ST. LOUIS (AP) — John Gant earned his first victory as a starter since 2018 by throwing six strong innings and the St. Louis Cardinals sent the Cincinnati Reds to their sixth straight loss, 2-0 on a rainy afternoon. Andrew Knizner, subbing for injured catcher Yadier Molina, and Nolan Arenado each drove in a run. Dylan Carlson added three singles as St. Louis won a series for just the second time this season. After waiting out a rain delay of 2 hours, 20 minutes before throwing his first pitch, Gant allowed just three hits. He struck out five and walked two in his fourth start of the season.
On other MLB diamonds:
— Gerrit Cole was one pitch better than Shane Bieber in a heavyweight matchup of aces as Rougned Odor (ROOG’-nehd oh-DOHR’) and Aaron Hicks homered off Cleveland’s Cy Young winner in the fifth inning, giving the Yankees a 2-1 win over the Indians. Cole struck out 11 and allowed just three hits in seven innings to beat Bieber in a rematch of their meeting in last year’s playoffs.
— Third baseman Cavan Biggio (KAV’-an BIH’-zhee-oh) let a grounder go between his legs in the eighth inning, allowing the tiebreaking run to score in the Rays’ 5-3 win over the Blue Jays. Mark Brosseau and Mike Zunino homered for the Rays, who overcame Randal Grichuk’s (GRIH’-chuhks) three-run blast in ending a four-game losing streak.
— The White Sox blew a ninth-inning lead before Nick Madrigal provided a game-ending double to complete Chicago’s 2-1 win over the Rangers. Willie Calhoun tied it in the ninth with his first homer of the season, a drive off Liam off Hendriks.
— The Astros blew out the Angels, 16-2 as Kent Emanuel worked 8 2/3 innings in relief in his major league debut after starter Jake Odorizzi left the game. Alex Bregman crushed a three-run homer, Yordan (yohr-DAHN’) Alvarez had a season-high four RBIs, Carlos Correa homered among his three hits and Michael Brantley doubled three times for Houston.
— Brady Singer tossed three-hit ball while fanning eight over seven innings of the Royals’ 2-1 win over the Tigers. A pair of fifth-inning miscues allowed Kansas City to score twice before Willi Castro homered for Detroit to cap the scoring.
— The Pirates were 6-2 winners over the Twins as Michael Perez delivered three hits and three RBIs. Trevor Cahill permitted one run and two hits in six innings, his longest outing in almost two years.
— Pinch-hitter Manny Piña (PEEN’-yah) launched a tiebreaking, two-run homer in the seventh inning to send the Brewers past the Cubs, 4-3. Keston Hiura (HEEr’-uh) had three hits and Kolten Wong finished with two as the Brewers bounced back from a 15-2 loss in the series opener Friday.
— Joe Ross tossed six solid innings and helped himself with an RBI single as the Nationals beat the Mets, 7-1. Yadiel Hernandez had two hits and two RBIs after the 33-year-old rookie entered with six hits in 36 career at-bats.
— Rhys Hoskins homered twice and drove in five runs to back seven solid innings from Phillies hurler Aaron Nola in a 7-5 win at Colorado. Nola retired his last seven batters, added a single at the plate, and was on base for both of Hoskins’ homers.
— Jesus Aguilar (AG’-ee-ahr) snapped a tie with a two-run homer to spark a four-run ninth that pushed the Marlins past the Giants, 5-2. Jon Berti (BUR-tee) also went deep for Miami, which had been held to three hits or fewer in three of its previous five games.
— The Diamondbacks and Braves were postponed by inclement weather in Atlanta, setting up a Sunday doubleheader.
