Wacha tosses 3- hitter as Cardinals top lowly Mets
CARDINALS 5, METS 0
NEW YORK — Michael Wacha threw a three- hitter for his first career shutout, Matt Carpenter had four hits, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the New York Mets 5- 0 on Tuesday night.
Wacha ( 7- 3) has won his past four starts. He struck out 8 and walked 1 in his 99th career start, allowing only 3 runners to reach second base.
The 26- year- old right- hander, who was ineffective last season, had not won four consecutive starts since the 2013 playoffs, when he helped lead St. Louis to the World Series.
Wacha and the Cardinals capitalized on a shoddy Mets defense that let down starter Rafael Montero ( 1- 6) with three errors. Montero allowed 4 runs, 2 earned, in 6 innings. New York has lost three consecutive and eight of 11.
The first of Carpenter’s four hits was a first- inning double into the right field corner. He advanced to third on third baseman T. J. Rivera’s throwing error and scored on Jedd Gyorko’s sacrifice fly.
The Cardinals took advantage of two more miscues during a threerun second inning. Wacha grounded into what could have been a double play, but shortstop Jose Reyes had trouble getting the ball to first. Carpenter doubled over left fielder Yoenis Cespedes’ head to make it 2- 0. St. Louis added another run when Rivera couldn’t field Tommy Pham’s grounder, allowing Wacha to score.
PIRATES 4, BREWERS 3 Francisco Cervelli and Josh Harrison both hit home runs during a sixth- inning rally as host Pittsburgh welcomed outfielder Starling Marte back with a victory over National League Central- leading Milwaukee. Marte went 1 for 3 in his return from an 80- game suspension for violating MLB’s performance- enhancing drug policy. DIAMONDBACKS 11, REDS 2 Chris Herrmann capped a six- run fifth inning with a two- run home run as visiting Arizona slugged its way past Cincinnati. Rey Fuentes added a pinch- hit, threerun home run in the seventh, All- Star outfielder Jake Lamb had a two- run triple and Arizona ended a five- game skid by tying a season high with nine extra- base hits — one from each spot in the batting order.
PHILLIES 5, MARLINS 2 Maikel Franco had three hits, including a tiebreaking home run in the eighth inning, to help lift visiting Philadelphia over Miami. National League home run leader Giancarlo Stanton hit his 29th for the Marlins, who have lost four of five.
ROCKIES 9, PADRES 7 Carlos Gonzalez lined a two- run double for his first extra- base hit in nearly a month, and Gerardo Parra reached base five times and scored three runs as host Colorado beat San Diego. Mark Reynolds added a three- run home run in the first inning for the Rockies.
INTERLEAGUE
DODGERS 1, WHITE SOX 0 Clayton Kershaw pitched seven scoreless innings for his major league- leading 15th victory as visiting Los Angeles edged Chicago for its 10th consecutive victory. Kershaw ( 15- 2) scattered seven hits and a walk to post his 11th consecutive victory.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
ORIOLES 12, RANGERS 1 Chris Davis hit a home run in a six- run first inning, added a grand slam in the fourth and finished with a career- high six RBI to help Baltimore breeze past visiting Texas. Dylan Bundy ( 9- 8) allowed 1 run and 4 hits in 6 innings to earn his first victory since June 24.
ASTROS 6, MARINERS 2 Evan Gattis hit two home runs to back a solid start by Brad Peacock, helping Houston to a victory over visiting Seattle. Peacock ( 8- 1) allowed 3 hits and 1 run with 7 strikeouts in 7 innings.
TIGERS 9, ROYALS 3 Nicholas Castellanos hit two home runs and drove in five runs to lead visiting Detroit over Travis Wood ( Bryant) and Kansas City. Wood ( 1- 3) allowed 6 runs and 9 hits in 41/ 3 innings. Most of the damage against Wood came in the second inning, when Victor Martinez’s tworun double started the scoring, and by the time Castellanos added a two- run triple, the Tigers had turned a 3- 0 deficit into an 5- 3 lead.
YANKEES 6, TWINS 3 A two- run double by Gary Sanchez in the fifth inning ended Bartolo Colon’s night after a decent start and gave visiting New York a victory over Minnesota. Colon, making his debut for the Twins, allowed 8 hits and 4 runs with no walks and 3 strikeouts.