The St. Louis Cardinals scored seven runs in the fourth inning and Chris Carpenter was lights out once again in a 7-3 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Monday in a meeting between the top two teams in the National League Central Division.

Cincinnati saw its lead trimmed to one game thanks to Carpenter and the fourth-inning uprising.

St. Louis banged out eight of its 12 hits in the fourth, including a grand slam by Skip Schumaker. Matt Holliday, Colby Rasmus and Albert Pujols each added RBI singles in the frame and then the Cardinals put the game in Carpenter's hands.

Carpenter (13-3) won his fourth straight decision and St. Louis won for the sixth straight start by their ace right-hander. Carpenter allowed two runs and five hits in seven innings to improve to 11-3 in 17 career starts versus Cincinnati.

Mike Leake (7-4) took the loss, his third straight. The rookie right-hander allowed seven runs and nine hits in 3 2/3 innings.

Ramon Hernandez went 3-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs for the Reds.