Cardinals deck Colorado 9-3

By R.B. FALLSTROM

AP Sports Writer

ST. LOUIS — The only positive about Josh Outman’s first chance at pitching in his hometown is he didn’t take the loss.

The Colorado Rockies left-hander threw five of his first 10 pitches in the dirt and lasted just three innings in a 9-3 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday night.

“A lot of people that are lifelong Cardinal fans were secretly cheering for me in their Cardinals gear,” Outman said. “The nerves, I don’t think that plays a factor, and I don’t like to say anything that sounds like an excuse.

“So, I just went out there and didn’t get it done.”

Outman matched his career high with five walks and had two wild pitches, although he gave up just two runs. He’s 0-3 with a 9.00 ERA this year and hasn’t worked more than five innings in any of his seven starts, and he’s 0-7 since his last victory June 21, 2011, against the Mets when he was with Oakland.

Outman’s spot in the rotation could be in jeopardy, but manager Jim Tracy wasn’t happy with any of his pitchers. Tyler Chatwood (1-1) followed Outman and gave up four runs in 2 1-3 innings.

“We’ll take a look at it,” Tracy said. “We have to look at this stuff every single day, but Tyler wasn’t very efficient, either. So rather than me sit there and bear down on any one guy, suffice to say we just didn’t pitch well.”

Allen Craig hit a pair home runs, Carlos Beltran extended his RBI streak to a major league-high nine games and Kyle Lohse worked into the eighth for the Cardinals.

Matt Holliday had a homer and sacrifice fly and Jon Jay doubled and walked twice with a steal for the Cardinals, who punished a pitching staff that entered the game with a major league-worst 5.37 ERA.

Tyler Colvin and Wilin Rosario homered for the Rockies, who have dropped five of seven. Rosario homered for the third straight game, but Colorado pitchers totaled four wild pitches, eight walks and an error that allowed a run.

Outman, who played at suburban Lindberg High School, threw more balls (36) than strikes (34).

“My entire church was here tonight and I had a lot of family members here, and I’ll have some more family over the next three days,” Outman said. “It’s disappointing for me to go out there and do that poorly when I know I have the support I have, and to let them down like that.”

Beltran, an NL All-Star game starter picked to participate in the home run derby, leads the league with 63 RBIs. He has 15 RBIs during the streak.

Craig has 13 homers and 43 RBIs in 40 games in a season abbreviated by injury. He was awarded a bonus RBI single by Major League Baseball on Monday after review of a play originally ruled a fielding error on Marlins shortstop Jose Reyes at Miami on June 26.

REDS 8

DODGERS 2

LOS ANGELES — Rookies Devin Mesoraco and Todd Frazier had three RBIs apiece, leading Cincinnati to the victory.

Homer Bailey (6-6) allowed two runs and five hits in eight innings for NL Central-leading Cincinnati, which played without injured sluggers Joey Votto and Scott Rolen. He struck out seven and walked one.

Chad Billingsley (4-8) lost his fourth straight start, giving up three runs and six hits in six innings with eight strikeouts and no walks.

Mesoraco hit a two-run double with two out in the sixth, giving the Reds a 3-2 lead. He also had an RBI single in the eighth.

BREWERS 6

MARLINS 5

MILWAUKEE — Pinch-hitter Norichika Aoki drove in the go-ahead run with a safety squeeze in the eighth inning, lifting Milwaukee to the victory.

Rickie Weeks sparked the winning rally with a leadoff double. He moved up on Martin Maldonado’s single to right and scored when Aoki greeted Randy Choate with a bunt single that gave Milwaukee a 6-5 lead.

Kameron Loe, Francisco Rodriguez (1-4) and John Axford combined for three innings of one-hit ball for Milwaukee. Rodriguez worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth, and Axford finished for his 14th save.

Justin Ruggiano hit a two-run homer and finished with a career-high four RBIs for Miami, which committed three errors that led to two unearned runs. Ryan Webb (3-2) got the loss.

CUBS 4, BRAVES 1

ATLANTA — Jeff Samardzija had a career-high 11 strikeouts, Luis Valbuena hit a tiebreaking three-run double in the seventh and the Cubs earned their fourth consecutive win.

Anthony Rizzo connected for Chicago, which has won six of seven overall. Rizzo, one of the Cubs’ top prospects, has two homers in six games since he was recalled last Tuesday.

Samardzija (6-7) yielded one run and four hits in seven innings, rebounding from a rough June. Jeff Russell pitched the ninth for his second save.

Atlanta right-hander Tommy Hanson (9-5) gave up four runs and seven hits in seven innings for his first loss since May 28. He went 4-0 with a 3.13 ERA in June.

PIRATES 11

ASTROS 2

PITTSBURGH — Garrett Jones and Neil Walker hit back-to-back homers off the right-field foul pole to ignite Pittsburgh’s offense.

