KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Albert Pujols comes through Kansas City once a season. The Royals wouldn't be too disappointed if he never came back.

Pujols finished off a three-day romp in Kansas City with two homers and six RBIs, helping the St. Louis Cardinals rout the Royals, 12-5, yesterday in win No. 2,500 for manager Tony La Russa.

"He's the best hitter in the game," Royals starter Gil Meche (4-6) said.

Pujols made a mockery of Kansas City pitching in his return to the town where he went to high school, hitting three homers and driving in 10 runs in the Cardinals' three-game sweep over their cross-state rivals.

The two-time NL MVP had four hits yesterday and delivered the decisive blow in the Cardinals' eight-run fourth inning, pounding his club record-tying third grand slam of the season. He also had a run-scoring single in the first and added his major league-leading 26th homer — eighth in 10 games — in the fifth.

"It's nothing special. I'm just seeing good pitches and hitting them," said Pujols, who has 12 homers in 27 career games at Kauffman Stadium.

Pujols tied Stan Musial's team record of nine career grand slams and matched the season mark of three shared by Jim Bottomley (1925), Keith Hernandez (1977) and Fernando Tatis (1999).

La Russa joined Connie Mack (3,831) and John McGraw (2,763) as the only managers with 2,500 career victories.

ORIOLES 2, PHILLIES 1:

Brian Roberts had the decisive hit for the second straight game, a tiebreaking single in the eighth inning, and visiting Baltimore completed a three-game sweep of Philadelphia. Roberts' RBI single came off Cole Hamels (4-3). Roberts hit a two-run homer with two outs in the ninth off Ryan Madson in a 6-5 win Saturday night.

MARINERS 3, DIAMONDBACKS 2:

Tony Clark dropped a routine throw to first base, allowing Ronny Cedeno to score the winning run for host Seattle with two outs in the ninth inning. Chad Qualls got Franklin Gutierrez to ground slowly toward third where Mark Reynolds charged, fielded cleanly and fired a perfect throw to Clark.

MARLINS 6, YANKEES 5:

Hanley Ramirez and Cody Ross homered, and host Florida held off a late rally to beat New York. The game was protested by New York manager Joe Girardi because of an eighth-inning mixup with the Marlins lineup. Ramirez tied it with a two-run homer in the fifth, and Ross hit a solo shot in the sixth.

PADRES 4, ATHLETICS 1:

Kevin Correia carried a shutout into the seventh inning and Kevin Kouzmanoff hit a two-run homer, leading host San Diego over Oakland. Correia (4-5) struck out seven and combined with three relievers on a two-hitter. He retired his first 14 batters before Orlando Cabrera hit a two-out double.

BLUE JAYS 9, NATIONALS 4:

Lyle Overbay had five RBIs and Ricky Romero pitched seven solid innings as visiting Toronto avoided the unsavory distinction of becoming the first team to be swept by bottom-dwelling Washington. Romero (4-3) allowed two runs with a season-high 118 pitches.

WHITE SOX 4, REDS 1:

Mark Buehrle pitched seven shutout innings and visiting Chicago added to its run of success against Cincinnati. The White Sox are 14-3 against the Reds in interleague play, winning 10 of their last 11. Buehrle (7-2) walked one and struck out three.

ASTROS 4, TWINS 1:

Wandy Rodriguez pitched seven strong innings for his first win in more than a month to lead visiting Houston over Minnesota. Rodriguez (6-6), who was 0-4 with a 6.93 ERA in his previous five starts, gave up only Michael Cuddyer's home run through the first six innings.

RAYS 10, METS 6:

B.J. Upton homered and matched a career high with four RBIs, Carl Crawford drove in a pair of runs and visiting Tampa Bay beat New York. Upton and Evan Longoria each had four hits for the Rays, and Gabe Kapler added a pair of RBIs.

RED SOX 6, BRAVES 5:

Nick Green homered just inside the Pesky Pole in right field on the first pitch of the bottom of the ninth to give host Boston a win over Atlanta. Green connected off Jeff Bennett (2-4), his fourth homer of the season.

DODGERS 5, ANGELS 3:

James Loney hit a two-run homer that was upheld by video review, Clayton Kershaw pitched seven shutout innings and the visiting Dodgers beat the Angels. Kershaw (4-5) gave up four hits in his longest outing since he beat the Florida Marlins on May 17.

GIANTS 3, RANGERS 2:

Barry Zito carried a no-hit bid into the seventh inning, Randy Winn hit a go-ahead single and host San Francisco swept Texas. Zito (4-7) didn't allow a hit until Andruw Jones' two-run homer with none out in the seventh.

CUBS 6, INDIANS 2:

Randy Wells (1-3) pitched into the seventh inning for his first major league win, Geovany Soto homered and Jake Fox drove in three runs to lead host Chicago past Cleveland for its fourth straight victory.

TIGERS 3, BREWERS 2:

Brandon Inge hit a three-run homer and Justin Verlander pitched into the eighth to help host Detroit sweep Milwaukee. Verlander (8-3) allowed two runs and five hits in 7 2/3 innings.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

ROCKIES 5, PIRATES 4:

Clint Barmes homered, drove in two runs and scored two more as host Colorado swept Pittsburgh. Since having their 11-game winning streak snapped, the Rockies have won five straight.