Cardinals avoid sweep, close gap on Pirates
Print Edition
St Louis averted a five-game sweep at Pittsburgh and ended a season-worst seven-game losing streak by routing the Pirates 13-0 on Thursday, closing the gap between the National League’s top two teams.
The key game rapidly turned into a mismatch as the Cardinals closed within 1-1/2 games of their Central Division rival.
St Louis was staring at the prospect of suffering a five-game sweep for the first time in 97 years, but pulled out an important victory thanks chiefly to pitcher Joe Kelly (2-3), who pitched six scoreless innings and contributed two hits at the plate.
Tony Cruz added three hits, including a two-run double during an eight-run seventh inning.
Meanwhile the American League leader, the Boston Red Sox, pushed their lead over idle Tampa Bay to one game by producing a six-run rally in the bottom of the ninth inning to snatch an 8-7 victory over Seattle.
Boston’s Daniel Nava hit a long single to center field to cap the Red Sox comeback.
Henry Blanco hit a grand slam and Felix Hernandez pitched seven strong innings to help Seattle take a 7-1 lead after five innings. But Boston scored once in the eighth and six more in the ninth against three relievers who recorded just one out.
Among other games, Atlanta notched its seventh straight win by beating Colorado 11-2 to extend its giant lead in the NL East, Texas pitcher Yu Darvish matched his MLB best with 14 strikeouts to lead the Rangers 7-1 over Arizona, and the Los Angeles Dodgers quickly returned to the winners’ list by downing the Chicago Cubs 6-4.
Atlanta’s Justin Upton drove in five runs with two homers to help power the Braves to a win that completed a four-game sweep of Colorado.
The Braves outscored the Rockies 31-5 in the last three games of the series, and boosted their lead in the NL East to a seemingly invincible 11-1/2 games.
In other games, it was: Indians 6, White Sox 1; Royals 7, Twins 2; Angels 8, Blue Jays 2; Giants 2, Phillies 1; Orioles 6, Astros 3; and Marlins 3, Mets 0.
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