James McDonald (8-3) pitched seven effective innings for the Pirates, who won for the fifth time in six games.

Limited to one hit over the first three innings by Jordan Lyles, the first five Pirates to bat in the fourth had hits, highlighted by Jones’ two-run homer and Walker’s solo shot.

Jones finished with four hits and four RBIs, and Andrew McCutchen also went 4 for 5 for the Pirates, whose 16-5 home record since May 12 is the best in the majors.

Scott Moore homered and J.D. Martinez had two hits for Houston, which has lost five consecutive games and seven in a row on the road. Lyles (2-5) yielded seven runs and nine hits in four-plus innings.

RAYS 4, YANKEES 3

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — B.J. Upton and Carlos Pena homered and the Tampa Bay Rays took advantage of Mark Teixeira’s first error of the season to beat the New York Yankees 4-3.

Pinch hitter Brooks Conrad’s RBI double with two outs in the seventh inning off David Robertson (0-3) made it 3-all. Teixeira followed by misplaying Elliot Johnson’s sharp grounder over first base for his first error in 671 chances this year, enabling Conrad to score the go-ahead run.

Matt Moore (5-5) allowed three runs while scattering nine hits over seven innings to win his fourth straight decision. The Rays stopped a two-game losing streak that had dropped them a season-high 7 1-2 games behind the first-place Yankees in the AL East.

ROYALS 11

BLUE JAYS 3

TORONTO — Mike Moustakas hit his first career grand slam, Everett Teaford pitched seven innings for his first win of the season and the Royals beat the Blue Jays.

Salvador Perez hit a two-run home run as the Royals snapped a three-game losing streak, matched their season high with 14 hits and beat Toronto for the first time in five meetings this season.

Jose Bautista hit his major league leading 27th home run and Colby Rasmus clubbed a solo shot off the facing of the fifth deck but it wasn’t enough for the Blue Jays, who lost for the fifth time in seven games.

Teaford (1-0) allowed three runs and five hits to win for the first time since last Septemeber. He walked two and struck out two.

ANGELS 3, INDIANS 0

CLEVELAND — Jered Weaver carried a shutout into the eighth inning, squirming out of a bases-loaded jam in the seventh, to lead the Angels to a win over the Indians.

Weaver (9-1) allowed five singles, struck out two and remained unbeaten in Cleveland. He’s 5-0 with 1.52 ERA in eight career starts at Progressive Field. Scott Downs worked out of a mess in the eighth and pitched the ninth for his seventh save.

The Indians loaded the bases in the seventh off Weaver, who got a force at the plate, foul pop and strikeout to end Cleveland’s best threat.

Howard Kendrick homered in the seventh off Cleveland’s Ubaldo Jimenez (7-7) as the Angels improved to 16-3 on the road since May 22.

TWINS 6, TIGERS 4

DETROIT — Trevor Plouffe hit a two-run single during Minnesota’s four-run fourth inning, helping the Twins beat the Tigers.

Minnesota had six singles in all during its big inning as it earned its fourth consecutive win to lift Ron Gardenhire to 900 career victories.

Anthony Swarzak (2-4) picked up the win, allowing a hit and one walk in 2 2-3 innings of relief. Alex Burnett allowed only one walk in 1 1-3 innings and Glen Perkins pitched the ninth for his third save in five chances in place of injured closer Matt Capps.

Detroit was trying to get back to .500 for the first time since May 15.

MARINERS 6

ORIOLES 3

SEATTLE — Casper Wells hit a go-ahead, three-run double with two out in the seventh inning and the Mariners beat the slumping Orioles.

Miguel Olivo and Dustin Ackley added back-to-back homers in the eighth as the Mariners rallied for the win in their first game of the season against Baltimore.

Wells had a couple of scoring chances earlier in the game and failed to drive in any runners. But he came up in the eighth and drove an 0-1 pitch from Jason Hammel (8-4) into the gap in right-center. Ackley, Munenori Kawasaki and Ichiro Suzuki all scampered home to give Seattle a 4-3 lead.

ATHLETICS 6

RED SOX 1

OAKLAND, Calif. — Josh Reddick and Brandon Moss homered against their former team to send Daisuke Matsuzaka to an early exit and lead the Athletics to a victory over the Red Sox.

Jarrod Parker (5-3) was the beneficiary of the home runs, allowing one run and six hits in 6 2-3 innings to get the win.

Parker allowed one run or fewer for 10th time in 14 career starts. He is the first pitcher since Ferdie Schupp of the New York Giants to do that in his first 14 starts, although Schupp was a spot starter who pitched mostly in relief when he did it from 1913-17.

Matsuzaka (0-3) was knocked out before retiring a batter in the second inning.