Wacha’s near no-no

Michael Wacha retired the first 13 batters and lost a no-hit bid in the ninth inning when pinch-hitter Colin Moran led off with a single, leaving to a huge ovation and pitching the St. Louis Cardinals past the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-0 on Sunday.

ST. LOUIS — Michael Wacha lost a no-hit bid in the ninth inning when pinch-hitter Colin Moran led off with a single, leaving to a huge ovation and pitching the St. Louis Cardinals past the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-0 Sunday.

This was the second time Wacha had a no-hit try broken up in the ninth. As a rookie in 2013, he was one out away from a no-hitter when Washington’s Ryan Zimmerman got an infield single.

Wacha (7-1) came close to pitching the fourth no-hitter in the major leagues this season. He was in total control, striking out eight and walking two while mixing his fastball, curve and changeup.

Wacha retired the first 13 batters, and the closest the Pirates had come to a hit was Josh Bell’s flyout to the warning track in the second inning until the ninth. Moran fouled off the first three pitches before the Pirates rookie lined a clean single well over the head of second baseman Kolten Wong into right field.

That was all for Wacha, and the 26-year-old righty was pulled after 111 pitches — 119 is his career high. The crowd of 44,432 at Busch Stadium stood as Wacha walked off, and he received hugs from his teammates in the dugout.

Reliever Jordan Hicks gave up one hit while getting the last three outs.

Marcell Ozuna hit a grand slam on the eighth pitch of the game from Nick Kingham (2-2). In April, Kingham took a perfect game into the seventh inning against St. Louis in his big league debut before it was broken up.

Sunday’s games NATIONAL LEAGUE

Chicago Cubs 2, NY Mets 0 Atlanta 4, Washington 2 St. Louis 5, Pittsburgh 0 LA Dodgers 10, Colorado 7 San Francisco 6, Philadelphia 1 Arizona 6, Miami 1 San Diego 6, Cincinnati 3

AMERICAN LEAGUE

NY Yankees at Baltimore, ppd. Toronto 8, Detroit 4 Minnesota 7, Cleveland 5 Oakland 5, Kansas City 1 LA Angels 3, Texas 1 Seattle 2, Tampa Bay 1 Boston 9, Houston 3

INTERLEAGUE

Chicago White Sox 6, Milwaukee 1 CUBS 2, METS O Jon Lester dominated for seven innings and Javier Baez stole home to break a scoreless tie as Chicago blanked host New York, completing a four-game sweep. BRAVES 4, NATIONALS 2 Pinch-hitter Charlie Culberson hit a game-ending two-run home run to lift Atlanta to a victory over visiting Washington. DODGERS 10, ROCKIES 7 Max Muncy homered twice, Yasmani Grandal also went deep in a three-run ninth inning, and Los Angeles beat host Colorado. GIANTS 6, PHILLIES 1 Dereck Rodriguez earned his first big league victory, giving up a home run to Jake Arrieta but outpitching the ace to lead San Francisco over visiting Philadelphia for a three-game sweep. DIAMONDBACKS 6, MARLINS 1 Matt Koch allowed three hits over seven scoreless innings and host Arizona completed a three-game sweep of Miami. PADRES 6, REDS 3 Hunter Renfroe’s pinchhit, go-ahead grand slam in the fifth inning lifted Tyson Ross and San Diego to a victory over visiting Cincinnati.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

BLUE JAYS 8, TIGERS 4 Justin Smoak’s sixth-inning home run broke a scoreless tie and Toronto ended its five-game losing streak with a victory over host Detroit. TWINS 7, INDIANS 5 Eddie Rosario hit his third home run of the game, launching a two-run shot in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift Minnesota over visiting Cleveland. ATHLETICS 5, ROYALS 1 Matt Olson hit a three-run home run in the eighth as Oakland defeated host Kansas City to win the series. ANGELS 3, RANGERS 1 Tyler Skaggs pitched six scoreless innings of four-hit ball and Justin Upton homered in Los Angeles’ victory. MARINERS 2, RAYS 1 Felix Hernandez was in vintage form, allowing one run in eight innings, and run-scoring singles from Denard Span and Dee Gordon gave Seattle a comeback victory against Tampa Bay. RED SOX 9, ASTROS 3 Rick Porcello pitched well into the seventh, Andrew Benintendi (Arkansas Razorbacks) and Mitch Moreland each homered, and Boston beat host Houston.

INTERLEAGUE

WHITE SOX 6, BREWERS 1 Daniel Palka and Adam Engel hit back-to-back home runs in a three-run sixth inning, and Chicago beat visiting Milwaukee.