By COLIN FLY
AP Sports Writer

MILWAUKEE(AP) -- Adam Wainwright, Albert Pujols and the rest of
the St. Louis Cardinals keep rolling through September. They
hope Matt Holliday's tumble doesn't trip them up.

Wainwright became the first pitcher to reach 18 wins this
season, Pujols hit two home runs for a majors-leading 47 and the
Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers 5-1 Wednesday.

St. Louis got a scare when Matt Holliday tripped running out a
grounder in the third. He bruised his left knee and left two
innings later. The star left fielder said he'd be back in the
lineup Friday.

"I took my eye off of what I was doing and my cleat got caught,"
he said. "I'm all right, it's just a little bit swollen. With an
11 1/2-game lead, there's no reason to push it."

Holliday is hitting .360 with 12 home runs and 42 RBIs since the
Cardinals got him from Oakland on July 24. St. Louis is 32-11
since getting him and well on its way to a fourth NL Central
title.

Wainwright (18-7) pitched seven scoreless innings. He's in
contention with teammate and former Cy Young winner Chris
Carpenter, for this year's NL award.

"It'd be cool. It'd be awesome, but winning for the team comes
first," Wainwright said. "Whether I win it or not, I still feel
good about how the season's been."

Pujols tied Mark McGwire's franchise mark with 10 multihomer
games in a season and has put up MVP-like numbers by hitting
.331 with 124 RBIs. Manager Tony La Russa refused to address who
might win that individual honor.

"Those are the kind of questions that are distracting and I
don't answer them," La Russa said.

Wainwright struck out six and scattered five hits while
surpassing 200 innings this year.

"It's a milestone that in your head you think you're going to at
least throw that. It certainly wasn't a goal to throw only 200
innings," he said. "If you're carrying your team deep into
games, the goal should be a little bit more."

Wainwright was sharp after allowing six runs in his previous
appearance, snapping his streak of 13 straight outings of two
runs or less.

"It was what I needed," Wainwright said. "Not that I needed
reassurance after the last start, but it's nice to get back on
track."

Brewers manager Ken Macha said St. Louis' pitching staff will be
tough in the postseason. The Brewers will certainly have a lot
of time to watch after being the NL wild card last year. They
led the NL Central by two games heading into this July, only to
fall 17 games back in the span of 70 days.

"We've just seen some pretty good pitching. Those guys were
good. They're tough on everybody in this league. They'll be
really tough in a five-game series. But sometimes you've got to
outduel them," Macha said.

St. Louis gave Wainwright the lead from the start against Jeff
Suppan (6-9). Holliday hit a sacrifice fly after Colby Rasmus
walked and Pujols singled.

In the fifth, Wainwright doubled, Rasmus tripled and Pujols hit
a two-run homer that made it 4-0. Pujols sprinted around the
bases, hardly stopping to greet teammates at the plate, and ran
into the dugout to celebrate there.

Pujols, who has scored in nine consecutive games, brushed off
whether this was his most consistent season ever.

"I don't think until the end of the season," he said. "So
whenever I'm sitting home I'll look over the season. I still
have a lot of games left, so I'm going to try and make sure I
stay focused the rest of the season."

Pujols would have more to cheer about in the seventh with a solo
shot to left-center field that gave St. Louis a 5-0 lead and
increased his RBI total to 124, one behind Milwaukee's Prince
Fielder for most in the majors this season.

"I don't know how anybody could ever be better than he is.
Ever," Wainwright said. "No offense to Henry Aaron and all those
guys. I'm sorry, Hank. But Albert Pujols is really, really
good."

NOTES: Wainwright is 3-1 with a 0.59 ERA against the Brewers
this year. ... Felipe Lopez homered in the eighth off reliever
Trever Miller for Milwaukee's only run. The Brewers scored 10
runs total in this 1-5 homestand. ... Brewers LHP Manny Parra
(neck spasms) was stiff in the clubhouse and is day-to-day after
leaving Tuesday's start in the first inning.