Cardinals first to reach 50 victories

Wacha wins 10th against Cubs

ST. LOUIS — Michael Wacha pitched six solid innings, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Chicago Cubs 8-1 on Saturday night to become the first major league team with 50 wins.

Jason Heyward reached base four times in St. Louis’ fifth straight victory. The major league-best Cardinals (50-24) have five winning streaks of five games or more this season.

Wacha (10-3) allowed one run and six hits, bouncing back from a rough start at Philadelphia. The right-hander was tagged for five runs and eight hits against the Phillies in his worst start of the season last Sunday.

Chicago has lost four in a row after a four-game winning streak.

Cubs right-hander Donn Roach (0-1) lasted just 3⅓ innings. He gave up four runs and eight hits while subbing for Tsuyoshi Wada, who has a sore elbow.

St. Louis improved to a major league-best 28-7 at home with its eighth consecutive win at Busch Stadium.

The Cardinals scored four runs in the fourth and fifth. Heyward singled and scored on Yadier Molina’s double in the fourth, and walked and scored on Randal Grichuk’s double in the fifth.

Kolten Wong, Matt Carpenter and Xavier Scruggs each drove in two runs as St. Louis reached 50 victories before July for the first time. Scruggs, who had three hits, gave the Cardinals the lead for good with a runscoring single in the fourth. Carpenter capped the inning with a two-run single.

Wong’s two-run double was the key hit in the fifth inning.

Roach drove in Starlin Castro with a single in the second.

Cardinals right-hander Carlos Martinez (8-3, 2.89 ERA) will start against Cubs righthander Jason Hammel (5-2, 2.65 ERA) in the finale of the threegame series tonight. The Cardinals are 11-3 in games started by Martinez this season.

St. Louis left-hander Jaime Garcia, who suffered a groin cramp running the bases in his last start, will not take his scheduled turn Tuesday, the team said. He skipped a bullpen session Saturday and could return to the rotation as early as Wednesday. Right-hander Lance Lynn (5-4, 2.84 ERA) will start Tuesday.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Marlins 3, Dodgers 2 at Miami: Tom Koehler pitched seven innings, and the Marlins beat Clayton Kershaw and Los Angeles.

Christian Yelich tied a career high with four hits for the Marlins, who snapped a five-game losing streak. Koehler (6-4) allowed two runs and six hits.

Kershaw (5-6) allowed three runs, one earned, and seven hits in seven innings. The left-hander struck out nine and walked none.

“You really can’t ask Clayton to pitch a whole lot better,” Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. “He gives up one earned run and goes seven innings. We weren’t able to put any runs on the board to overcome our mistakes.”

Miami scored each of its runs without an RBI. Dodgers outfielders Andre Ethier and Joc Pederson each committed a run-scoring error, and a wild pitch by Kershaw allowed another run in.

Pirates 8, Braves 4 at Pittsburgh: Pirates star Andrew McCutchen was hit in the left elbow by a pitch and exited during a five-run first inning as Pittsburgh sent Atlanta to its fifth straight loss.

McCutchen was hit by a fastball from Julio Teheran (5-4). Xrays were negative and the 2013 NL MVP will be re-evaluated today.

Starling Marte got three hits and scored three times for the Pirates.

Giants 7, Rockies 5 at San Francisco: Buster Posey drove in two runs, and Andrew Susac had a three-run double in the seventh to rally the Giants. Matt Duffy added three hits, including a home run, for the Giants, who won three games in a homestand for the first time since sweeping the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 19-21.

Reds-Mets suspended: Matt Harvey stayed steady in the rain and Curtis Granderson homered again for New York before its game against visiting Cincinnati was suspended after six innings with the score 1-1. The game will resume at 12:10 p.m. CDT today in the top of the seventh before the teams play their previously scheduled series finale.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Yankees 9, Astros 6 at Houston: Brian McCann hit a grand slam and Chris Young homered Cardinals second baseman Kolten Wong celebrates his two-run groundrule double during the fifth inning Saturday against the Cubs in St. Louis. The Cardinals beat Chicago for their 50th victory of the season. to give New York an early lead, and Mark Teixeira had a tiebreaking two-run double in the eighth after the Yankees squandered that cushion.

McCann’s slam came in the first. A two-run shot by Young, a Houston native, extended his hitting streak to a career-high 10 games in the second off Houston starter Brett Oberholtzer and put the Yankees ahead

Angels 4, Mariners 2 at Anaheim, Calif.: Garrett Richards (8-5) pitched into the eighth, and Kole Calhoun hit a two-run homer for Los Angeles.

Seattle star Robinson Cano was hit in the head by a stray ball while the Angels were warming up in between innings and exited early. Cano had a sizable welt near his left temple after being struck in the dugout when an errant throw got past Angels first baseman Albert Pujols before the seventh. The Mariners’ medical staff checked the second baseman for a concussion and cleared him.

“It hurts more when you don’t expect it,” Cano said. “Hopefully, everything goes well through the night and I feel good enough to play.”

Richards allowed two runs and seven hits in 7⅔ innings, striking out six.

Royals 3, Athletics 2 at Oakland, Calif.: Chris Young bounced back from his worst start of the season to pitch six innings for Kansas City.

Kendrys Morales hit a tworun single in the sixth off Scott Kazmir (4-5) that erased a 2-1 deficit.

Young (7-3) allowed four hits and two runs, walked one and struck out four. In Young’s previous start, against Boston, he gave up seven runs in 4⅔ innings.

Rangers 4, Blue Jays 0 at Toronto: Yovani Gallardo (7-6) extended his scoreless streak to a career-high 23 innings by pitching into the ninth and giving up three hits as Texas snapped a season-worst six-game skid. Mitch Moreland, Robinson Chirinos and Rougned Odor hit solo home runs for the Rangers.

Rays 4, Red Sox 1 at St. Petersburg, Fla.: Matt Andriese and three relievers combined on a three-hitter, and Jake Elmore hit a two-run homer for Tampa Bay. Andriese (3-2) retired his first 11 batters before allowing his lone baserunner on a two-out single in the fourth by Xander Bogaerts. The rookie struck out five in a career-high six innings.

INTERLEAGUE

Twins 5, Brewers 2 at Milwaukee: Torii Hunter hit two home runs and Eduardo Escobar had a three-run shot to lead Minnesota. Kyle Gibson (5-6) allowed two runs and six hits in 6⅔ innings. Casey Fien pitched the eighth and Glenn Perkins picked up his 24th save in as many chances with a perfect ninth.