CARDINALS 4, ROYALS 3
ST. LOUIS -- John Lackey wore a Cardinals 1985 World Series T-shirt as a 6-year-old growing up in Abilene, Texas, courtesy of an aunt then living in St. Louis.
The right-hander, 36, was a Rangers fan back then, but had no trouble adding the Cardinals to his short list of favorites. No doubt, he enjoyed beating the Kansas City Royals wearing a throwback uniform the teams wore in the I-70 Series.
"I have a picture of me in a World Series '85 T-shirt," Lackey said after the Cardinals won 4-3 Thursday night. "I'm kind of an old-school guy.
"I like the old uniforms -- they're sweet. They're a little bit hotter than the ones we have now, that's about the only thing."
Lackey threw seven strong innings after a shaky beginning and Trevor Rosenthal escaped his own jam in the ninth as the Cardinals won in the makeup of a rainout last month. Randal Grichuk and Matt Carpenter hit two-run home runs.
"You try to stay out of those situations," Rosenthal said after pitching for the third consecutive day. "When we don't think too far ahead, I think that's when we all have our best stuff."
As in the originally scheduled game, St. Louis and Kansas City led their leagues in victories and Lackey (9-5) and Chris Young (8-6) were the scheduled starters.
Rosenthal took over to begin the ninth with a 4-2 lead. Alex Rios led off with a single and Omar Infante followed with a triple.
The Royals went on to put runners on second and third with no outs and twice baserunners were allowed to take second without a throw before Rosenthal held on for his 30th save in 32 chances. Mike Moustakas grounded out to end it.
"That's a controversial philosophy," Manager Mike Matheny said. "Mine was I wanted to win it with my closer right now."
Royals Manager Ned Yost couldn't deny his surprise.
"Anytime you're going to let the winning run waltz to second base ..." Yost said. "They've got a lot of confidence in their closer. It shows you how good he is."
The paid attendance of 46,003 was the 24th sellout for St. Louis, which took the season series 4-2, but there were several thousand no-shows for the opener of an elongated 11-game homestand.
Salvador Perez and Alex Rios had consecutive RBI singles in the first for the Royals, but they managed just two more hits in Lackey's final six innings. He is 5-1 with a 1.75 ERA in his last 8 starts, working 7 or more innings in all but one of them.
"That's my whole career," Lackey said. "I get deep in games, that's why I'm still doing it."
Young gave up 4 runs in 3 innings, his shortest outing since he allowed 5 runs while getting just 2 outs for Seattle last Sept. 1 at Oakland.
"It just wasn't good enough. Made some bad pitches and they both got hit out of the park," Young said.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
MARINERS 3, TIGERS 2 (12) Seattle catcher Mike Zunino had an RBI double in the top of the 12th inning after entering the game in the 10th, lifting the visiting Mariners to a victory over Detroit. Chris Taylor started the 12th with a single off Ian Krol (1-3), and Zunino tried to bunt him to second. After two failed attempts, Zunino doubled down the left-field line. Yoenis Cespedes misread the bounce off the fence, allowing Taylor to score the go-ahead run.
YANKEES 9, ORIOLES 3 Jacoby Ellsbury finished a triple shy of the cycle and drove in four runs and Chase Headley hit a three-run double in the first inning as host New York completed a three-game sweep of Baltimore to bolster its spot atop the AL East. Masahiro Tanaka (7-3) won his third consecutive start, allowing three solo home runs and two doubles in 7 2/3 innings to help New York to its ninth victory in 11 games.
TWINS 3, ANGELS 0 Ervin Santana pitched eight innings of four-hit ball against his former team, and visiting Minnesota snapped its four-game skid and Los Angeles' seven-game winning streak with a victory over the Angels. Trevor Plouffe hit a three-run home run in the fourth inning for the Twins, who wrapped their six-game California road trip with bookend victories.
BLUE JAYS 5, ATHLETICS 2 Russell Martin homered, doubled and drove in three runs, Josh Donaldson went deep against his former team and Toronto powered past host Oakland. The Blue Jays continued their pop at the plate to give knuckleballer R.A. Dickey (4-10) all the support he needed. Dickey allowed 2 runs and 5 hits in 8 1/3 innings in place of ill starter Drew Hutchison.
WHITE SOX 8, INDIANS 1 Jeff Samardzija, perhaps pitching for the final time in a Chicago uniform, allowed one run in eight innings and Melky Cabrera homered from both sides of the plate, leading the visiting White Sox to a victory over Cleveland. Samardzija (7-5), who has been the subject of trade rumors with the July 31 deadline approaching, held the Indians to four hits, struck out three and didn't walk a batter.
ASTROS 5, RED SOX 4 Jose Altuve homered with one out in the bottom of the ninth, the last of his four hits, and host Houston beat Boston, extending the Red Sox's losing streak to a season-high eight games. The game was tied at 4-4 when Altuve connected off Craig Breslow (0-1) and homered into the seats in left-center. The play was reviewed and confirmed.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
DODGERS 3, METS 0 Clayton Kershaw pitched a three-hitter, retiring the first 18 batters in his second shutout of the season, as Los Angeles beat host New York. Kershaw struck out 11 and did not walk a batter. He has fanned 38 without a walk in his last three outings. Jimmy Rollins hits his ninth home run in the third inning for first-place Los Angeles and that was enough for Kershaw (8-6).
PIRATES 7, NATIONALS 3 Francisco Liriano allowed three hits over six-plus dominant innings and Pittsburgh raced by visiting Washington. Liriano (6-6) struck out 11 against three walks. Andrew McCutchen, Pedro Alvarez and Francisco Cervelli homered for Pittsburgh, and Starling Marte and Jung Ho Kang added two hits apiece for the Pirates.
Sports on 07/24/2015