MLB roundup: Cardinals zap Nationals
Matt Adams might want to have his father’s visit last longer.
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Matt Adams might want to have his father’s visit last longer.
Adams homered for the third straight game — all with his father in attendance — and Matt Holliday also went deep, helping the St. Louis Cardinals to a 5-2 victory and series sweep Sunday over the Washington Nationals.
Adams gave St. Louis a 2-0 lead in the second inning with a two-run shot on an 0-2 pitch, his sixth homer of the season. Adams’ father, Jamie, has been visiting from Pennsylvania on Father’s Day weekend.
“Unfortunately, he’s going to go home,” Adams said.
There were going to meet before Adams’ father left for the airport.
“He might give me a big hug and start crying,” Adams said. “He’s an emotional guy.”
Adams has homered in all three games since coming off the disabled list with a torn calf muscle.
Holliday put St. Louis up 3-0 in the third with his fifth home run.
St. Louis manager Mike Matheny never doubted his sluggers would start to hit the long ball after a slow start. The Cardinals are last in the National League in homers.
“We’ve been saying for months now these guys have done that,” Matheny said. “It’s not a surprise. It’s not like these guys have never hit any home runs in their lives. I think that everybody just thought that we were either brainwashing them not to hit home runs or else they all lost it collectively and both of them are ridiculous.”
Last year, Adams had 17 homers in 108 games and Holliday had 22 in 141 games.
“We knew that our power didn’t go anywhere,” Adams said. “We knew the type of hitters we are. We go out there on daily basis and grind through our at-bats.”
BLUE JAYS 5, ORIOLES 2
BALTIMORE — J.A. Happ pitched into the seventh inning, Dioner Navarro had three hits and two RBIs and the Toronto Blue Jays beat Baltimore for a four-game split.
Edwin Encarnacion also had three hits for the Blue Jays, who had totaled 15 runs in losing six of their previous eight games.
The AL East leaders take a 4 1/2-game lead into a three-game series at Yankee Stadium starting Tuesday night. Ace Masahiro Tanaka starts the opener for New York.
Adam Jones homered and Nelson Cruz had three hits and his major league-leading 56th RBI for the Orioles.
Happ (6-3) gave up one run, seven hits and no walks in six-plus innings. Casey Janssen got four outs for his 12th save.
Chris Tillman (5-4) is 0-4 with a 2.78 ERA at home and 5-0 with a 6.33 ERA on the road.
ROCKIES 8, GIANTS 7
SAN FRANCISCO — Justin Morneau hit a two-run double in the eighth inning, and Colorado came back to sweep a three-game series from San Francisco.
Morneau’s pinch hit highlighted a four-run rally for the Rockies, who scored in the ninth in each of the first two games of the series for the win.
Troy Tulowitzki had three hits, including a home run, and drove in two runs for the Rockies, who won extended their season-high winning streak to five.
The Giants have lost six of seven.
Matt Belisle (2-2) pitched an inning for Colorado. Juan Gutierrez (1-2) got the loss.
ATHLETICS 10, YANKEES 5
OAKLAND, Calif. — Derek Norris and Coco Crisp each hit a three-run homer, powering Jesse Chavez and Oakland to the win.
Carlos Beltran hit his first home run for the Yankees since coming off the disabled list. But the All-Star veteran also was called out on a strange play in the eighth inning when he seemed to lose track of the outs and wandered away from first base.
Norris homered in the first and Crisp connected in the second off Vidal Nuno (1-3).
The A’s had been held to one run or fewer in four of their previous nine games before taking a 10-0 lead in four innings.
Chavez (6-4) pitched six innings of one-run ball.
DIAMONDBACKS 6, DODGERS 3
LOS ANGELES — Paul Goldschmidt and Miguel Montero homered to help Bronson Arroyo win his third straight start, and Arizona averted a three-game series sweep.
Arroyo (7-4) allowed a run and five hits in five innings.
Los Angeles starter Josh Beckett (4-4) gave up three earned runs in seven innings.
Goldschmidt hit his 15th homer in the first inning and Montero hit his 10th in the ninth, a two-run shot off Chris Perez.
MARINERS 5, RANGERS 1
SEATTLE — Kyle Seager had four hits and three RBIs as Seattle stopped a five-game losing streak.
Hisashi Iwakuma (5-3) pitched eight sharp innings, allowing Brad Snyder’s first career homer. Charlie Furbush then got three outs to complete the six-hitter.
Iwakuma improved to 2-1 with a 1.61 ERA in three starts this month. The right-hander struck out six and walked none in his fourth start this season of eight innings.
Nick Martinez (1-4) allowed nine hits and walked one, but held the Mariners to two runs in six innings.
TIGERS 4, TWINS 3
DETROIT — Right fielder Oswaldo Arcia’s error led to J.D. Martinez’s sacrifice fly in the ninth inning, lifting the Detroit Tigers over Minnesota.
Torii Hunter led off the ninth with a single off Casey Fein (3-3). One out later, Victor Martinez hit a fly ball that Arcia dropped at the wall, setting up the winning fly.
Earlier in the game, Arcia lost a routine fly in the sun with two outs and a runner on third for a run.
