ST. LOUIS — Shane Victorino typically spends off days relaxing in the dugout. He changed his routine yesterday and the move worked.

Victorino had a pinch-hit, three-run double to break a tie with two outs in the eighth inning and lift Philadelphia to a 5-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. It was the first pinch-hit of the season for the Maui native.

"Today, for some reason I went to the (batting) cage three or four times," Victorino said. "It turned out for the better."

The score was 1-1 when Philadelphia filled the bases. Manager Charlie Manuel sent Victorino to the plate to pinch-hit for Greg Dobbs.

Cardinals manager Tony La Russa called in left-hander Randy Flores from the bullpen.

Victorino, a switch-hitter, liked that. He entered the game hitting .264 against left-handers and .273 against right-handers, but he is a natural right-hander.

"I definitely feel better from the right side," he said. "I'm not saying I feel that much greater. They probably thought that looking at my numbers I'm not hitting as well right-handed as left-handed, so they made that decision. I guess it kind of worked out."

Flores threw Victorino a 3-2 breaking ball, which surprised him. But he also had time to foul it off to keep the at-bat alive. Flores followed with a fastball, and Victorino ripped a double to left-center field to clear the bases and hand the Phillies a 4-1 lead.