CINCINNATI (AP) — Jose Martinez homered twice off Matt Harvey, and Jedd Gyorko singled home the tiebreaking run in the 10th inning Friday night as the St. Louis Cardinals rallied to a 7-6 victory, their 12th in a row over the Cincinnati Reds.

The Cardinals haven’t dominated the Reds so completely since the Great Depression. They also beat them 12 straight from 1931-32.

St. Louis has won its last 10 games at Great American Ball Park. The Cardinals blew a two-run lead in the ninth before extending the streak.

Bud Norris (3-1) was warming up to pitch the ninth when a downpour prompted a 36-minute delay. Norris then gave up four hits, including RBI singles by Joey Votto and Jesse Winker, for his second blown save in 14 chances.

Gyorko’s RBI single off Raisel Iglesias (1-1) decided a game that included bursts of rain from the first inning on. John Brebbia gave up a double in the bottom of the inning and an intentional walk before fanning Brandon Dixon for his second save.

Martinez had a solo shot off Harvey in the first inning and a three-run homer in the third that made it 5-1. His first career multi-homer game left him 11 for 22 during a six-game hitting streak.

Harvey is 1-2 in six starts for Cincinnati, which got him in a trade with the Mets on May 8. He also allowed Yairo Munoz’s solo homer, the fifth time in his career that he’s given up three in a game.

In his last three starts, Harvey allowed 14 earned runs and five homers in 16 1/3 innings.

Luke Weaver struggled with his control while pitching into the six inning. He gave up four runs and walked five, including Winker with the bases loaded.

HONORING RED

The Reds held a moment of silence pregame for Cardinals Hall of Famer Red Schoendienst, who died Wednesday at age 95.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: Left-handed reliever Tyler Lyons went on the 10-day DL with a sprained left elbow. Right-hander Mike Mayers was recalled from Triple-A Memphis. Lyons missed two weeks earlier in the season with a strained back. His elbow bothered him while he was throwing on Thursday, and he was sent for tests that found no significant damage.

Reds: Homer Bailey will make a rehab start either Monday or Tuesday. He’s on the DL with a sore left knee. Bailey is 1-7 with a 6.68 ERA in 12 starts.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: Michael Wacha (7-1) is 10-1 career against the Reds, including 9-0 in his last 12 starts — St. Louis has won every game. Wacha hasn’t lost to Cincinnati since Sept. 9, 2014. In his start against the Pirates on Sunday, he took a no-hitter into the ninth inning and pinch-hitter Colin Moran singled leading off.

Reds: Luis Castillo (4-6) has lost his last two starts, giving up eight earned runs in 9 2/3 innings. He’s lost both of his career starts against St. Louis.

— Associated Press —

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Miles Mikolas was prepared to change jerseys — but he was pitching too well to pull the trigger.

The Cardinals right-hander had four uniform tops waiting to replace the one he knew would be drenched in sweat as the heat index approached 100 degrees.

“I was ready,” Mikolas said. “But the first jersey, it was really working for me. So I stuck with it — a little superstition involved.”

Mikolas (7-1) continued his hot start in the steamy conditions on Thursday, allowing an unearned run in seven innings to lead St. Louis past the Miami Marlins 4-1. He struck out five and walked one, lowering his ERA to 2.27, as the Cardinals salvaged the series finale after a pair of losses.

Mikolas, coming off a 4-0 loss to Pittsburgh, has pitched at least six innings in 10 of 12 starts this season.

Jordan Hicks pitched around a walk and a hit in the eighth, topping 100 mph on nine of 18 pitches, and Bud Norris finished the four-hitter with a perfect ninth for his 12th save in 13 chances.

Jose Martinez hit a two-run homer in the first, giving him a team-high 35 RBI.

Luke Voit added a pinch-hit homer leading off the seventh to push the lead to 4-1.

Trevor Richards (0-3), who grew up in Aviston, Illinois, 50 miles from St. Louis, gave up three runs on seven hits in five-plus innings.

