Cardinals inch closer to Reds in wild-card race
CINCINNATI — Jon Lester allowed one hit while pitching into the seventh inning, Paul Goldschmidt homered and the St. Louis Cardinals moved closer to the slumping Cincinnati Reds in the NL wild-card race with a 3-1 victory Monday night.
The Cardinals closed within 21/2 games of Cincinnati for the second wild-card spot. San Diego is in between them.
The Reds have scored one run in each of their last three games — all losses — and have dropped five of their last seven games. Their top four hitters in the lineup combined to finish 0-for-14.
“We’re a good-hitting team,” said Reds shortstop Kyle Farmer, who got Cincinnati’s only two hits, including his career-high 12th home run. “Good hitting teams break out of slumps. There’s not much pressing among guys. We’ve faced some really, really good pitching the last five games.”
Lester (5-6), in his sixth start for St. Louis since being acquired from Washington on July 30, retired 16 consecutive batters after giving up his only hit, Farmer’s second-inning leadoff homer.
“Obviously, we all know what’s in front us,” Lester said. “We have a lot of games against these guys and the [Central-leading] Brewers coming up. To pitch well is a great feeling. To do it against a team that you’re trying to chase down is even better.”
The veteran left-hander walked 2 and struck out 5 in 61/3 innings, earning his fourth straight win after losing his first two starts with the Cardinals.
Right fielder Dylan Carlson, who contributed a sliding catch on Joey Votto’s flyball in short right-center field in the fourth, described Lester’s work as “awesome.”
“He had his game face on, and he had the stuff to match the strong intensity he brought to the game,” St. Louis Manager Mike Shildt said. “He changed speeds well and had the good curveball in play. He kept them off-balance. He had them a little out front. He was tremendous to get into the seventh.”
T.J. McFarland allowed a hit in 11/3 innings, and Luis Garcia got the last out of the eighth before Giovanny Gallegos pitched the ninth for his third save.
The Cardinals needed just two batters to grab a 2-0 lead. Luis Castillo (7-14) walked Tommy Edman, the reigning NL Player of the Week, to lead off the game. Goldschmidt followed with an opposite-field homer to right, his 22nd of the season and 11th in 41 career games at Great American Ball Park.
PHILLIES 7, NATIONALS 4 Bryce Harper homered in the first inning and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Washington Nationals to stretch their winning streak to four games. Brad Miller also went deep and Ronald Torreyes added a bases-loaded triple for Philadelphia, which improved to 7-1 at Nationals Park this season. Carter Kieboom homered for Washington.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
RAYS 6, RED SOX 1 Wander Franco extended his on-base streak to 30 games with a two-run single, fellow rookie Luis Patino pitched neatly into the sixth inning and the AL East-leading Tampa Bay Rays won their eighth in a row, beating the Boston Red Sox. Brandon Lowe hit his career-high 31st homer on the first pitch from Boston starter Nick Pivetta, sending the Rays on their way.
BLUE JAYS 7, ORIOLES 3 Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit two homers and raised his season total to 38, Robbie Ray pitched seven innings for his first win in six starts, and Toronto won its third straight with a victory over Baltimore.
TWINS 3, TIGERS 2 Bailey Ober pitched six solid innings and Josh Donaldson’s two-run homer helped Minnesota beat Detroit. The Twins have won three of four. Detroit has lost four of five, scoring only nine runs. Ober (2-2) held the slumping Tigers’ offense to 2 runs on 5 hits in 6 innings. He struck out five without walking a batter. Alex Colome earned his 10th save.
INTERLEAGUE
RANGERS 4, ROCKIES 3 A.J. Alexy won his major-league debut by pitching one-hit ball through five shutout innings while DJ Peters, Leody Taveras and Nick Solak homered in consecutive innings as the Texas Rangers hung on to beat the Colorado Rockies. Alexy (1-0) allowed only a second-inning double to C.J. Cron.