ST. LOUIS — Jeff Keppinger hit a tiebreaking home run with two out in the ninth inning and the Houston Astros rallied to beat the St. Louis Cardinals 4-3 on Thursday, avoiding a three-game sweep.
Jose Valverde (2-2) pitched two scoreless innings for the Astros, who won for only the fifth time in their past 19 road games. They avoided a second three-game sweep in St. Louis this season.
Matt Holliday hit a home run for the National League Central-leading Cardinals, who lost for only the fourth time in 19 games. St. Louis had won four consecutive overall.
The Astros tied it on Darin Erstad's RBI double off Kyle McClellan (4-3) in the eighth, spoiling Chris Carpenter'sbid for his 15th victory. Keppinger's fourth home run and first in 116 atbats since June 19 at Minnesota barely cleared the left-field wall. Holliday made a try for it but the ball appeared to sneak under Holliday's outstretched glove.
Ryan Ludwick's two-run single off Brian Moehler in the sixth, only his third hit in 17 at-bats against the righthander, put the Cardinals ahead 3-2. Holliday's 18th home run came in the second and was his seventh in 31 games with St. Louis.
Rescued by Erstad's hit, Moehler remained 5-0 against the Cardinals over 10 starts. He's one of only five pitchers and the only active one with 60 or more innings and no losses against St. Louis.
NATIONALS 5, CUBS 4
Ryan Zimmerman hit a two-run home run and Adam Dunn hit a home run as Washington handed host Chicago its seventh loss in 10 games. Aramis Ramirez hit a two-run home runand two singles and drove in three runs for the Cubs. Nationals catcher Josh Bard prevented a game-tying seventh-inning run with a superb defensive play. The Cubs, who were down 5-0 early, pulled within a run in the seventh on Ramirez's RBI single. With Ramirez at first and Derrek Lee on third, reliever Sean Burnett's 2-2 pitch to Kosuke Fukudome bounced in front ofhome. Bard got a piece of the ball, which deflected about 15 feet away. Bard scrambled, grabbed the ball and flipped it to Burnett, who tagged Lee on the hand inches from home plate. Ramirez hit a two-run home run in the third and the Cubs closed to 5-3 on Lee's home run in the fifth.
PIRATES 3, PHILLIES 2
Rookie Garrett Jones hit a two-run home run in the eighth against J.A. Happ (10-3) and rookie Andrew McCutchen also hit a home run as last-place Pittsburgh beat NL East-leading Philadelphia for the second time in the past three games. Happ lost for the first time in four decisions. After pinch hitter Ronny Cedeno singled to start the eighth, Happ got the next two batters on fly balls. But Jones, who leads NL rookies with 15 home runs, drove a 1-1 pitch over the center-field wall.
REDS 8, BREWERS 5
Justin Lehr (3-1) struck out a career-high seven over 7 2 /3 innings and drew a key walk in Cincinnati's five-run fifth against host Milwaukee. He pitched for Milwaukee from 2005-2006.
DODGERS 3, ROCKIES 2
Vicente Padilla, who signed with Los Angeles on Aug. 19 after being released by the Texas Rangers, allowed 2 runs, 6 hits and 1 walk and struck out 4 in 5 innings against host Colorado. Rafael Furcal hit the tie-breaking RBI single in the sixth.
BRAVES 9, PADRES 1
Javier Vazquez (11-9) pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing five hits with no walks, as host Atlanta beat San Diego.
METS 10, MARLINS 3
Tim Redding (2-4) pitched 6 2 /3 innings as New York ended a five-game skid, beating host Florida. Redding allowed three runs - all on leadoff home runs - and five hits.
American League RANGERS 7, YANKEES 2 Ian Kinsler hit two home runs, including a three-run shot, giving him a career-high 28, and Chris Davis hit a three-run home as Texas beat host New York. A.J. Burnett (10-8) lost despite striking out a season-high 12 in six innings. Burnett (North Little Rock, Central Arkansas Christian) is 0-4 in six starts this month.
WHITE SOX 9, RED SOX 5 Jayson Nix drove in three runs as Chicago beat host Boston. John Danks (12-8) allowed 2 runs and 6 hits in 6 innings to improve to 3-0 in his past 4 starts and 5-1 in his past 8 outings on the road.
INDIANS 5, ORIOLES 4 Andy Marte hit a two-run home run on a 3-2 pitch from Jim Johnson (3-5) after Matt LaPorta singled with two outs in the ninth as Cleveland beat host Baltimore.
Thursday's games NATIONAL LEAGUE NY Mets 10, Florida 3 Cincinnati 8, Milwaukee 5 Houston 4, St. Louis 3 Washington 5, Chicago Cubs 4 LA Dodgers 3, Colorado 2 Pittsburgh 3, Philadelphia 2 Atlanta 9, San Diego 1 Arizona at San Francisco, (n) AMERICAN LEAGUE Texas 7, NY Yankees 2 Cleveland 5, Baltimore 4 Chicago White Sox 9, Boston 5 Kansas City at Seattle, (n) Oakland at LA Angels, (n)
Sports, Pages 24 on 08/28/2009