Albert Pujols broke out of his slump in a big way as the St. Louis Cardinals won the rubber match of a three-game set against the Chicago Cubs 9-1 on Sunday at Wrigley Field.

Pujols hit three home runs and had four RBIs. He finished the day 3-for-3 with two walks. Pujols was in an 8-for-39 slump heading into today’s game.

The Cardinals’ slugger hit his first home run in the first inning off Chicago starter Ryan Dempster to make it 1-0. His second shot came in the fifth inning, a two-run blast that followed Ryan Ludwick’s RBI single and extended the lead to 4-0. His third dinger came in the ninth off reliever John Grabow.

Six of St. Louis’ nine runs were charged to Dempster (3-5) who yielded nine hits and three walks in 6 2/3 innings. He struck out seven.

The run support was more than enough for Cardinals’ starter Adam Wainwright (7-3), who continued his strong pitching by allowing seven hits, two walks and striking out eight in seven innings. His only blemished was a solo home run allowed to Geovany Soto in the seventh. It was his ninth quality start in 10 outings this season.

St. Louis added two runs in the seventh on RBI singles from Matt Holliday and David Freese. Freese added a two-run homer in the ninth as well.

Holliday also had a strong day at the plate for St. Louis with four hits.