KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Unbeaten Michael Wacha won for the seventh consecutive time this year and the St. Louis Cardinals ended their season-worst three-game losing streak by beating the Kansas City Royals 6-1 on Sunday.
Wacha held the majors' best-hitting team to one unearned run and five singles in seven innings. He exited with a 1.87 ERA and became the first Cardinals pitcher to start 7-0 since Matt Morris began 8-0 in 2005.
"I missed on a couple of fastballs in," Wacha said. "I didn't want to go 3-0 on him. I just had to try to paint the inside corner and luckily got it in there enough and [Randal] Grichuk made a good play on it."
Matt Carpenter hit a two-run home run in the sixth off Yordano Ventura (3-4).
Down 4-1, the Royals loaded the bases with two outs in the sixth, but Alex Gordon flied out.
Ventura started off shaky, walking the first two hitters on 10 pitches and both scored. Jhonny Peralta hit an RBI single and Matt Adams doubled home a run.
"The first two hitters, he was just missing," Royals Manager Ned Yost said. "There were some pitches that I thought could have gone either way that resulted in walks. He kind of got it dialed back in a little bit, then [gave up] the checked-swing single to Peralta and then a first-pitch fastball to Adams for a double. He did a good job of limiting the damage at that point."
Ventura, who threw 30 pitches in the first, settled down after that and didn't allow another hit until the sixth.
Yadier Molina drove in two runs with a two-out single in the eighth. Adams doubled twice.
Salvador Perez extended his hitting streak to 10 games and singled home a run for the Royals.
MARLINS 5, ORIOLES 2 Martin Prado hit a home run to cap a 12-pitch at-bat and drove in two runs, helping host Miami beat Baltimore for its first series victory since May 3. Baltimore left-hander Brian Matusz pitched two scoreless innings, a day after he was ejected for having a sticky substance on his non-throwing arm.
INDIANS 5, REDS 2 Trevor Bauer pitched into the eighth inning and host Cleveland extended its winning streak to six games over slumping Cincinnati. Cincinnati has dropped eight in a row, its longest losing streak since 2009. The Reds have been outscored 54-19 during the streak that has dropped them to a season-worst seven games under .500 at 18-25.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
ASTROS 10, TIGERS 8 Evan Gattis and Preston Tucker hit a home run in the sixth inning and visiting Houston slugged its way to another victory, rallying past Detroit. The Astros trailed 7-3 before scoring four runs in the sixth, including Tucker's three-run shot as a pinch hitter that tied the game.
RED SOX 6, ANGELS 1 Mike Napoli hit his fourth home run of the series and drove in four runs, Wade Miley allowed one run in eight innings and host Boston beat Los Angeles.
BLUE JAYS 8, MARINERS 2 Edwin Encarnacion and Ryan Goins hit a home run, Aaron Sanchez won for the first time in three starts and host Toronto beat Seattle, avoiding a three-game sweep.
ATHLETICS 7, RAYS 2 Sonny Gray limited Tampa Bay to four hits in five scoreless innings before leaving with a bruised right ankle and visiting Oakland beat the Rays. Gray (5-2) was hit on the lower leg by James Loney's grounder in the fourth, but stayed in for a while longer. He had lost his previous two starts.
TWINS 8, WHITE SOX 1 Brian Dozier hit two home runs and drove in four runs in visiting Minnesota's victory over Chicago. Dozier hit a solo shot off Jose Quintana (2-5) in the first inning and a three-run blast off Scott Carroll in the seventh for his second career multi-home run game. Kyle Gibson (4-3) struck out eight, tying a career high, and allowed a run and four hits in eight innings.
RANGERS 5, YANKEES 2 Adam Rosales hit a two-run home run off Chris Capuano that bounced off the top of the left-field wall, Yovani Gallardo won for the second time since mid-April and visiting Texas beat New York.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
PIRATES 9, METS 1 Francisco Liriano kept up host Pittsburgh's run on strikeouts, fanning 12 as the Pirates beat New York for a three-game sweep. After Gerrit Cole fanned 10 in the opener and A.J. Burnett struck out 10 more Saturday, Liriano (2-4) topped them in only six innings. Liriano gave up one run and six hits.
NATIONALS 4, PHILLIES 1 Bryce Harper drove in two runs, Gio Gonzalez outpitched Aaron Harang and host Washington beat Philadelphia for its eighth consecutive series victory. Harper gave the Nationals a 2-1 lead with a run-scoring groundout in the fifth inning and added an RBI single in the seventh. In addition to moving into the NL lead with 41 RBIs, he also increased his league-leading totals in walks (39) and runs (39). The 22-year-old Harper also threw out a runner from right field on a force play at second base.
BRAVES 2, BREWERS 1 Rookie Mike Foltynewicz pitched three-hit ball for 7 2-3 innings, leading host Atlanta past Milwaukee. Foltynewicz (3-1) allowed one run in his longest start in the majors. He struck out seven.
Sports on 05/25/2015