Pujols 24th not enough at Padres

Mark Bellhorn hit the longest home run in Petco’s three-year history and drove in four runs, Josh Bard connected twice and had three RBIs, and San Diego beat St. Louis 10-8 Sunday.

With Mark Mulder and Jake Peavy leaving pitches up in the strike zone, balls were flying out of the spacious downtown ballpark in big numbers and at record distances.

"It probably wasn’t predicted that way, but this is baseball," Peavy said. "You think you’ve seen it all but you haven’t."

San Diego rallied for eight runs in the fifth inning — all coming with one out — to get Peavy off the hook. Peavy (4-5) had fallen behind 6-2 after the five-run St. Louis fifth, when Albert Pujols hit a three-run drive for his major league-leading 24th homer.

Bard hit a two-run homer in the fifth, just after Bellhorn’s three-run double. Bellhorn and Bard homered on consecutive pitches in the fourth. Bard, Mike Cameron and Bard had three hits apiece.

Each team hit three homers, and they were all no-doubters in a park that measures 396 feet to center field and 402 in the power alleys.

"It’s been carrying better. In the daytime it does jump out of here," Padres manager Bruce Bochy said. "The way those balls were hit, they’re going out anywhere. All those balls were crushed today. It doesn’t matter what park they were playing in."

What mattered for the Padres is that they rebounded from Saturday’s crushing finish, when Brian Giles was picked off first base for the final out of a 4-3 Cardinals win.

San Diego took two of three from the Cardinals, who swept the Padres in the NL division series in October. Overall, the Padres won for just the fourth time in 12 games.

"That’s a great win for us, coming off a tough loss and getting down four runs against a good ballclub," Bochy said. "Bellhorn and Bard, I mean, they had huge days to save us."

Trevor Hoffman pitched the ninth for his ninth save in as many chances. He’s second on the career list with 445, 33 behind Lee Smith.

Each team had 16 hits, setting a Petco record for total hits in a game.

Petco Park, which opened in 2004, surrendered its two longest homers, and three of its longest four. Sammy Sosa’s old record of 434 feet set in 2004 was eclipsed twice in a matter of minutes.

Bellhorn hit a 1-0 pitch from Mark Mulder (5-3) estimated at 438 feet that cleared the sand play area beyond the fence in right-center and landed in the bleachers, tying the game at 1 with one out in the fourth. Bard hit Mulder’s next pitch an estimated 434 feet off the railing of the balcony on the fourth floor of the Western Metal Supply Co. Building just beyond the left-field corner.

"I just made some really bad pitches," Mulder said. "When you throw the ball in the middle of the plate and up in the zone, it’s going to get hit. That’s pretty much what I did the whole game."

Said Bellhorn: "It’s a good feeling. You’ve got to hit it pretty good out in right-center."

Pujols capped the Cardinals’ fifth with a 436-foot shot to straightaway center field on a 1-1 pitch from Peavy, giving the Cardinals a 6-2 lead. David Eckstein singled in a run and John Rodriguez hit an RBI double.

Ten of San Diego’s first 11 batters reached in the fifth, and Cameron singled twice in the inning. Eric Young, Cameron and Brian Giles opened with singles to load the bases. With one out, Khalil Greene walked to force in the first run. Bellhorn cleared the bases with a double to right-center to tie it at 6, and Bard chased Mulder with his two-run shot into the second deck in left to put the Padres ahead.

"I don’t hit a lot of home runs, and I don’t hit a lot of long ones," Bard said. "Mark’s gotten me a lot of times, and he’s gotten a lot of weak groundouts to short. You get one up and you hit it good, and the ball’s carrying good. But a home run’s a home run, it doesn’t matter how far it goes."

Bard was starting for the second straight day in place of 37-year-old catcher Mike Piazza.

Pinch-hitter Geoff Blum and Cameron finished off the scoring in the fifth with RBI singles.

Peavy went five innings in his first start since setting the Padres’ record with 16 strikeouts in a 3-1 loss to Atlanta on Monday night. He allowed six runs and nine hits, struck out six and walked none.

Mulder allowed eight runs and 10 hits in 4 1-3 innings, struck out three and walked one.

"Mark had a very rough day," manager Tony La Russa said. "Evidently, I stayed with him a little too long."

Juan Encarnacion led off the second with his sixth homer for the Cardinals, his sixth, and Scott Rolen hit a solo drive in the ninth, his fifth.

Notes: Bard has five homers and Bellhorn four. … The Padres hit eight homers in the series. … It was Bard’s first multihomer game. … The Padres have hit back-to-back homers twice this season. Josh Barfield and Blum did it May 3 at the Los Angeles Dodgers. … The old record for combined hits in a game at Petco was 29 by the Cubs and Padres last June 4.