By CHRIS DUNCAN
AP Sports Writer

HOUSTON(AP) -- Joel Pineiro rediscovered his midseason form and
inched the St. Louis Cardinals closer to the NL Central title.

Pineiro allowed five hits in seven effective innings and
Cardinals cut their magic number for clinching the division to
two on Tuesday night with an 11-2 win over the Houston Astros.

Pineiro (15-11) struck out four and threw only 87 pitches to win
for the first time in four starts. He had lost his last two
outings, but looked more like the pitcher who won eight straight
decisions between July 3-Sept. 1 against the Astros.

"I think I've been steady out there, that's the main thing,"
Pineiro said. "If I carry something from here to my next start,
we'll go from there."

Yadier Molina hit a two-run homer and Colby Rasmus added a solo
shot for the Cardinals, who reached 15 hits for the second
straight game.

The Cardinals have scored 18 runs in two games in Houston after
mustering only 11 in the previous five.

"We have a good offense, a lot of talent," La Russa said. "We
have guys who can make a good argument to play and they're not
in the lineup. That tells me we're deep and good."

The Astros have dropped nine in a row, their longest skid since
losing 10 straight in May 2007. Interim manager Dave Clark fell
to 0-2 since replacing the fired Cecil Cooper on Monday.

Yorman Bazardo (0-2), making his sixth career start for Houston,
retired the first seven hitters he faced before his outing
crumbled in the third inning.

Julio Lugo walked, advanced on Pineiro's bunt and scored on Skip
Schumaker's single to center. Rasmus then walked before
Schumaker scored on Albert Pujols' single up the middle. With
Matt Holliday batting, Pujols was caught in a rundown between
first and second and Rasmus scored for a 3-0 lead.

"I know I can perform up here and be good," Bazardo said. "I'm
just not showing it. I'm trying to be too perfect."

Bazardo gave up three more runs in the fourth and Clark brought
in left-hander Wesley Wright to relieve.

Miguel Tejada singled in the fourth and eventually scored on
Geoff Blum's sacrifice fly to left. Pineiro struck out Hunter
Pence and got Jeff Keppinger to ground out to end the inning.

"That was a big escape," La Russa said. "He did some outstanding
pitching to get out of that. He really had good stuff. For this
late in the year, that's a good sign."

St. Louis loaded the bases with no outs in the fifth and
stretched the lead to 7-1 when Rick Ankiel grounded into a
double play.

Rasmus hit a solo homer, his 16th of the season, in the seventh
off left-hander Tim Byrdak.

Mark DeRosa singled off Chad Paronto in the eighth before Molina
drove an 0-1 pitch into the left-field porch, his sixth homer of
the season. Paronto gave up a home run to DeRosa on Monday
night.

The Cardinals can win the division with a win on Wednesday and a
Cubs' loss in Milwaukee. Clark vowed that the Astros will delay
any chance of a celebration.

"You don't ever want that to happen in your own back yard,"
Clark said. "We're not going to make it easy for anyone. Really
and truly, that would be an embarrassment to the game, and we're
not going to let that happen."

NOTES: The Astros announced that RHP Roy Oswalt will meet with
orthopedic surgeon Andrew Dossett in Dallas on Thursday for a
second opinion on his sore back. Oswalt (8-6, 4.12 ERA) has been
diagnosed with a bulging disk and inflammation of a joint in his
back. ... The Cardinals voided the contract of 16-year-old
Wagner Mateo, an outfielder from the Dominican Republic, after
he failed a physical. Mateo signed a deal with the Cardinals on
July 2 that included a $3.1 million signing bonus. General
manager John Mozeliak said Mateo's physical revealed two
injuries that led to the decision to terminate the contract.
Mozeliak would not specify what the injuries were, but said they
were related. ... Tejada tied the Astros record for hits in a
season by a shortstop (179).