ST. LOUIS (AP) — Nolan Jones had four hits and three RBIs, and the Colorado Rockies beat the St. Louis Cardinals 9-4 on Friday night in a matchup of last-place clubs.
“I was struggling there for a while but I feel like I’ve been having really good at-bats the past couple of weeks,” said Jones, who raised his average to .284 with his second career four-hit night. “It’s good to help the team get a win.”
Elias Díaz had two hits and drove in two runs as Colorado won for just the third time in nine games. The Rockies finished with 15 hits.
Nolan Gorman hit two solo homers for St. Louis, which has dropped six of eight. Gorman, who has 24 homers on the season, missed Thursday night’s 5-3 loss to Minnesota with a sore foot.
Cardinals right-hander Adam Wainwright (3-6) was tagged for seven runs and nine hits in three innings. He remains stuck on 198 career wins in his final season.
Wainwright entered with a 12-1 record and a 1.38 ERA in 18 career outings, including 14 starts, against the Rockies.
“I just have been plagued by not getting the job done with two outs all year,” Wainwright said. “It’s just killing me. … I made a whole career out of getting people out with two outs so I know I can do it.”
St. Louis, last in the NL Central, dropped to 48-63. Colorado, in the NL West basement, is 43-66.
The Rockies kicked off a 10-game trip by earning their first win in St. Louis since July 31, 2018. They snapped a 12-game losing streak at Busch Stadium. They also improved 7-35 in St. Louis since 2010.
Chris Flexen, who signed with Colorado last month after he was released by the New York Mets, pitched five innings for his first win of the season. Flexen (1-5) permitted three runs and 10 hits.
“I still got a lot of work to but the offense exploded early,” Flexen said. “I made pitches when I needed to. You pitch with a lot more confidence when the guys jump out to an early lead.”
The Rockies scored three runs in the first. Jones hit an RBI double and Díaz followed with a two-run single.
Colorado added three more runs in the second for a 6-0 lead. Ryan McMahon doubled in Brenton Doyle, and Brendan Rodgers and Jones each added RBI singles.
“We bunched some hits together and it was good to see,” Colorado manager Bud Black said. “We hit some balls on the nose. That’s baseball.”
St. Louis manager Oliver Marmol said it seemed as if “every ball in play was a hit” against Wainwright.
“He definitely had a lot of traffic,” Marmol said. “Three innings. A lot of base hits. They made a decent amount of contact and a lot fell in for hits. Not an ideal outing. Not a whole lot to take from that.”
St. Louis star Nolan Arenado hit his 23rd homer leading off the second. He finished with three hits.
A Jurickson Profar single in the third extended Colorado’s lead to 7-1.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Rockies: RHP Ryan Feltner (skull fracture) has been out since May 13 when he was hit in the head with a line drive hit by Nick Castellanos. He will throw his first bullpen session Saturday since he suffered his injury.
Cardinals: RHP Ryan Helsley (right forearm strain) will begin a rehab stint Sunday with Double-A Springfield. … RHP Jake Woodford (right shoulder strain) will throw a bullpen session Saturday. If he does well, he will begin a rehab assignment Wednesday at Springfield.
UP NEXT
Rockies: LHP Ty Blach (1-0, 4.22 ERA) has made two career appearances against St. Louis, both in relief in 2018 at Oracle Park as a member of the Giants, He will be making his 10th appearance of the season and his third straight start Saturday.
Cardinals: LHP Steven Matz (2-7, 4.06 ERA) will be making his second start against the Rockies this season and ninth in his career. The first seven came with the Mets. He took the loss April 10 at Coors Field when he allowed six runs and nine hits over 5 2/3 innings.
