Wacha steps up again as Cardinals stop skid
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Unbeaten Michael Wacha won for the seventh consecutive time this year and the St. Louis Cardinals ended their seasonworst three- game losing streak by beating the Kansas City Royals 6- 1 on Sunday.
Wacha held the majors’ best- hitting team to one unearned run and five singles in seven innings. He exited with a 1.87 ERA and became the first Cardinals pitcher to start 7- 0 since Matt Morris began 8- 0 in 2005.
Down 4- 1, the Royals loaded the bases with two outs in the sixth, but Alex Gordon flied out.
“I missed on a couple of fastballs in,” Wacha said. “I didn’t want to go 3- 0 on him. I just had to try to paint the inside corner and luckily got it in there enough and [ Randal] Grichuk made a good play on it.”
Matt Carpenter hit a two- run home run in the sixth off Yordano Ventura ( 3- 4).
Ventura walked the game’s first two hitters on 10 pitches and both scored. Jhonny Peralta hit an RBI single and Matt Adams doubled home a run.
“The first two hitters, he was just missing,” Royals Manager Ned Yost said.
Ventura, who threw 30 pitches in the first, settled down after that and didn’t allow another hit until the sixth.
Yadier Molina drove in two runs with a two- out single in the eighth. Adams doubled twice.
Salvador Perez extended his hitting streak to 10 games and singled home a run for the Royals.
MARLINS 5, ORIOLES 2 Martin Prado hit a home run to cap a 12- pitch at- bat and drove in two runs, helping host Miami beat Baltimore for
its first series victory since May 3.
INDIANS 5, REDS 2 Trevor Bauer pitched into the eighth inning and host Cleveland extended its winning streak to six games over slumping Cincinnati.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
PIRATES 9, METS 1 Francisco Liriano kept up host Pittsburgh’s run on strikeouts, fanning 12 as the Pirates beat New York for a three- game sweep.
NATIONALS 4, PHILLIES 1 Bryce Harper drove in two runs, Gio Gonzalez outpitched Aaron Harang and host Washington beat Philadelphia for its eighth consecutive series victory. Harper gave the Nationals a 2- 1 lead with a run- scoring groundout in the fifth inning and added an RBI single in the seventh. In addition to moving into the NL lead with 41 RBI, he also increased his league- leading totals in walks ( 39) and runs ( 39).
BRAVES 2, BREWERS 1 Rookie Mike Foltynewicz pitched three- hit ball for 72/ innings, leading
3 host Atlanta past Milwaukee. Foltynewicz ( 3- 1) allowed one run in his longest start in the majors. He struck out seven.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
ASTROS 10, TIGERS 8 Evan Gattis and Preston Tucker hit home runs in the sixth inning and visiting Houston slugged its way to another victory, rallying past Detroit. The Astros trailed 7- 3 before scoring four runs in the sixth, including Tucker’s three- run shot that tied the game.
RED SOX 6, ANGELS 1 Mike Napoli hit his fourth home run of the series and drove in four runs, Wade Miley allowed one run in eight innings and host Boston beat Los Angeles.
BLUE JAYS 8, MARINERS 2 Edwin Encarnacion and Ryan Goins hit home runs, Aaron Sanchez won for the first time in three starts and host Toronto beat Seattle.
ATHLETICS 7, RAYS 2 Sonny Gray limited Tampa Bay to four hits in five scoreless innings before leaving with a bruised right ankle and visiting Oakland beat the Rays. Gray ( 5- 2) was hit on the lower leg by James Loney’s grounder in the fourth, but stayed in for a while longer.
TWINS 8, WHITE SOX 1 Brian Dozier hit two home runs and drove in four runs in visiting Minnesota’s victory over Chicago. Dozier hit a solo shot off Jose Quintana ( 2- 5) in the first inning and a three- run home run off Scott Carroll in the seventh. Kyle Gibson ( 4- 3) struck out eight and allowed a run and four hits in eight innings.
RANGERS 5, YANKEES 2 Adam Rosales hit a two- run home run off Chris Capuano that bounced off the top of the left- field wall, Yovani Gallardo won for the second time since mid- April and visiting Texas beat New York.