Moss starting to find his way with the Cardinals
SAN FRANCISCO — It’s coming together for Brandon Moss at the plate, and that’s helping the National League’s best team keep playing as well as ever.
Moss, Matt Carpenter and Mark Reynolds all hit home runs, Yadier Molina drove in two and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the San Francisco Giants 7- 5 on Sunday.
“My at- bats continue to feel a lot better than they were,” Moss said. “I feel like I’m squaring it up more often and if I can do that, the results will come.”
Jason Heyward added three hits and drove in a run for the Cardinals, who won for the seventh time in eight games. Greg Garcia also drove in a run.
“It’s coming together right now,” Heyward said. “Hitting- wise, we’ve kept our heads up and kept plugging away.”
Jaime Garcia ( 7- 4) allowed season highs in hits ( 10) and runs ( 4) but was effective enough to improve to 4- 0 over his past 6 starts. He did not walk a batter and struck out one, a season low.
“I made a few mistakes but I continued to battle,” Garcia said. “I got some big outs when I needed them and that kept us in it.”
Marlon Byrd celebrated his 38th birthday with two doubles, a triple and four RBI.
NATIONALS 7, MARLINS 4 Jayson Werth homered and drove in three runs, and Clint Robinson added a pinch- hit home run as host Washington had 13 hits and rallied past Miami.
ROCKIES 5, PIRATES 0 Jorge De La Rosa pitched into the seventh inning before being ejected, and Ben Paulsen hit a two- run triple as the visiting Colorado Rockies beat the Pittsburgh Pirates. De La Rosa ( 8- 6) allowed 4
hits in 6- plus innings while striking out 7 and walking 1. De La Rosa and Rockies manager Walt Weiss were ejected for arguing with home plate umpire Jeff Nelson as Weiss went to the mound to remove De La Rosa.
BREWERS 4, REDS 1 Ryan Braun hit a home run and Wily Peralta pitched seven strong innings to help Milwaukee beat Cincinnati. Peralta ( 5- 8) held the Reds to one run and seven hits in a battle of teams fighting to stay out of the National League Central cellar.
PADRES 9, PHILLIES 4 James Shields pitched seven innings for his first road victory since May, and San Diego hit three home runs in a victory over Philadelphia.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
BLUE JAYS 9, TIGERS 2 Edwin Encarnacion hit a home run for the fourth time in two days, Josh Donaldson also connected and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the visiting Detroit Tigers to complete a three- game sweep.
RANGERS 6, ORIOLES 0 Derek Holland struck out every Baltimore batter while throwing a three- hitter for his eighth career shutout, leading host Texas to a three- game sweep.
RAYS 3, ROYALS 2 Brandon Guyer and Kevin Kiermaier home run, and the Tampa Bay bullpen held visiting Kansas City to one hit over five innings.
TWINS 7, ASTROS 5 Ervin Santana struck out 10 to earn his first home victory, Eduardo Nunez and Miguel Sano homered, and the Twins withstood a ninth- inning rally to beat the Astros.
INDIANS 9, ANGELS 2 Abraham Almonte hit his first career grand slam and Josh Tomlin worked into the eighth inning, leading host Cleveland over the slumping Los Angeles Angels.
WHITE SOX 6, MARINERS 5 White Sox rookie Tyler Saladino drove in the winning run with a single in the 11th inning and Chicago rallied to beat Seattle.
INTERLEAGUE
METS 5, RED SOX 4 Michael Cuddyer hit a tiebreaking single in the seventh inning and the NL East- leading Mets stopped their five- game home skid, averting a sweep by Boston.
YANKEES 20, BRAVES 6 Jacoby Ellsbury hit a three- run home run, Chase Headley and Stephen Drew each added a two- run shot and visiting New York routed Atlanta to finish a three- game sweep.
ATHLETICS 7, DIAMONDBACKS 4
Marcus Semien’s two- run single with the bases loaded and two outs in the 11th inning lifted Oakland over Arizona.