MIAMI -- Aledmys Diaz homered, doubled and drove in three runs against childhood pal Jose Fernandez, helping the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Miami Marlins 5-4 on Thursday.
Fernandez gave up five runs in five innings and fell to 26-2 at Marlins Park.
Miami's Dee Gordon, the 2015 National League batting and stolen bases champion, returned from an 80-game suspension for failing a drug test and went 0 for 4. Ichiro Suzuki doubled as a pinch hitter in the seventh for Miami and needs two hits for 3,000.
Diaz and Matt Holliday homered in the third inning against Fernandez (12-5), who had never given up more than one home run in a home game. His only other loss at Marlins Park came on opening day this year against Detroit.
Michael Wacha (6-7) allowed three runs in six innings, and three relievers completed an eight-hitter. Seung Hwan Oh pitched around a one-out single in the ninth for his seventh save.
Diaz and Fernandez were neighbors growing up in Santa Clara, Cuba, and the Cardinals enjoyed their reunion. Fernandez walked Jeremy Hazelbaker to start the third inning, and Diaz followed with his 14th home run.
Two batters later, Holliday hit his 18th home run just inside the right-field foul pole, prompting a rueful grin from Fernandez. The outing was his shortest since May 4.
The Cardinals homered in 17 consecutive games before being blanked in that department Wednesday.
Hazelbaker tripled and Diaz drove in a run with a double, his 25th, in the Cardinals' two-run fifth.
The umpires took a Cardinals run off the board in the second inning.
With runners at second and third and two outs, Fernandez was about to intentionally walk No. 8 hitter Kolten Wong when third base umpire D.J. Reyburn called a balk. Fernandez protested, and after the umpiring crew conferred, second base umpire Bill Welke waved off the balk.
After the intentional walk, Wacha struck out to end the inning and keep the game scoreless.
ROCKIES 2, METS 1 New York closer Jeurys Familia stumbled for a second consecutive game, allowing two runs in the ninth inning as visiting Colorado won for the seventh time in eight games.
BREWERS 6, DIAMONDBACKS 4 Hernan Perez hit a two-run home run, singled and scored the go-ahead run in the sixth, Zach Davies pitched 61/3 innings and host Milwaukee beat Arizona. Perez, who started at shortstop for benched Jonathan Villar, crushed Robbie Ray's first pitch 458 feet off the face of the scoreboard in deep center for the two-run home run in the third.
PHILLIES 7, BRAVES 5 Aaron Altherr and Maikel Franco homered, Aaron Nola won for the first time in eight starts and visiting Philadelphia beat Atlanta. Altherr returned to the lineup after missing the first 103 games of the season with a broken left wrist. He went 3 for 4 with two RBI.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
RANGERS 3, ROYALS 2 Mitch Moreland's second home run of the game broke a tie in the eighth inning and Cole Hamels earned his 12th victory of the season as host Texas beat Kansas City. Hamels (12-2) allowed 2 runs and 6 hits in 8 innings, matching his longest start of the season.
TWINS 6, ORIOLES 2 Rookie Max Kepler continued his midseason surge with a game-tying home run among two hits and two RBI as Minnesota rallied to beat visiting Baltimore. Kepler hit his 11th home run off reliever Odrisamer Despaigne (0-2) leading off the sixth inning to tie the game 2-2.
INTERLEAGUE
CUBS 3, WHITE SOX 1 Chris Sale returned from his jersey-trashing suspension and threw six effective innings, but John Lackey outpitched him and Aroldis Chapman got the final four outs to save the host Cubs' victory over the White Sox in Chicago's rivalry series. Lackey (8-7) allowed one run in six innings for his first victory since June 8. Chapman, in his second appearance since being acquired from the Yankees, struck out two and consistently hit 102 mph in his first save for his new team.
Sports on 07/29/2016