ST. LOUIS — Brian Roberts hit a tie-breaking single in a three-run 12th inning after Brett Gardner’s leaping catch at the left-field fence helped save the New York Yankees in a 6-4 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday.
Pinch-hitter Alfonso Soriano and Brendan Ryan each added an RBI for the Yankees, who took the opener of a three-game interleague series for their third consecutive victory. Alfredo Aceves (1-2) worked two scoreless innings and David Robertson earned his 11th save in 12 chances.
Jon Jay had an RBI double in the 12th for the Cardinals, who lost for the third time in 12 games.
A standing-room crowd of 47,311, the third-largest at 9-year-old Busch Stadium, showed up to see an opponent making only its second appearance in St. Louis since losing to the Cardinals in the 1964 World Series.
The enthusiasm did not appear to be dampened by a 61-minute weather delay, the threat of rain that did not materialize, before the first pitch.
Cardinals pitchers retired 20 of 21 batters before the 12th, when Randy Choate (0-2) faced five batters and four reached safely.
Jacoby Ellsbury got the rally started when he walked to lead off the inning and stole second, a call upheld after Cardinals Manager Mike Matheny challenged. The Yankees loaded the bases on a hit batter and an intentional walk before Roberts’ go-ahead hit.
Yadier Molina slammed his helmet in frustration after Gardner came down with his drive at the top of the fence with a runner on and one out in the 11th.
Derek Jeter got a standing ovation before his first at-bat, and thousands stood again when he singled, although they also roared when he took a called third strike to end the eighth against Carlos Martinez after Molina’s throw on Gardner attempting to steal.
Michael Wacha dealt with a rain delay for the fourth time in his 11 starts — total idle time of 4 hours, 52 minutes. After nine pitches the Yankees had the lead, with a walk by Gardner and a single by Jeter setting up Ellsbury’s RBI single.
The first three batters reached in a two-run fifth, too, with Kelly Johnson’s RBI single and Gardner’s sacrifice fly putting the Yankees up 3-1.
New York rookie starter Chase Whitley was vulnerable early, too. The Cardinals needed two at-bats to tie it in the first when Matt Carpenter tripled off the right-field wall and Kolten Wong doubled, but they missed a chance for more when Wong overslid third and was caught stealing for the first time in eight attempts this season.
RED SOX 8, BRAVES 6 David Ortiz homered and drove in four runs as visiting Boston ended its 10-game losing streak, rallying from a fiverun deficit to defeat Atlanta. The defending World Series champions trailed 6-1 after the fourth inning of the interleague matchup, with starter Clay Buchholz walking a career-high eight in only three-plus innings. But Ortiz tied it by hitting a three-run home run off Ervin Santana in the fifth, then gave Boston the lead with a bases-loaded sacrifice fly off Ian Thomas (1-2) in the seventh. ORIOLES 7, BREWERS 6 (10) Jonathan Schoop hit two home runs and newly acquired Nick Hundley singled in the go-ahead run in the 10th inning to lift visiting Baltimore to victory over Milwaukee. Down 6-4 with two outs in the ninth, the Orioles rallied off Milwaukee closer Francisco Rodriguez. Schoop’s second home run cut it to 6-5. After pinch-hitter Delmon Young singled, Nick Markakis hit a game-tying double. With two outs in the 10th, J.J. Hardy doubled off Rob Wooten (1-2) and scored on Hundley’s single.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
CUBS 8, GIANTS 4 Jeff Samardzija struck out a season-high 10 for his first victory since last August, snapping a 16-start winless streak for visiting Chicago. Samardzija (1-4) allowed six hits and walked none in seven-plus innings. PIRATES 5, METS 3 Gaby Sanchez tagged host New York again, hitting a tie-breaking single in the ninth inning and a pinch-hit home run in the eighth that sparked Pittsburgh’s come-frombehind victory.
MARLINS 3, NATIONALS 2 Giancarlo Stanton hit his NL-leading 15th home run and also doubled and singled to lead Miami over host Washington.
PHILLIES 9, ROCKIES 0 Ryan Howard had five RBI and Kyle Kendrick pitched into the seventh inning to snap his 10-game losing streak for host Philadelphia.
DODGERS 4, REDS 3 Hyun-Jin Ryu took a perfect game into the eighth inning — one day after teammate Josh Beckett threw a no-hitter — and host Los Angeles held on to beat Cincinnati. The Reds hit only three balls out of the infield before Todd Frazier’s leadoff double down the left-field line on an 0-1 pitch in the eighth. That followed a three-run seventh by the Dodgers in which Ryu scored. DIAMONDBACKS 7, PADRES 5 A.J. Pollock hit a two-out, two-run home run on the first pitch he saw in the ninth inning to give host Arizona a victory over San Diego.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
ATHLETICS 10, TIGERS 0 Kyle Blanks homered, Derek Norris capped host Oakland’s five-home run day with a grand slam and the Athletics ended a season-long four-game losing streak by routing Detroit.
MARINERS 5, ANGELS 1 Chris Young pitched shutout ball until Albert Pujols homered in the seventh inning, Robinson Cano had three hits and two RBI to raise his average to .332, and host Seattle beat Los Angeles.
WHITE SOX 6, INDIANS 2 Conor Gillaspie hit three doubles while going 4 for 4, Dayan Viciedo had a three-run home run and host Chicago beat Cleveland.
RANGERS 7, TWINS 2 Nick Tepesch won his second consecutive start, Elvis Andrus and Chris Gimenez each had two RBI as visiting Texas downed Minnesota.
BLUE JAYS 10, RAYS 5 Edwin Encarnacion, Dioner Navarro and Steve Tolleson each hit home runs and host Toronto won its seventh consecutive game, beating Tampa Bay.
ASTROS 9, ROYALS 2 George Springer went 4 for 4 with a home run, 2 doubles and 3 RBI in visiting Houston’s rout of Kansas City.
Monday’s games
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Pittsburgh 5, NY Mets 3 Miami 3, Washington 2 Chicago Cubs 8, San Francisco 4 Philadelphia 9, Colorado 0 L.A. Dodgers 4, Cincinnati 3 Arizona 7, San Diego 5
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Chicago White Sox 6, Cleveland 2 Texas 7, Minnesota 2 Oakland 10, Detroit 0 Seattle 5, LA Angels 1 Toronto 10, Tampa Bay 5 Houston 9, Kansas City 2
INTERLEAGUE
NY Yankees 6, St. Louis 4 (12) Boston 8, Atlanta 6 Baltimore 7, Milwaukee 6 (10)