Denver, CO (Sports Network) - Albert Pujols' double and heads-up base running in the ninth inning proved to be the difference in the Cardinals' 6-5 victory over the Colorado Rockies in a back-and-forth opener of a four-game set at Coors Field.

With one out in the ninth, Pujols doubled down the right field line off reliever Brian Fuentes. Rick Ankiel followed with a groundout to second base, but the heady Pujols, who was running before the pitch, made the turn around third, and avoided Yorvit Torrealba's tag at the plate for the deciding run.

"No, I had my mind set," Pujols responded when asked if he hesitated before rounding third. "It's something you don't practice. It's something that just happened. You hope you get lucky, and don't get thrown out. If you get thrown out, then you're in trouble with the manager."

Jason Isringhausen closed it out in the bottom half for his 11th save, and Randy Flores (1-0) was credited with the win despite giving up the tying run in the eighth in his lone inning on the hill for St. Louis.

"That's not the way you'd expect [Pujols] to beat you, but he's a ballplayer," Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said. "He does a lot of things well. He gets a lot of recognition for swinging the bat. [He] plays good defense, and he's an aggressive baserunner."

Yadier Molina recorded three hits and a run scored, while Adam Kennedy tripled and drove in a run for the victors. Cardinals starter Joel Pineiro was hit hard for eight hits and four runs -- three earned -- but did manage a two-run double.

Counterpart Ubaldo Jimenez struggled in his five-inning start for Colorado, surrendering four runs -- three earned -- on seven hits, while fanning four and walking three. Fuentes (0-2) was saddled with the loss for his ninth- inning performance.

Brad Hawpe homered, scored twice and drove in a pair, and Chris Iannetta tallied three hits for the Rockies, who have won just twice in their last 10 games.

The Rockies' Matt Holliday jump-started a two-out rally in the first with a double, and scored on Todd Helton's liner to left for the first tally of the contest. Hawpe added a solo shot in the second for a 2-0 lead.

St. Louis got on the board in the next frame when Aaron Miles led off with a frozen rope to right. Hawpe couldn't handle the shot and Miles moved to second before advancing a base and scoring on consecutive groundouts to first.

With two runners on in the fourth, Pineiro helped his own cause by roping a liner down the left field line on the 10th pitch of his at-bat, plating both runners for a 3-2 Cardinals lead.

Chris Duncan's defensive woes hampered the away team in the fourth, as the left fielder's back-to-back errors on ground balls directly contributed to a pair of runners scoring from second, as the Rockies took a 4-3 edge.

The Cardinals came back an inning later and tied it up when Pujols' RBI groundout to second scored Skip Schumaker.

Tied at four apiece in the eighth, Taylor Buchholz came on in relief for Colorado and put runners on the corners with one out before pinch-hitter Ryan Ludwick laced a double to the opposite-field gap for a one-run edge.

St. Louis looked to have more in the inning, but Molina was called out on a bang-bang play at the plate that replays showed should have been called otherwise.

Flores couldn't hold St. Louis' 5-4 lead in the eighth. Iannetta and Jonathan Herrera each singled with one out, and the Rockies executed a double steal during the next at-bat. Ryan Spilborghs then dribbled a ball in front of the plate, but speedy pinch-runner Willy Taveras sprinted home to tie it up.

Flores bared down and whiffed the next two batters to get out of the jam.