CINCINNATI - Their simmering rivalry boiled over Sunday afternoon at Great American Ball Park.

Temperatures peaked too late to keep the Cardinals from a series sweep but got there in plenty of time to stoke a shared distaste with the Cincinnati Reds.

Eight consecutive runs snapped Cardinals starter Chris Carpenter's five-year hex over the Reds, who overcame an early 2-0 deficit and a complicated ninth inning to secure a 9-7 win before a rain-soaked crowd of 24,672.

Able to take a 9-2 lead into the ninth, the Reds survived a bullpen scare that included four walks, back-to-back two-run doubles and a fastball that struck Redbirds first baseman Albert Pujols on the left wrist.

Francisco Cordero's riding 0-2 fastball hit Pujols before Cordero could close out a five-run rally and a three-game sweep that left the Redbirds 1½ games off the National League Central lead. Sunday's story began rather than ended there.

"They took offense to it, we took offense to it, and the soap opera continues," said Cardinals acting manager Joe Pettini, who ended a 2-4 road trip as Tony La Russa's surrogate. "It's always something when you come in here."

A dugout angered by Cordero's errant pitch continued to shout its displeasure during the Reds' on-field celebration. The decibel level increased when Cordero looked into the third base well. Catcher Gerald Laird was among the most vocal in addressing his former Texas Rangers teammate.

"It seems like I'm new to this rivalry they have. I can see it now," Laird said. "You've got two good clubs that play really hard and both want to win, and there's only one divisional winner. It's going to be a battle all year."

"Basically, when you have a bunch of grown boys playing a game, you can have some tantrums exchanged. I think there's nothing more to it than that," right fielder Lance Berkman said.

The Reds beat Carpenter for the first time since June 6, 2006, with a five-run seventh inning that blew open a 4-2 game.

Berkman and catcher Yadier Molina produced back-to-back second-inning home runs against Reds lefthander Travis Wood, but the Cardinals' offense was unheard from again until reliever Aroldis Chapman ignited the ninth-inning rally with four walks. Shortstop Ryan Theriot and third baseman Nick Punto produced consecutive two-run doubles immediately before Pujols was hit.

Pujols later said he saw no intent on Cordero's part. He acknowledged that throwing at him intentionally on an 0-2 count in a two-run game made little sense.

"I'm pretty sure Francisco didn't try to do that on purpose," Pujols said. "He doesn't want to bring the winning run to the plate with two big hitters, Matt (Holliday) and Berkman. It's probably something that slipped. You turn the page and get ready for tomorrow."

However, the incident picked at the leftover enmity from last August's benches-clearing brawl that left Cardinals catcher Jason La Rue with a severe concussion due to a series of kicks by Reds pitcher Johnny Cueto. Numerous Reds players joined Sunday's exchange, some gesturing at the Cardinals bench.

Pettini and pitching coach Dave Duncan were part of the back and forth.

"You pitch away, you pitch in. But you've got to have a clue when you do it, especially against a hitter like Albert. Our guys took offense to it. We're going to need somebody like Albert in the long haul. A lot of guys were upset and started yelling. I'd yell, too," Pettini said.

"I don't know what was said; but Coco (Cordero) usually doesn't go off for nothing," Reds manager Dusty Baker offered. "Somebody said something."

Cordero expressed little tolerance for what Laird offered. "I just told him, ‘Say it again.' (Pujols) is a great hitter and a player, and I thought it was funny that a guy who wasn't playing was yelling at me. I wasn't trying to hit him. I've got nothing against the Cardinals. I've never disrespected anybody. I looked in the dugout and Pujols was sitting there quietly. He knew I wasn't trying to hit him."

"We know balls get away from guys," Laird said. "He's one of the big bats in our lineup. When you go up in that area, it's a major issue. He's our teammate. We're going to back him."

The Cardinals were less proficient at backing Carpenter, who was charged with one unearned run but arguably left with two more due to unmade defensive plays.

Pujols received an error when he failed to backhand a sixth-inning grounder that allowed Brandon Phillips to reach and eventually score.

Center fielder Jon Jay was charged with a fourth-inning error when his throw to third base struck the Reds' Jay Bruce on the leg and caromed into the third-base dugout. The first of the inning's two runs scored and Bruce took third base. He then scored when Tyler Greene failed to cleanly glove a one-hop smash that would have given him a play at the plate.

"They got some breaks, but I think we need to play better defensively, especially in the infield," Pettini said. "We had some plays we should've made but didn't make. That was probably the story of the game."

Carpenter had beaten the Reds in 10 straight starts before settling for a no-decision last month at Busch Stadium.

Carpenter (1-3) has reached a point where he needs defensive support that has rarely arrived. The Reds reached him for nine hits in 6 1/3 innings, leaving him with 42 hits allowed in 26 1/3 innings covering his last four starts. At one point, Carpenter doubled over when Greene failed to glove Drew Stubbs' one-hop smash that was generously ruled a single. Carpenter lasted only three more hitters, leaving after Phillips drove a two-run double over Berkman, who scrambled from shallow right field to the outfield wall.

Phillips, a central player in last summer's drama, couldn't resist making a dry comment. "It's all pretty new to me," he said. "I guess they thought we hit Pujols on purpose. I didn't think things like that happened."

Carpenter refused to finger his defense as pivotal in the loss but counted only three pitches he would like to take back, including a cut fastball that Reds catcher Ramon Hernandez hammered for a third-inning home run. It was Hernandez's third home run in two days and started the day's bleeding. The Reds scored eight unanswered runs with Carpenter in the game.

"My job is to go out and pitch," Carpenter said. "These guys are busting their butt. It was a (lousy) day. Balls are taking funny hops. I'm not concerned with what the guys behind me are doing. I've just got to go out and pitch."