"It was hard to tell what was hotter at Busch Stadium on Wednesday, the nearly 100-degree temperatures on the field or the Dodgers' renewed burst of run production.

Dodgers batters pummeled St. Louis pitching for the second time in less than 24 hours to defeat the Cardinals, 9-4, sweep their three-game series and finish the Dodgers' trip 5-5.

It was the Dodgers' first road sweep of the season and the first time the Dodgers had swept a series in St. Louis since 1993.

A six-run third inning and subsequent home runs by A.J. Ellis and Juan Rivera gave starting pitcher Hiroki Kuroda (10-14) plenty of cushion.

"I don't think I had 100% [command] of all my pitches, but having that run support makes a lot of difference," Kuroda said through an interpreter.

It was the first major-league home run for Ellis, a catcher who was making his first start since being recalled from triple-A Albuquerque on Tuesday.

The victory came on the heels of the Dodgers' 13-2 win Tuesday night, and "hopefully we can continue" to score runs, Dodgers Manager Don Mattingly said.

After enduring poor run support for much of the season, Kuroda lately has enjoyed some leads — and taken advantage of them.

"He keeps us in every game, and for a while there we just didn't get him any runs at all," Mattingly said."