Quick Hitters
PHOENIX — Yadier Molina homered and had three RBIs, Carlos Martinez pitched six effective innings and the St. Louis Cardinals ended a four-game losing streak with a 6-3 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday night.
Molina hit a two-run single in the Cardinals’ four-run first inning against Robbie Ray (3-1) and hit his 12th homer off the Arizona left-hander in the sixth.
Jedd Gyorko also homered and had two RBIs to end Ray’s nine-game winning streak, dating to last season.
Martinez (5-4) allowed two runs on six hits and lined a double. Bud Norris worked a perfect ninth for his 16th save in 18 chances.
Paul Goldschmidt had four hits and an RBI for the Diamondbacks, who have lost four straight.
Martinez snapped a three-game losing streak his last start, holding Cleveland to two runs on six hits in six innings. The right-hander was staked to a four-run lead before taking the mound and gave up Jake Lamb’s run-scoring single in the bottom half.
Goldschmidt lined a run-scoring single in the fifth inning off Martinez, who struck out seven.
Ray returned from the DL (strained right oblique) to throw six scoreless innings in a 2-1 win over Miami on Wednesday.
The Arizona left-hander had a shaky start to his second post-DL outing, allowing four runs on five hits in the first inning.
Ray struck out six while retiring 12 of the next 13 hitters before Molina and Gyorko connected on consecutive solo homers to put the Cardinals up 6-2 in the sixth inning.
Ray allowed six runs on nine hits in five innings in his 100th career appearance.
Dodgers pound out 21 hits, 4 homers in rout of Pirates
LOS ANGELES — Matt Kemp tied a career high with five hits, Joc Pederson and Max Muncy hit back-to-back homers to highlight a six-run fourth inning, and the Los Angeles Dodgers routed the Pittsburgh Pirates 17-1 on Monday night in the series opener.
Kemp hit a three-run homer in the sixth and drove in four runs for the second straight game. He came up a triple shy of hitting for the cycle.
Fans chanted “MVP! MVP!” as Kemp crossed the plate after his 15th homer of the season. The veteran slugger is the secondleading vote getter among National League outfielders for the All-Star Game. Kemp also scored four runs.
Cody Bellinger homered in the third, leaving the Dodgers with 116 homers this season after they slugged a major league-leading and franchise record 55 in June. They already have five long balls two days into July.
The Dodgers recorded seasonhighs in hits (21) and runs. They batted around in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, tacking on three runs in the fifth and four more in the sixth for a 17-1 lead.
Alex Wood (5-5) allowed one run and six hits in six innings. The left-hander struck out three and didn’t walk anyone.