(AP) - Rick Ankiel's big series helped the surprising Cardinals win a franchise-record 18 games this month. Braden Looper worked six solid innings and Ankiel again supplied much of the offense with three hits and two RBIs to cap an 8-for-13 series. Ankiel's effort helped St. Louis hand Aaron Harang another tough luck loss with a 5-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds yesterday. Ankiel had a home run and five RBIs in the series, is 10-for-22 in the first six games of a nine-game homestand while raising his average to .291, and has the go-ahead RBI in six of St. Louis' victories. Ankiel's a common thread to past April excellence in St. Louis as the only player to have also been on the roster for two 17-win teams earlier this decade.

(AP) - Geovany Soto hit two three-run homers and Chicago pounded the Milwaukee Brewers 19-5 -- with prospective owner Mark Cuban watching from the current owners' seats. It was the Cubs' biggest outburst since a 20-1 whipping of the Los Angles Dodgers on May Fifth, 2001. And the Brewers had not allowed that many since they gave up 19 at Colorado last August Eighth. The Cubs scored six runs each in the first and eighth innings while batting around last night, and leading the charge was a rookie who appeared in just 18 games last season. The onslaught made things easy for Ryan Dempster. Jeff Suppan didn't finish the fourth inning. The teams meet again today.
     
(AP) - Justin Morneau came through with yet another clutch hit for the Minnesota Twins. The Chicago White Sox should have taken notes. After giving themselves chance after chance to break a game open, the White Sox watched Morneau hit a two-out RBI double in the seventh inning to give Nick Blackburn and the Twins a 4-3 victory yesterday. Chicago's Nick Swisher walked on four pitches to start the game and scored on Jim Thome's double, then delivered a two-out single in the fifth for a brief 3-2 lead. That hit was the only success the Sox had with runners in scoring position, leaving them 1-for-8 for the afternoon and 5-for-45 in their last five games. Chicago leads the league with 36 homers, but the team's batting average is a league-low .242.
     
(From Peoria Chiefs) - The Peoria Chiefs split a doubleheader with the visiting Dayton Dragons Wednesday at O'Brien Field. The Chiefs took game one 5-0 and fell in the nightcap 5-4 in 9 innings. The split give the Chiefs a 2-4 record on the six-game homestand and brings their overall record to 9-17 on the season. The Chiefs have an off day Thursday before beginning a 10-game road trip in South Bend Friday evening.