St. Louis had failed to score through seven innings, but Albert Pujols hit his team-record fourth grand slam homer of the season in the eighth to give St. Louis a 4-3 advantage. The Reds came back in the bottom half of the inning to tie it on a sacrifice fly by Ramon Hernandez.
The first two St. Louis batters were retired in the ninth, but Colby Rasmus and Brendan Ryan both singled and Skip Schumaker loaded the bases when shortstop Paul Janish booted his ground ball.
That brought up Hoffpauir, who was called up from Class AAA prior to the game and who had walked as a pinch-hitter in his first major league appearance in the eighth.
Hoffpauir, who was batting .276 with 10 homers in the minors, drove in Rasmus and Ryan with a single to left on an 0-1 pitch. Pujols then doubled home Schumaker with the final run.
Jason Motte (3-2) got the win by retiring the final two batters in the eighth. Ryan Franklin came on in the ninth and loaded the bases with two out, but struck out Brandon Phillips swinging for his 20th save.
Danny Herrera (1-4) gave up three hits in the ninth to take the loss.
Copyright 2009 by United Press International.
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