-1), who made his major league debut five years after he was the No. 1 overall pick in the amateur draft. Ankiel made it 11-3 with a two-run drive in the fifth against John Grabow and added a two-run double in the sixth off Dave Davidson, also making his big league debut.

Brought up Aug. 9 in his first major league appearance since he pitched for the Cardinals in 2004, Ankiel is batting .358 with nine homers and 29 RBIs in 23 games. He also homered twice against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Aug. 11.

He made his second start in center field, hauling in Steven Pearce’s drive at the wall in the third. He barely missed a diving catch on pinch-hitter Matt Kata’s slicing drive that fell for a double in the fourth, getting a round of applause for the effort.

St. Louis (69-68) moved within one game of NL Central co-leaders Chicago and Milwaukee, scoring its most runs since Aug. 29, 2001, against San Diego The Cardinals had 22 hits, their highest total since April 27, 2003, at Florida.

Mike Maroth, back from a bout of elbow tendinitis, allowed two runs, six hits and two walks in 1 2-3 innings, throwing 54 pitches in his first appearance since Aug. 4. On Wednesday, Mark Mulder pitched for the first time in over a year and gave up six runs over four innings in an 8-2 loss.

Kelvin Jimenez (2-0) got one out for the win, throwing a called third strike past Jason Bay to end the second with the based loaded.

Bullington gave up five runs and seven hits over three innings. He received a $4 million bonus when he signed with the Pirates out of Ball State, then went 34-17 in three minor league seasons, his climb through the minors slowed by an injured right shoulder.

He also singled in his first career plate appearance in the second and scored his first run later in the inning.

Davidson worked the sixth and allowed four runs – three earned – and four hits.

Aaron Miles and David Eckstein each had three hits and an RBI for the Cardinals, who split the three-game series. Jose Bautista had two hits and two RBIs for the Pirates.

Maroth escaped a bases-loaded jam in the first, getting Pearce on a called third strike. Bautista and Freddy Sanchez hit consecutive RBI singles in the second tie it at 2.

Notes: The start of the game was delayed 1 hour, 26 minutes because of rain, and there was a mandatory 30-minute delay before the game was called with no outs in the top of the ninth. Wednesday’s game began after a 49-minute rain delay. … One of the biggest cheers of the day came when the crowd noticed on the jumbo scoreboard that the Dodgers had taken the lead in a four-run ninth against the Cubs in a 7-4 victory. … Miles is batting .476 (20-for-42) with six RBIs against the Pirates. … The Cardinals’ previous seven-RBI game was by Scott Rolen on Sept. 15 last year at home against the Giants. … Jack Wilson had two hits and was 11-for-16 in the series. He’s batting a major league-best .409 (36-for-88) since Aug. 1.

AP-ES-09-06-07 2006EDT