ST. LOUIS — Carlos Beltran hit his National League-leading 14th home run and the Cardinals beat up on former St. Louis postseason star Jeff Suppan for a 6-3 victory over the San Diego Padres on Wednesday night and a three-game sweep.
Rookie Lance Lynn (7-1) tied the Phillies’ Cole Hamels for the major league victory lead.
David Freese broke a 3-for-34 slump with a home run and RBI single as the Cardinals had more than enough offense without injured starters Lance Berkman, Jon Jay and Allen Craig.
Will Venable hit his sixth career leadoff home run, doubled and singled for the Padres.
San Diego was held to three or fewer runs for the seventh consecutive game and fell to a major league worst 4-13 on the road.
Suppan (2-3) labored for 97 pitches in 4 2/3 innings, giving up five runs in his fifth start for San Diego.
ASTROS 5, CUBS 1 J.D. Martinez had three hits and three RBI to lead host Houston to a victory over the Cubs to complete a threegame sweep and give Chicago its longest losing streak in more than a decade. The Cubs have lost nine consecutive for the first time since dropping the same number of games from May 8-18, 2002.
ROCKIES 8, MARLINS 4 Troy Tulowitzki homered and drove in four runs to help Alex White (1-3) earn his first victory this year, and visiting Colorado ended a six-game losing streak by beating Miami.
PHILLIES 4, NATIONALS 1 Cole Hamels pitched eight scoreless innings, finishing up by retiring Bryce Harper on a grounder as host Philadelphia ended a season-long four-game losing streak with a victory over Washington. Hamels (7-1) didn’t allow a hit until Danny Espinosa doubled with one out in the sixth.
REDS 2, BRAVES 1 Todd Frazier hit a one out home run in the ninth inning, extending host Cincinnati’s best surge of the season with a victory over Atlanta. The Reds won their fifth in a row, leaving them five games over .500 (24-19) for thefirst time this season. Aroldis Chapman (4-0) kept his ERA perfect by striking out two of the three he faced in the ninth.
BREWERS 8, GIANTS 5 Aramis Ramirez hit a three-run double in the first inning, Jonathan Lucroy added a two-run home run in the second as host Milwaukee built an eight-run lead, and the Brewers rocked Barry Zito again at Miller Park in a victory over San Francisco.
METS 3, PIRATES 1 Jonathon Niese allowed one run in 7 2/3 innings, helping visiting New York beat Pittsburgh. Niese (3-2) gave up 5 hits, struck out 5 and walked 2, five days after matching his career high by allowing eight runs in a 14-5 loss at Toronto.
American League INDIANS 4, TIGERS 2 Jason Kipnis had three hits and scored the go-ahead run in the eighth inning as host Cleveland beat Detroit.
MARINERS 5, RANGERS 3 Alex Liddi hit the first grand slam of his career, Kevin Millwood threw six shutout innings and host Seattle defeated Texas. Millwood (3-4) was brilliant for a third consecutive start. Coming off a two-hitter at Colorado, Millwood gave up three hits in six innings.
WHITE SOX 6, TWINS 0 Chris Sale pitched seven sharp innings and Paul Konerko and Alex Rios backed him with home runs, leading host Chicago to a victory over Minnesota. Sale (5-2) held the Twins to 2 hits and 2 walks, striking out 6.
YANKEES 8, ROYALS 3 Alex Rodriguez gave Will Smith a rude welcome to the major leagues, hitting two home runs off the rookie to back another strong start for Andy Pettitte and lead host New York over Kansas City.
ANGELS 3, ATHLETICS 1 Alberto Callaspo hit a go-ahead two-run double in the 11th inning, and visiting Los Angeles beat Oakland. Kendrys Morales drew a one-out walk in the 11th against Justin Norberto (0-1) and was lifted for pinch-runner Peter Bourjos, who moved to third on Howie Kendrick’s two-out single. Callaspo then drove them both home with a double to left.
RAYS 5, BLUE JAYS 4 B.J. Upton hit an RBI double in the 11th inning and host Tampa Bay beat Toronto.
RED SOX 6, ORIOLES 5 Daniel Nava and Kelly Shoppach hit sixth-inning home runs to turn a tie game in Boston’s favor, and the Red Sox withstood two home runs by Nick Johnson in a victory over host Baltimore.
Wednesday’s results NATIONAL LEAGUE NY Mets 3, Pittsburgh 1 Milwaukee 8, San Francisco 5 Philadelphia 4, Washington 1 Cincinnati 2, Atlanta 1 Colorado 8, Miami 4 Houston 5, Chicago Cubs 1 St. Louis 6, San Diego 3 LA Dodgers at Arizona, (n) AMERICAN LEAGUE Boston 6, Baltimore 5 Tampa Bay 5, Toronto 4 (11) LA Angels 3, Oakland 1, (11) Seattle 5, Texas 3 Cleveland 4, Detroit 2 NY Yankees 8, Kansas City 3 Chicago White Sox 6, Minnesota 0
Sports, Pages 22 on 05/24/2012