Wainwright earns 150th win with Cards’ victory
ST. LOUIS — One St. Louis Cardinals pitcher reached a career milestone, while another added to his growing reputation as one of the league’s toughest relievers.
Adam Wainwright was warm enough on a cool day, allowing one run in six innings for his 150th career victory as Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers 5-2 on Wednesday to complete a three-game sweep.
“It means something to me,” Wainwright said. “I’m proud to have been a Cardinal for the whole time of it, too, and I’m proud to win most of those with my brother [catcher] Yadier Molina and a lot of those in front of these great fans in St. Louis.”
Jordan Hicks preserved the victory with a strikeout of last year’s MVP, Christian Yelich, who had most of the day off but still got a chance to rescue the Brewers. Yelich came up as a pinch-hitter with the bases loaded in the ninth inning.
Hicks, known for his 100-mphplus fastball, only threw one heater out of his five pitches to Yelich, the only batter he faced. He got the strikeout on a 91-mph changeup, earning his seventh save in eight chances.
“I won’t tell you our scouting report, but obviously we’re facing a good hitter,” Molina said. “He’s hot and you’ve got to be smart in that situation.”
The Brewers loaded the bases with two out while trailing 5-1, but Manager Craig Counsell elected to stick with Ben Gamel instead of going to Yelich sooner. Andrew Miller walked Gamel, setting up the YelichHicks matchup.
ROCKIES 9, NATIONALS 5 Raimel Tapia had two doubles and drove in three runs to back a solid outing from German Marquez, and Colorado beat visiting Washington.
BRAVES 3, REDS 1 Ozzie Albies homered on the game’s first pitch and Ronald Acuna Jr. scored from first base on Yasiel Puig’s fifth-inning error, helping Atlanta to a victory over host Cincinnati.
DIAMONDBACKS 11, PIRATES 2 Ketel Marte homered twice and visiting Arizona won at Pittsburgh for the ninth consecutive time. PHILLIES 6, METS 0 Rhys Hoskins homered off reliever Jacob Rhame and taunted him with a slow jog around the bases one night after Rhame buzzed him with two fastballs, and struggling Philadelphia beat host New York.
CUBS 7, DODGERS 6 Javier Baez and Jason Heyward each hit three-run home runs in the sixth inning and Chicago overcame a wild start by Cole Hamels to beat visiting Los Angeles.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
ROYALS 10, RAYS 2 Tampa Bay ace Blake Snell lasted one out into the fourth inning in his return from a broken right fourth toe as the Rays were beaten by visiting Kansas City. ATHLETICS 6, RANGERS 5 Chad Pinder’s two-out RBI single in the ninth inning lifted Oakland to a victory over visiting Texas.
ORIOLES 4, WHITE SOX 3 Stevie Wilkerson hit his first major league home run, John Means pitched five effective innings on his birthday and host Baltimore beat Chicago.
RED SOX 11, TIGERS 4 J.D. Martinez had three hits and Eduardo Rodriguez pitched six strong innings as Boston rebounded from a doubleheader sweep and beat visiting Detroit. ASTROS 7, TWINS 1 Justin Verlander pitched eight dominant innings, and Carlos Correa, Michael Brantley and Josh Reddick all homered to lead host Houston over Minnesota.
INTERLEAGUE
INDIANS 6, MARLINS 2 Jose Ramirez homered and drove in four runs, Jake Bauers’ eighth-inning single scored the go-ahead run and Cleveland defeated visiting Miami.
PADRES 1, MARINERS 0 Rookie Chris Paddack held the Mariners to one hit in seven innings and retiring his final 19 batters, nine by strikeout, as host San Diego beat Seattle. GIANTS 4, BLUE JAYS 0 Drew Pomeranz and two relievers combined on a two-hitter, Pablo Sandoval homered for the second consecutive game, and visiting San Francisco beat Toronto, sweeping their two-game interleague series.