Cards creep closer to Reds in wild card
Jon Lester allowed one hit while pitching into the seventh inning, Paul Goldschmidt homered and the Cardinals inched closer to the slumping Reds in the NL wild-card race with a 3-1 win in Cincinnati on Monday night.
The Cardinals closed to 21⁄2 games back of Cincinnati for the second wildcard spot. San Diego is between them.
The Reds scored one run in each of their past three games, all losses, and have dropped five of their past seven games. Their top four hitters in the lineup went 0-for-14.
“We’re a good-hitting team,” said Cincinnati shortstop Kyle Farmer, who got the Reds’ only two hits, including his career-high 12th home run. “... 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, retired 16 straight batters after Farmer’s second-inning leadoff homer.
“We have a lot of games against these guys and the (Central-leading) Brewers coming up,” Lester said. “To pitch well is a great feeling. To do it against a team that you’re trying to chase down is even better.”
The left-hander walked two and struck out five in 61⁄3 innings, earning his fourth straight win after losing his first two starts with the Cardinals.
“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.
Phillies 7, Nationals 4: Bryce Harper and Brad Miller hit solo homers, and Ronald Torreyes had a bases-clearing triple for visiting Philadelphia.
Blue Jays 7, Orioles 3: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit two homers to raise his season total to 38, and Robbie Ray pitched seven innings for his first win in six starts for host Toronto.
Rays 6, Red Sox 1: Brandon Lowe hit a solo homer and added an RBI single, and starter Luis Patiño held visiting Boston in check.
Angels 8, Yankees 7: Juan Lagares went 3-for-4 with a triple and a go-ahead single in the eighth inning in Anaheim. The Angels’ Shohei Ohtani hit his 42nd homer of the season.
Rangers 4, Rockies 3: A.J. Alexy won his big-league debut with one-hit ball over five shutout innings, and DJ Peters, Leody Taveras and Nick Solak homered in consecutive innings for host Texas.
Twins 3, Tigers 2: Rookie Bailey Ober pitched six solid innings and Josh Donaldson hit a two-run homer to lift visiting Minnesota.