ST. LOUIS (AP) — Getting back in the win column was big for Michael Wacha and the St. Louis Cardinals.

Aledmys Diaz hit a solo home run and Wacha pitched six strong innings as the Cardinals snapped a seven-game losing streak with a 3-2 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday night.

Earlier Friday, the Cardinals, who had lost 17 of their last 22 games, reassigned some members of the coaching staff and released veteran infielder Jhonny Peralta.

“This definitely feels good,” Wacha said. “We have the music blaring in here after a win. It’s been awhile so it’s good to get back in that win column.”

Seung Hwan Oh pitched the ninth, earning his 14th save in 16 chances. He gave up a leadoff double to Odubel Herrera, who went to third on a ground out. But Oh got a strikeout and left fielder Tommy Pham made a diving catch on a line drive by Freddy Galvis to pick up the save.

“As soon as I saw Tommy running, I knew he had it,” Oh said through translator Eugene Koo. “We got the job done and I’m happy with the results.”

The bullpen had surrendered 11 runs in the previous 8 1/3 innings. Against the Phillies, the bullpen had three scoreless innings.

Wacha (3-3) went six innings before being lifted for a pinch hitter. He allowed five hits and two runs.

“I felt like I had pretty good command of mostly everything,” Wacha said. “Overall, my stuff felt really good.”

It was the first quality start in any of the past seven games for a St. Louis starter. Wacha had not able to finish five innings in each of his last three starts.

Jeremy Hellickson (5-4) took the loss. He pitched six innings, allowing 10 hits but just three runs. It was the 14th start of six innings or longer this season for the Phillies.

“Hellickson dodged bullets all night,” Philadelphia manager Pete Mackanin said. “He gave up a lot of hits but beared down when he had to. He pitched well enough to win and he pitched well enough to lose. We just couldn’t score.”

Diaz gave the Cardinals a 3-2 lead when he hit a two-out homer in the fifth inning.

“You never go to home plate expecting to hit a homer but I think when you put a good swing on it, you get a chance to hit a homer,” Diaz said.

It was Diaz’s first home run since May 1.

“I’ve got to keep the ball in the yard,” Hellickson said.

The Phillies scored two in the second with two outs. Howie Kendrick doubled and scored on a single by Tommy Joseph. Aaron Altherr then tripled off the wall in right.

The Cardinals answered with two runs in the third to tie.

“Those two runs got us back after being down two,” St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said. “The offense was putting some pressure on right away and got us right back in the game.”

Matt Carpenter singled and went to third on Dexter Fowler’s double. A sacrifice by Stephen Piscotty scored Carpenter and Jed Gyorko’s single drove in Fowler. St. Louis loaded the bases but Hellickson struck out Eric Fryer.

“I just didn’t execute that inning,” Hellickson said. “They took advantage of my mistakes.”

Philadelphia lost its third straight game. The lack of a big hit was a factor in this loss to St. Louis.

“We had a couple of chances with a guy on third and less than two outs and we didn’t get it done,” Mackanin said.

CHANGES:

Phillies: Philadelphia traded INF Taylor Featherston, who was at Triple-A Lehigh Valley, to the Tampa Bay Rays for cash considerations. He joined the Rays’ for their Friday game against Oakland.

Cardinals: Before the game, John Mozeliak, the Cardinals general manager announced some coaching moves. Mike Shildt is the new third base coach and will handle outfield defense. Coach Chris Maloney, in his second year as third-base coach, will be reassigned to a new role in the organization. Assistant hitting coach Bill Mueller is taking a leave of absence. Mark Budaska will join the club to take his spot. Also, Ron Warner will join the Cardinals to assist the coaching staff.

TRAINER’S ROOM:

Phillies: RHP Joaquin Benoit is expected to be activated from the 10-day DL on Sunday. He strained his left knee walking down the steps last weekend at Citizens Bank Park.
Cardinals: C Yadier Molina was scratched from starting lineup with lower back spasms. … St. Louis activated INF Kolten Wong from the DL. Wong missed 13 games with a left elbow strain.

UP NEXT

Phillies: RHP Nick Pivetta (1-2, 5.18) is coming off his first major league victory, an 11-4 win over Atlanta. The rookie went five innings, allowing three runs, six hits and three walks along with four strikeouts. This will be his first ever appearance against St. Louis.

Cardinals: RHP Carlos Martinez (4-5, 3.25) is 2-0 against the Phillies in five appearances. He has pitched six or more innings in his last eight starts.

— Associated Press —

CINCINNATI (AP) — Joey Votto had one of those frequent days when he hits everything hard — the last thing the St. Louis Cardinals needed at this point.

Votto had a two-run homer among his four hits, Adam Duvall had three hits off Mike Leake — his counterpart in one of Cincinnati’s rebuilding trades — and the Reds beat the Cardinals 5-2 on Thursday to complete a four-game sweep.

“Joey Votto is something else,” Reds starter Scott Feldman said. “I get a big kick out of watching his approach at the plate. You have to see him every day to appreciate how good he is. When he’s hot, there’s nobody better.”

The Reds hadn’t swept the Cardinals in four games since 2003 in Cincinnati, during the first season at Great American Ball Park. St. Louis has lost seven in a row overall for the first time since 2013.

“We’ve got a lot of guys who have been through runs like this,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. “This is baseball. It’s heavy right now, there’s no doubt about it. In the long run, we’re going to snap out of this. It’s just hard finding what that key is.”

