Houston Astros defeat St. Louis Cardinals, 11-6

HOUSTON - Just as the late show of power masked an otherwise dismal showing, the Cardinals contend that dismal showing warps what was a step forward for struggling starter Todd Wellemeyer.

Improvement, like Tuesday's score, must be relative.

Wellemeyer didn't last to see the end of the fifth inning of the 11-6 loss at Houston as the Astros chased him with five runs on seven hits. The deciding runs, however, came after Wellemeyer had left the game to rookie P.J. Walte...