Joe Nathan (3-2) pitched a scoreless ninth.
REDS 13, BREWERS 4
MILWAUKEE — Billy Hamilton led off the game with a home run, Brandon Phillips added a two-run shot in the first inning and Todd Frazier later hit his team-high 15th homer as the Cincinnati Reds beat Milwaukee.
Hamilton connected for the second straight day, off homer-prone Marco Estrada (5-4).
Ryan Ludwick had three doubles and got four of the Reds’ season-high 19 hits. Frazier also doubled and drove in four runs.
Estrada’s infield single with the bases loaded in the fourth off Mike Leake (4-6) helped tie the game at 3.
Frazier’s two-run shot the next inning put Cincinnati up for good. Estrada has given up a major league-high 23 homers in just 84 innings, with 18 coming since May 1.
CUBS 3, PHILLIES 0
PHILADELPHIA — Travis Wood pitched hitless ball into the sixth inning and the Chicago Cubs beat Philadelphia to win a road series for the first time this season.
Anthony Rizzo hit his 14th home run as the Cubs took two of three at Citizens Bank Park.
The Cubs last-place had been 0-9-3 in sets away from Wrigley Field. This was the Cubs’ first series win in Philadelphia since April 2001.
Wood (7-5) didn’t allow a hit until Ben Revere’s one-out single in the sixth. He gave up three hits in eight innings and Neil Ramirez got his third save.
A.J. Burnett (4-6) moved past Hall of Famer Eddie Plank into 50th place on the career strikeout list.
MARLINS 3, PIRATES 2, 10 INNINGS
MIAMI — Casey McGehee tied the game in the eighth inning with a two-out, two-run double, then drove home the winning run with a sacrifice fly in the 10th as the Miami Marlins prevented a sweep by Pittsburgh.
Vance Worley pitched seven innings in his season debut for the Pirates and departed with a 2-0 lead. Reliever Tony Watson had thrown 21 1-3 consecutive scoreless innings before McGehee doubled.
A.J. Ramos (4-0) loaded the bases with none out in the 10th but escaped.
The Pirates had won four in row before Miami won it against Jared Hughes (3-2).
INDIANS 3, RED SOX 2, 11 INNINGS
BOSTON — Nick Swisher led off the 11th inning with a homer and the Cleveland Indians beat Boston for a four-game split.
It was Swisher’s fourth homer of the season and first since being activated from the disabled list on Thursday before the series opener.
Cody Allen (3-1) ended the game with two perfect innings, striking out three.
Junichi Tazawa (1-1) took the loss one day after walking in the winning run in Cleveland’s 3-2 victory.
RAYS 4, ASTROS 3
HOUSTON — David Price shook off a tough start to strike out 10, pinch-hitter Jerry Sands broke three bats while singling home the go-ahead run in the eighth inning and Tampa Bay beat Houston.
For the second time in a week, Astros manager Bo Porter moved reliever Tony Sipp to left field, then brought him back to pitch.
Price (5-6) allowed homers to Dexter Fowler and Matt Dominguez in the first inning. He went eight innings in his first win since May 13. It was the 20th career double-digit strikeout game for Price, setting a Tampa Bay record.
Jake McGee pitched a scoreless ninth for his first save.
Sands then broke two bats on foul balls before shredding a third one on his hit to left field off Jerome Williams (1-3).
ROYALS 6, WHITE SOX 3
CHICAGO — Salvador Perez hit a three-run homer and the Kansas City Royals swept a three-game series of the Chicago White Sox.
James Shields (8-3) won his fifth straight decision and the Royals extended their season-high win streak to seven. Greg Holland pitched the ninth for his 20th save in 21 chances.
Andre Rienzo (4-4) took the loss in Chicago’s fourth straight defeat.
METS 3, PADRES 1
NEW YORK — Curtis Granderson hit his first leadoff homer in five years, Carlos Torres and two other relievers filled in admirably for an ailing Daisuke Matsuzaka and the New York Mets beat San Diego.
Bobby Abreu added an RBI double against Ian Kennedy (5-8), helping New York take the rubber game in a series between the two worst hitting teams in the majors.
Matsuzaka barely made it through an inning because of a severe upset stomach. Torres (3-4) went four innings, Vic Black pitched two scoreless innings and Jenrry Mejia made his first appearance since leaving Thursday night’s game with a stiff back, working two hitless innings for his seventh save.
BRAVES 7, ANGELS 3
ATLANTA — Tommy La Stella had three hits, including a two-run double in Atlanta’s four-run sixth, and the Braves beat Hector Santiago and the Los Angeles Angels 7-3 on Sunday night.
La Stella, the rookie second baseman, is hitting .411 with at least two hits in nine of his 16 games.
Evan Gattis and Justin Upton also had run-scoring singles in the sixth as the Braves rallied against Santiago (0-7) after trailing 3-0. Jason Heyward hit a homer in the seventh and made two strong defensive plays in right field to take hits away from Mike Trout.
Trout had three hits, including a homer. Erick Aybar also homered for the Angels before leaving the game with a sore left hip.
Anthony Vavaro (2-1) had three strikeouts in two perfect innings.
