ST. LOUIS - Matt Carpenter hit a two-run home run and Matt Holliday drove in two with a two-out hit to help the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Houston Astros 5-4 on Wednesday night.
Carpenter’s ninth home run of the season in the seventh gave the win to Seth Maness (5-1). Tony Cruz got hit by starter Jordan Lyles’ first pitch of the inning and one out later Carpenter put a 2-1 pitch into the right field stands off reliever Wesley Wright (0-3).
Maness gave up two hits and a run in two innings of relief. He struck out three.
Edward Mujica earned his 25th save in 26 tries. He has appeared in six consecutive games, going 1-1 with four saves.
Lyles gave up four runs and six hits in 6 1/3 innings. He struck out two and walked two. Lyles hasn’t won a game since beating Milwaukee on June 18.
Shelby Miller used 94 pitches to labor through five innings. He gave up 3 earned runs, walked 5 and struck out 5. He had a total of six full counts, coming back to strike out Jason Castro and getting Brett Wallace to ground out.
ANGELS 13, CUBS 2 Josh Hamilton hit two home runs, Albert Pujols also connected and visiting Los Angeles went deep a season-high five times in a rout of Chicago. Mark Trumbo and Brendan Harris also homered for the Angels.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
MARLINS 6, BRAVES 2 Giancarlo Stanton hit a two-run double to end a 10-game RBI drought, and host Miami broke a five-game losing streak by beating Atlanta. Stanton had been in a 3-for-26 slump before he put the Marlins ahead in their four-run first inning against Paul Maholm (9-8).
METS 7, GIANTS 2 Former Giants prospect Zack Wheeler pitched seven sharp innings, Marlon Byrd hit a home run again and New York completed its first sweep in San Francisco since 1994. The Giants have lost 16 of 19. Wheeler (3-1) took a shutout into the seventh. He allowed 1 run and 3 hits overall, striking out 5 and walking 3. Matt Cain (5-6) lasted less than an inning for the first time in his career, allowing 3 runs on 2 hits with 3 walks while getting just 2 outs.
NATIONALS 5, PHILLIES 1 Gio Gonzalez (7-3) tossed seven sharp innings, the Nationals started two consecutive innings with back-to back home runs off Cliff Lee (Benton, Arkansas Razorbacks) and Washington beat host Philadelphia. Anthony Rendon and Wilson Ramos hit home runs off Lee (10-3) to start the fifth and Ryan Zimmerman and Jayson Werth did it to open the sixth.
REDS 6, BREWERS 2 Mike Leake (8-4) scattered four hits over 8 1/3 innings and Brandon Phillips had three RBI, lifting visiting Cincinnati to a victory over Milwaukee.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
BLUE JAYS 5, INDIANS 4 Munenori Kawasaki hit a two-run single with the bases loaded in the ninth inning and visiting Toronto beat Cleveland.Kawasaki, who broke an 0-for-18 slump, lined a 1-2 pitch from Joe Smith into left-center field to score two runs. A third run scored when center fielder Michael Bourn booted the ball for an error.
ORIOLES 6, RANGERS 1 Wei-Yin Chen (4-3) returned from the disabled list to allow three hits over seven innings, and host Baltimore got a three-run home run from Nolan Reimold in a victory over Texas. Manny Machado had three hits and an RBI for the Orioles.
TIGERS 8, WHITE SOX 5 Prince Fielder hit a home run, Rick Porcello (6-6) pitched six solid innings and host Detroit defeated Chicago. Fielder lined a two-run shot to right field in the first inning for his 16th home run of the year.
YANKEES 8, ROYALS 1 Robinson Cano hit a three-run home run, Lyle Overbay added a grand slam and host New York snapped out of their offensive funk with a victory over Kansas City.
RAYS 4, TWINS 3 (13) Ben Zobrist hit an RBI single with two outs in the 13th inning and host Tampa Bay won its season-best seventh consecutive game, beating Minnesota on Wednesday night. Zobrist lined a 1-2 pitch from Ryan Pressly (2-1) into the gap in right-center field, ending a 4-hour, 47-minute game that featured 35 strikeouts, including 19 for Rays pitchers.
Wednesday’s games
NATIONAL LEAGUE Miami 6, Atlanta 2 Cincinnati 6, Milwaukee 2 NY Mets 7, San Francisco 2 Washington 5, Philadelphia 1 LA Dodgers at Arizona, (n) Colorado at San Diego, (n)
AMERICAN LEAGUE NY Yankees 8, Kansas City 1 Baltimore 6, Texas 1 Toronto 5, Cleveland 4 Detroit 8, Chicago White Sox 5 Tampa Bay 4, Minnesota 3 (13) Boston at Seattle, (n)
INTERLEAGUE LA Angels 13, Chicago Cubs 2 St. Louis 5, Houston 4 Oakland at Pittsburgh, (n)
Sports, Pages 18 on 07/11/2013