ST. LOUIS — Rookie Kolten Wong gave the St. Louis Cardinals their second straight game-winning ninth-inning home run, connecting off Ernesto Frieri with two outs for a 5-4 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday night.
ST. LOUIS — Rookie Kolten Wong gave the St. Louis Cardinals their second straight game-winning ninth-inning home run, connecting off Ernesto Frieri with two outs for a 5-4 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday night.
Frieri (1-1) got two routine outs before Wong, batting eighth, hit his third homer on a full count.
The drive over the right-field wall, which was estimated at 420 feet, was the first game-winning homer of Wong’s career and it came a night after Matt Adams hit his first winner off Justin Wilson in a 2-0 victory.
The Cardinals last had consecutive game-winning homers when Albert Pujols twice beat the Cubs on June 4 and 5, 2011.
Wong also gave the Cardinals the early lead with a two-run double in the second.
Trevor Rosenthal (1-4) struck out Starling Marte on three pitches with two on to end the ninth.
Pedro Alvarez and Andrew McCutchen hit two-run homers off Carlos Martinez, in the fourth and fifth innings, respectively, and McCutchen’s 14th of the season put them up 4-2. Alvarez has 100 career homers with 14 homers and 47 RBIs against St. Louis, most of any opponent.
Matt Holliday had been 2 for 14 on the homestand before tying it with a two-run double off Vance Worley in the fifth. He batted second the previous 14 games while battling a slump and returned to his usual third slot Wednesday, taking a called third strike and bouncing out before the double.
Martinez allowed four runs in six innings, the longest of his five starts this season. Worley lasted five innings, the shortest of his five starts this season with Pittsburgh.
TIGERS 14
DODGERS 5
DETROIT — Justin Verlander settled down after a terrible first inning and the Detroit Tigers rallied in emphatic fashion for a 14-5 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Verlander (8-7) allowed five runs in the first, but the Dodgers managed only one more hit off the Detroit right-hander, who has had his share of struggles this season. The Tigers tied it with five runs in the second, then added two in the third and four in the fourth to pull away.
Miguel Cabrera was one of five Detroit players with three hits.
Verlander allowed five runs and five hits in six innings. He struck out four and walked two.
Hyun-Jin Ryu (9-5) allowed seven runs and 10 hits in 2 1-3 innings.
Juan Uribe hit a two-run homer for the Dodgers in the first, but Verlander retired 13 in a row after that.
INDIANS 5
YANKEES 3
CLEVELAND — Michael Brantley homered and had three RBIs, Nick Swisher hit a go-ahead two-run shot and Cleveland stopped rookie sensation Masahiro Tanaka’s bid to become the major league’s first 13-game winner.
Brantley hit a leadoff homer in the seventh. The first-time All-Star also had RBI doubles in the first and fifth, raising his average to .328.
Tanaka (12-4) allowed season worsts of five runs and 10 hits in 6 2-3 innings. The right-hander, who lost for the third time in four starts, took a 3-2 lead into the sixth before Swisher, a former Yankee, hit a two-run homer that put Cleveland on top.
Trevor Bauer (3-4) allowed three runs in seven innings and retired 13 of the last 14 hitters he faced. New York’s only baserunner in that stretch came on Swisher’s fifth-inning error. Bauer struck out six and walked two in winning for the first time since June 16.
Cody Allen pitched the ninth for his 10th save.
WHITE SOX 8
RED SOX 3
BOSTON — Conor Gillaspie hit a tie-breaking, two-run homer in the sixth inning for his third hit of the game and Chicago beat struggling Boston.
Boston lost for the seventh time in eight games as the defending World Series champions remained in last place in the AL East.
The White Sox are 5-1 in their past six games. John Danks (8-6) started with four shutout innings on Tuesday night after Hector Noesi beat Seattle 1-0 on Sunday and Scott Carroll won 4-0 on Monday night when Boston had just two hits.
The White Sox squandered a 3-0 lead when the Red Sox tied it with three runs in the fifth. But Chicago went ahead to stay with two in the sixth and then added three runs in the ninth.
Jose Abreu led off the sixth with a single against Brandon Workman (1-3) and stayed at first when the next two batters were retired. Then Gillaspie hit a 3-and-2 pitch just inside the pole in right field for his second homer of the season.
RAYS 4, ROYALS 3
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Evan Longoria drove in two runs, Jeremy Hellickson went 4 1-3 innings in his season debut, and Tampa Bay beat Kansas City.
The Rays opened the sixth with three consecutive hits, including a two-run single by Longoria off Jason Vargas (8-4), to take a 2-1 lead. Vargas, who allowed two runs and six hits in 5 2-3 innings, was coming off seven innings in the Royals’ 4-0 win Wednesday against Minnesota.
Hellickson, coming back after arthroscopic surgery on his right elbow in January, gave up one run and six hits.
METS 8, BRAVES 3
NEW YORK — Rookie Jacob deGrom struck out 11 in seven shutout innings and also delivered a table-setting hit from the No. 8 spot in the batting order and New York tagged All-Star Julio Teheran and Atlanta.
Curtis Granderson kept up his resurgence with a leadoff home run and Lucas Duda doubled twice, singled and drew two walks. Daniel Murphy also doubled twice and third baseman David Wright added two of New York’s 18 hits and made a nifty catch.
The shaggy-haired deGrom (2-5) pitched the Mets to their third win in a row, and the franchise’s 4,000th victory since starting out as an expansion team in 1962. Atlanta has lost three straight.
REDS 4, CUBS 2
CINCINNATI — Jay Bruce returned to right field and hit another two-run homer, and Johnny Cueto extended his winning streak against Chicago, leading Cincinnati to a victory in the opener of a doubleheader.
The Reds put first baseman Joey Votto back on the disabled list before the game, hoping a strained muscle above his left knee will heal enough to let him play this season. They’re using different players — including Bruce — at the position for now.
Bruce played first base for the first time since high school and hit a two-run homer in his final at-bat during a 9-3 win on Monday night in the opener of the five-game series. He was back in the outfield and homered again in the first inning off left-hander Travis Wood (7-7).