Feldman (5-4) limited the Cardinals’ slumping lineup to four singles in seven shutout innings. Matt Carpenter hit a two-run homer in the eighth off Austin Brice. Raisel Iglesias got his 12th save.

The Reds traded Leake (5-5) to the Giants for Duvall in 2015, and the right-hander signed with the Cardinals after that season. Leake has yet to beat his former team, going 0-4 in seven starts with a 4.79 ERA. The Cardinals have lost all seven games.

Leake figures that the Reds’ familiarity with him — Votto is one of their holdovers from 2015 — helps them.

“I’m sure he’s a voice in their meetings, might speak up to kind of help other guys,” Leake said. “But I feel I’ve done a pretty decent job with Joey up to this point. Today he went 3 for 3, but he hasn’t really killed me.”

Duvall had an RBI double in the fifth, Scooter Gennett followed with an RBI single and Yadier Molina’s throwing error let in another run. Votto connected off left-hander Tyler Lyons for his 16th homer an inning later, giving the Reds all the room they needed to finish the sweep.

“Obviously, it’s phenomenal,” manager Bryan Price said. “That was an all-around great ballgame and a great series.”

The series highlight was Gennett becoming the 17th major leaguer to homer four times in a game during the Reds’ 13-1 win on Tuesday night. In his next two games, he went 3 for 8 with three singles and an RBI.

NICE PLAY

Leake escaped harm in the fourth when the Reds loaded the bases with no outs. Feldman struck out, and Billy Hamilton hit into an unusual double play: Carpenter fielded his grounder, stepped on first, and threw to Molina, who tagged Gennett at the plate.

STATS

The Reds have won 11 of their last 16 games against St. Louis. They outscored the Cardinals 28-9 during the sweep. … Votto’s four hits matched his career high. He’s done it 22 times. … Duvall has hits in six straight plate appearances against Leake. He’s 11 for 22 career off him. … Leake allowed a season-high 10 hits in five innings. … Zack Cozart has reached safely in 30 straight games, the longest on-base streak by a Reds shortstop since Barry Larkin’s 31-game streak in 1991.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: Dexter Fowler was back after getting a day out of the starting lineup to rest. He went 0 for 4.

Reds: RHP Anthony DeSclafani is behind schedule in recovering from a strained elbow that has sidelined him since spring training. Manager Bryan Price said Thursday that he’s probably not going to be ready until August. … LHP Brandon Finnegan will make a rehab appearance for Double-A Pensacola on Sunday and could be back by the end of the month. Finnegan has been sidelined since mid-April by a sore left shoulder.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: Michael Wacha (2-3) faces the Phillies’ Jeremy Hellickson (5-3) as the Cardinals open a seven-game homestand. Wacha allowed six runs in 4 1/3 innings of a 7-6 loss at Wrigley Field on Sunday.

Reds: LHP Amir Garrett (3-4) makes his second start since returning from a hip injury, facing LHP Rich Hill (2-2) as the Reds open a series in Los Angeles. The Reds have lost their last six games and their last five series at Dodger Stadium.

— Associated Press —

CINCINNATI (AP) — St. Louis kept Scooter Gennett in check a day after his four-homer game, but Patrick Kivlehan had a pinch three-run shot that sparked the Cincinnati Reds to a 6-4 victory on Wednesday night, extending the Cardinals’ longest losing streak in four years.

The Cardinals have dropped six in a row. They let a 4-1 lead slip away when Kivlehan — another utility player like Gennett — and Joey Votto homered during a five-run seventh inning.

Gennett became the first Reds player to homer four times in a game during the 13-1 win a night earlier. He connected in his last four at-bats and had a chance for more history on Wednesday — nobody has homered in five straight plate appearances.

Using the same tan bat that produced five hits overall the previous night, Gennett grounded into a double play his first time up against Lance Lynn, ending his homer streak. He also struck out, hit into another double play and singled as part of the Reds’ go-ahead rally.

Kivlehan’s first career pinch-hit homer off Brett Cecil (0-2) tied it 4-4. Votto’s two-run homer off Trevor Rosenthal finished the eight-batter rally.

Scott Schebler had a homer among his three hits for the Reds, who have won all three games in a series that ends on Thursday. They have taken back-to-back series against St. Louis for the first time since 2011, and have won 10 of their last 15 games overall against the NL Central rival.

Wandy Peralta (3-1) got the win in relief of Bronson Arroyo. Raisel Iglesias pitched the ninth, staying perfect in 11 save chances.

The Cardinals built their early lead with the help of Matt Carpenter’s solo homer off Arroyo, who has given up a major league-leading 20 this season. Sixteen of them have been solo shots.

CARDINALS MOVES

The Cardinals called up utility player Chad Huffman and optioned RHP John Gant to Triple-A Memphis. Gant gave up two of Gennett’s four homers on Tuesday night.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: CF Dexter Fowler, who is 3 for 16 on the trip, got a day out of the starting lineup but had a pinch RBI double. Carpenter batted leadoff for the first time this season.

Reds: RHP Homer Bailey will make a rehab appearance Friday for Double-A Pensacola. He had spurs removed from his pitching elbow before the start of spring training. He’s not expected back until late June at the earliest.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: RHP Mike Leake (5-4) has yet to beat his former team. He’s 0-3 in six career starts against the Reds with a 4.95 ERA. St. Louis has lost all six games.

Reds: RHP Scott Feldman (4-4) lasted only 4 1/3 innings in a 6-5 loss to Atlanta on Saturday, giving up five runs and seven hits.

— Associated Press —