PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Yadier Molina hit two home runs, doubled and drove in four, and Nolan Arenado and Paul DeJong also homered in the St. Louis Cardinals’ 9-4 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies. St. Louis won for just the second time in the last seven contests while finding offense that has been missing in the defeats. The Cardinals averaged 2.6 runs in their last five losses. Rhys Hoskins had three hits and Alec Bohm drove in two for the Phillies, who played without Bryce Harper. The Phillies star outfielder sat out after waking up Saturday with tightness in his lower back.
Elsewhere on MLB diamonds:
— Manuel Margot (mahn-WEHL’ mahr-GOH’) launched a tiebreaking, two-run homer and Joey Wendle furnished a game-breaking, two-run blast as the Rays beat the Yankees for the fourth time in five games this season, 6-3. Tyler Glasnow overcame cramps and poor control to pitch five innings of one-run ball. New York is an AL-worst 5-9, the latest into a season New York is at the bottom of the league since a 9-17 start in 1991.
— The Red Sox beat the White Sox 7-4 as Marwin Gonzalez homered to key a four-run rally in the eighth inning. Xander Bogaerts (BOH’-gahrts) and Kiké (KEE’-kay) Hernández each had a double and three singles for the Red Sox, with Bogaerts supplying a two-run double in the eighth. Boston wore its new blue-and-yellow uniforms honoring the Boston Marathon with the colors that stretch across the finish line of the famous race which is Monday.
— The Athletics won their seventh in a row as Matt Olson, Aramís García and Mark Canha (KAN’-ah) homered in a 7-0 shutout of the Tigers. Cole Irvin struck out six, didn’t walk a batter, and allowed four hits over six innings to earn his first victory since joining the A’s. Oakland has won 21 of its last 22 meetings with Detroit.
— Zack Greinke (GREHN’-kee) pitched eight sharp innings and rookie Taylor Jones drove in the only run as the Astros knocked off the Mariners, 1-0 to end a six-game losing streak. Greinke allowed four hits and walked none while fanning six, leaving him with 2,705 career Ks. Chris Flexen picked up the loss as Houston snapped Seattle’s three-game winning streak.
— Josh Naylor lined into a triple play in the eighth inning and let a routine grounder roll through his legs at first base with two out in the ninth, leading to the tying run in the Reds’ 3-2 comeback over the Indians. Pinch-hitter Tyler Stephenson’s single in the 10th won it. Sonny Gray made his first appearance of the season for the Reds after being sidelined with a muscle strain in his back, allowing two runs and six hits while striking out six over 4 1/3 innings.
— The Orioles beat the Rangers, 6-1 as Trey Mancini had a tiebreaking RBI double in the eighth inning. Baltimore rallied after Texas rookie starter Dane Dunning threw six scoreless innings. Maikel Franco socked a two-run homer and Freddy Galvis (GAL’-vees) went 4-for-4.
— Clayton Kershaw starred on the mound and also worked out a bases-loaded walk in helping the Dodgers top the Padres, 2-0. Kershaw struck out eight while working six innings of three-hit ball. Mookie Betts preserved L.A.’s eighth straight win by snaring a sinking liner with the tying run at second for the final out.
— Jorge Alfaro hit a game-ending, two-run double and the Marlins rallied from two-run deficits in the ninth and 10th innings to beat the Giants. 7-6. San Francisco led 5-3 before RBI singles in the ninth by Alfaro and Starling Marte off Jake McGee. Brandon Belt’s run-scoring double against Yimi García put the Giants ahead 6-5 in the 10th.
— Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom struck out nine straight batters and finished with 14 in a 4-3 win over the Rockies in a doubleheader opener. DeGrom fell one short of the major league record for consecutive strikeouts set by Tom Seaver for the Mets against the Padres 51 years ago this month. DeGrom also allowed three unearned runs and trailed 3-1 until Pete Alonso homered in the sixth, Jonathan Villar (vee-AHR’) doubled home the tying run in the seventh and Dominic Smith added a sacrifice fly.
— German Márquez pitched a two-hitter for his second career complete as the Rockies won the nightcap 7-2, stopping a seven-game losing streak and the Mets’ four-game winning streak. Josh Fuentes broke open the game with a three-run homer in the fifth off Jacob Barnes.
— Brett Anderson pitched seven innings and the Brewers built a big lead early in a 7-1 drubbing of the Pirates. Anderson allowed one unearned run and six hits, walking one and striking out three. Jackie Bradley Jr. had three hits, tripled, and scored in the second as Milwaukee made it 7-0.
— The Cubs were averaging less than three runs in 13 games this season before Kris Bryant and Willson Contreras each homered twice in Chicago’s 13-4 pounding of the Braves. Javier Báez and David Bote (BOH’-tee) also homered in the Cubs’ first win in three games. Atlanta returned Sean Kazmar Jr. to the major leagues for the first time in 13 years, but the infielder hit into double play as a pinch-hitter.
— The Nationals have their first winning streak of the season after Yan Gomes (gohmz) went 3-for-4 with a solo homer and an RBI single in a 6-2 victory against the Diamondbacks. Gomes also became the first major league catcher to throw out Arizona’s Tim Locastro on a steal attempt, ending the center fielder’s MLB-record streak of 29 successful swipes to begin a career. Erick Fedde (FEH’-dee) tied his career high with nine strikeouts and limited Arizona to one run and five hits over five frames.
— The Twins-Angels game in Anaheim was postponed due to Minnesota’s COVID-19 problems. MLB didn’t immediately announce when the game will be made up, or what will happen with the Twins’ series finale at Angel Stadium on Sunday.
