Wainwright pinch hit lifts Cards in 12
PITTSBURGH — Pitcher Adam Wainwright, pinchhitting because the Cardinals were out of position players, hit a two-run, two-out double to spark a six-run 12th inning as St. Louis beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 9-3 on Friday night.
Wainwright batted for reliever Jonathan Broxton after Matt Carpenter drew a two-out walk from Juan Nicasio and Pirates manager Clint Hurdle decided to intentionally walk Aledmys Diaz to bring up Broxton’s spot in the order. Wainwright followed with a drive to the gap in left-center to score both runners. He is hitting .261 this season, going 6 for 23 with four doubles, one triple and one home run.
The Cardinals added four more runs in the inning. Matt Adams hit an RBI double to extend his hitting streak to 10 games and scored on Jhonny Peralta’s single before Brandon Moss’ two-run homer, his 14th, capped the outburst.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Nationals 9, Phillies 6 at Washington: Stephen Strasburg struck out 10 and won his 13th straight decision despite a rocky beginning, and Washington rallied from a four-run deficit to beat Philadelphia.
The Nationals scored in five straight innings after trailing 4-0 in the third. Wilson Ramos, Stephen Drew and Danny Espinosa homered off Jeremy Hellickson (44).The Phillies have lost 11 of 14.
Braves 5, Cubs 1 at Atlanta: Bud Norris pitched seven strong innings, Adonis Garcia and Tyler Flowers hit home runs and Atlanta beat Jason Hammel and Chicago. Norris (2-7) allowed one run on four hits and no walks with six strikeouts.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
White Sox 7, Royals 5 at Chicago: Alex Avila hit two of Chicago’s seasonhigh four home runs and the struggling White Sox beat Kansas City to give a shaky Chris Sale his major league-leading 10th win and the Royals their eight straight loss.
Blue Jays 4, Orioles 3 (10) at Toronto: Edwin Encarnacion hit a game-ending home run in the 10th inning and Toronto beat Baltimore, snapping the Orioles’ winning streak at five.
Encarnacion hit an opposite-field shot off Brad Brach (5-1) to begin the 10th and end an 0-for-19 slump.
Red Sox 8, Twins 1 at Minneapolis: Xander Bogaerts matched a career high with four hits, including a three-run home run, and Steven Wright pitched into the eighth inning as Boston topped Minnesota.
Rays 4, Astros 3 at St. Petersburg, Fla.: Steve Pearce continued a hot stretch with three hits and two RBIs, helping Tampa Bay over Houston. Pearce had a two-run double in the first inning, and Logan Forsythe and Brad Miller drove in runs with twoout hits off Lance McCullers (3-2) in the second to give Matt Andriese (5-0) an early four-run lead.
Yankees 4, Tigers 0 at New York: CC Sabathia kept up his recent resurgence with seven sharp innings, Brett Gardner sparked another scoring burst, and New York beat Detroit for their fifth straight win.
The Yankees (31-30) moved over .500 for the first time since they were 4-3.
INTERLEAGUE
Reds 2, Athletics 1 at Cincinnati: Adam Duvall doubled home the tying run in the seventh and scored on Sonny Gray’s second wild pitch of the inning, rallying Cincinnati to its first interleague victory of the season over Oakland.