Still sinking: Blue Jays lose both ends of doubleheader

ST. LOUIS (AP) — It took a little while for the St. Louis Cardinals bats to get going during Thursday’s day-night doubleheader against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Once they did, they made a big difference.

After rallying late to win the first game 8-4, backed by Randal Grichuk’s ninth-inning homer and Matt Carpenter’s 11th inning grand slam, the Cardinals scored early and often in the nightcap to beat the Blue Jays 6-4 and sweep the doubleheader.

“Overall it’s a good day,” said St. Louis manager Mike Matheny. “You walk out of here with two wins today. Having our back against the wall in the first one, that’s impressive. I think it says a lot about these guys.”

The Cardinals, who got back to .500 at 11-11, recorded 14 runs and 25 hits in the two games.

The injury-plagued Blue Jays, the only team in the majors yet to win a series or consecutive games, fell to 6-16.

“Today was a big day,” said St. Louis pitcher Adam Wainwright (2-3), who earned the win in the nightcap. “We swept a doubleheader here at home. We wanted to play better ball at home this year. That’s one thing we know we’ve got to do and we know we can do.”

Matt Bowman (1-0) won the opener and the Cardinals’ bullpen allowed just one run on four hits in 7 2/3 innings over the two games.

Ryan Tepera (1-1) and Casey Lawrence (0-3) took the losses.

MARINERS 2, TIGERS 1

DETROIT — Ben Gamel had an RBI single in the ninth inning to help the Seattle Mariners beat the Detroit Tigers 2-1 on Thursday.

Kyle Seager doubled off Francisco Rodriguez (1-2) with one out, and Gamel followed with his hit to rightcentre field. Tony Zych (1-0) was the winner, and Edwin Diaz pitched the ninth for his third save.

Detroit starter Justin Verlander allowed one unearned run on five hits in seven innings, while Seattle starter Hisashi Iwakuma gave up an unearned run in 5 2/3 innings, allowing three hits.

The Mariners closed the series with two one-run victories after falling 19-9 in the opener.