ST. LOUIS (AP) — Justin Turner spent Saturday night proving his skipper right.

The red-hot Turner went 2 for 5 and his two-run double in the third proved to be the winning RBI as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat St. Louis 7-2 to end the Cardinals’ five-game winning streak.

Turner’s double capped a four-run third. He has 14 RBI since the All-Star break.

Before the game, manager Dave Roberts called Turner a legitimate middle of the order hitter. Turner, who is hitting .378 since the All-Star break, reinforced those words with action.

“He’s huge,” outfielder Joc Pederson said. “He comes up big in situations, a great hitter and puts ball in gaps and over the fence that knock in runs that are key, key runs for us.”

Adrian Gonzalez hit his eighth home run — a 429-foot solo blast to center — to spark a three-run sixth.

Kenta Maeda (9-7) rebounded from a poor outing against Arizona on July 17, giving up two runs over 5 2/3 innings. Only one of the Cardinals’ first 15 batters was able to hit the ball out of the infield against the Japanese right-hander.

Maeda helped himself with an RBI bunt single to start the third-inning rally. Maeda said through an interpreter that the early lead gave him confidence.

“It helps me attack hitters, but at the same time since they did give me the early lead I want to throw a little more,” Maeda said.

Andrew Toles went 3 for 4 and scored once for the Dodgers. He has reached safely in nine of 10 games since being called up from the minors.

“He can hit, he can defend and he can run,” Roberts said. “And that element of speed is something we definitely don’t have so to have that dynamic is fun.”

Leake (7-8) allowed seven runs — six earned — in six innings. He was victimized by a mental error on Maeda’s single when second baseman Greg Garcia failed to cover first on the bunt attempt.

“I wasn’t hitting my spots as well tonight,” Leake said. “They were ready for mistakes. I think they had a pretty good approach tonight and they were jumping on me early. I just wasn’t placing the ball exactly where I wanted it.”

Matt Adams homered for the second consecutive game. His blast to left in the fourth extended the Cardinals’ streak of home runs to 14 games.

Aledmys Diaz reached safely for the 26th straight game with a first-inning single. Diaz’s streak is the second-longest by a Cardinals rookie since Albert Pujols had streaks of 30 and 48 games in 2001.

The loss dropped St. Louis’ home record to 25-29.

After going just 1 for 13 with runners in scoring position in Friday’s 16-inning loss, Roberts was happy with the offensive production.

“I think that offensively as a team we’re trending in the right direction,” Roberts said. “It’s about knowing you can win baseball games when you’re not playing your best. I think our focus has been much better on just the day-to-day and I think if we can continue that we’ll be OK.”

ANOTHER FRESH FACE

The Dodgers recalled RHP Ross Stripling and optioned LHP Grant Dayton to Triple-A Oklahoma City after Friday’s game created a need for a fresh arm in the bullpen.

TRAINING ROOM

Dodgers: OF Yasiel Puig (hamstring) did plyometrics and sprint work. Roberts did not rule out a start Sunday.

Cardinals: IF Matt Carpenter (right oblique) took swings, but there is no timetable for his return.

UP NEXT:

Dodgers: LHP Scott Kazmir (8-3, 4.30 ERA) allowed one run in seven innings against Washington in his last start on July 19. He is 2-0 with a 3.20 ERA in three career starts against St. Louis.

Cardinals: RHP Mike Mayers will make his major league debut in primetime after going 3-3 with a 2.94 ERA in nine starts at Triple-A Memphis. With Mayers’ start, St. Louis will become the last team in the majors to use a starter outside of the starting five that opened the season.

— Associated Press —

ST. LOUIS — Aledmys Diaz learned a valuable lesson at the All-Star Game.

The St. Louis rookie infielder’s walk-off single in the ninth inning gave the Cardinals a 6-5 come-from-behind victory over the San Diego Padres on Thursday night.

St. Louis, which scored four runs in the eighth, recorded its first four-game series sweep at home since beating Colorado on Sept. 30-Oct. 3, 2010.

San Diego has lost four of seven.

Diaz ripped a full-count, one-out, bases loaded pitch into left field off reliever Carlos Villanueva (1-1).

In this month’s All-Star Game, Diaz took a called third strike with the bases loaded to end the eighth inning of the AL’s 4-2 victory.

He decided that wasn’t going to happen in a similar situation on Thursday.

“This time, I wanted to be aggressive,” Diaz said. “Go get it, if it looks good.”

Tommy Pham led off the bottom of the ninth with a double. Greg Garcia drew a walk and Jeremy Hazelbaker moved the runners over with a perfect bunt. Jedd Gyorko was walked intentionally to set the stage for Diaz’s heroics.

St. Louis reliever Jonathan Broxton (2-2) picked up the win with a scoreless ninth.

The Cardinals erased a 5-1 deficit in the eighth. Hazelbaker led off with a double and he scored on hit by Gyorko, his seventh RBI of the series against his former team. Kolten Wong doubled with one out and Stephen Piscotty hit a three-run homer to center field.

“This was definitely a special one,” Piscotty said. “It’s a lot more fun when those things happen and you end up winning. This was a great way for our team to come back.”

Yangervis Solarte homered in the eighth inning to extend the Padres’ franchise-record home run streak to 19 consecutive games. The streak is the longest in the National League since the Milwaukee Brewers hit home runs in 20 consecutive games in July 2008.

His 10th home run of the season pushed the lead to 5-1.

“To put it simply, it’s just hard work,” Solarte said of the home run streak. “I know we have some power on this team.”

Andrew Cashner, the subject of trade rumors the past few days, allowed one run and three hits for San Diego. He struck out eight and did not walk a batter. Cashner has allowed one run or less in three of his last four starts.

“I’ve been working on a slider for the past couple weeks and I’ve finally got a good feel,” Cashner said.

Alexei Ramirez had three hits and drove in two runs for the Padres, who have scored an NL-best 226 runs since June 1.

St. Louis starter Adam Wainwright gave up two runs and seven hits over six innings. He struck out eight and did not walk a batter.

Wainwright believes the comeback win can lead to better things.

“We’re ready for a good streak here,” he said. “We’re ready to run off a 12-spot or something.”

Ramirez gave his team a 1-0 lead with a run-scoring single in the fifth that brought in Ryan Schimpf, who doubled to start the inning. Travis Jankowski followed with an RBI double.

St. Louis outfielder Matt Holliday left the game in the sixth inning after he was hit in the face by a pitch. The ball appeared to strike Holliday’s helmet and then glance off his nose. X-rays were negative and he is listed as day-to-day.

The Cardinals tied their largest comeback of the season by rallying from four runs down.

“We made some things happen,” St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said. “We got down and the guys kept playing the game. Watching them make plays, big hits, it was a great day for us.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Padres: INF Brett Wallace was reinstated from paternity leave on Thursday. Wallace and his wife, Taylar, welcomed their first child, a boy named Beckett, on Monday. … LHP Keith Hessler and INF/OF Alexi Amarista were optioned to Triple-A El Paso.

Cardinals: INF/OF Brandon Moss took grounders before Thursday’s game. Moss was placed on the 15-day DL on July 5 with a sprained ankle. He is expected back sometime within the next two weeks.

UP NEXT

Padres: RHP Luis Perdomo (3-4, 7.36) will face RHP Tanner Roark (9-5, 2.82) in the first of a three-game series in Washington on Friday.

Cardinals: RHP Michael Wacha (5-7, 4.45) takes on RHP Brandon McCarthy (2-0, 1.69) in the first of a three-game set against the Dodgers in St. Louis on Friday. Wacha is 2-4 with a 4.85 ERA in 10 home starts this season.

— Associated Press —