Mikolas, who improved to 4-0 in day games, retired 14 successive batters before right fielder Dexter Fowler dropped Starlin Castro’s fly ball in the sixth.

“When he’s in that zone, he’s pretty impressive,” St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said. “He was clean all the way through, putting pitches where he wanted to on both sides.”

Mikolas signed with the Cardinals as a free agent on Dec. 5, 2017, after three seasons with the Yomiuri Giants of the Japanese Central League.

He has exceeded even his own expectations.

“I had all the confidence that I could be successful at this level,” Mikolas said. “But it’s still a bit of a surprise.”

Miami manager Don Mattingly said Mikolas controlled the game.

“He can move the ball the other way and then he elevated,” Mattingly said. “That breaking ball he throws, it’s big.”

Justin Bour cut the lead with an opposite-field RBI double in the sixth after Fowler’s error.

Marcell Ozuna hit an RBI single in the bottom of the sixth.

Richards was making his first appearance at Busch Stadium since pitching in a high school all-star game in 2011.

“I felt pretty good. I command the fastball pretty well,” Richards said. “There’s obviously a couple I would like back. But I was very excited just to be back in St. Louis.”

The Cardinals lost the first two games of the series by a combined 18-7.

“We needed this one,” Martinez said. “You never want to get into a habit of losing.”

TRIBUTE TO RED

The No. 2 of Hall of Famer Red Schoendienst was displayed in the dirt behind second base. Schoendienst, who died Wednesday at age 95, spent 67 years in the Cardinals organization as a player, coach, manager and special assistant. He signed with the Cardinals as an infielder in 1945 and won a World Series as St. Louis’ manager in 1967.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Marlins: Richards was recalled from New Orleans, and RHP Tyler Cloyd was optioned to the Triple-A team.

Cardinals: RHPs Greg Holland and Matt Bowman began rehab assignments with Triple-A Memphis. Holland has missed 11 games with a right hip injury. Bowman has been out 19 games with blisters on his right index and middle fingers.

UP NEXT

Marlins: LHP Caleb Smith (4-6, 4.03) will face San Diego LHP Eric Lauer (2-3, 6.82) in the first game of a three-game set on Friday in Miami. Smith leads major league rookies with 74 strikeouts.

Cardinals: RHP Luke Weaver (3-5, 4.11) will face RHP Matt Harvey (1-4, 5.79) in the first of a three-game series on Friday in Cincinnati. Weaver has not won since May 11.

— Associated Press —

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Derek Dietrich homered and had four hits to lead the Miami Marlins past the St. Louis Cardinals 11-3 on Wednesday night.

Lewis Brinson launched two solo homers for Miami, the second multihomer game of his career.

Dietrich drove in three runs during his fourth multihit game on the Marlins’ nine-game road trip. Miami won its second straight, after snapping a six-game losing streak Tuesday.

The top three batters in Miami’s lineup — Starlin Castro, Dietrich and J.T. Realmuto — combined for 11 hits, seven runs and four RBI as the Marlins set a season high for runs.

St. Louis shortstop Yairo Munoz committed three errors, leading to three Marlins runs. Munoz has made six errors in his last five games.

Before the third inning, the Cardinals announced that Hall of Fame second baseman Red Schoendienst died Wednesday. He was 95.

A photo was shown on the video board with “1923-2018” written along the bottom. Fans in the crowd of 40,109 gave a standing ovation, while players stood and applauded. The beloved Schoendienst spent 67 with the Cardinals, managing them to two pennants and a World Series championship in the 1960s. He was a player, manager or coach on four Cardinals teams that won the World Series.

Miami starter Wei-Yin Chen needed 91 pitches to get through 4 1/3 innings, failing to last at least five for the sixth time. Drew Ruchinski (1-0) gave up one run in 2 1/3 innings of relief for his first major league win.

Dietrich’s two-run homer sparked a three-run third for the Marlins. Dietrich, who scored twice, has at least one hit in 13 of his last 15 games.

Cardinals starter Jack Flaherty (2-2) lasted five innings for the second consecutive start. Four of the six runs Flaherty allowed were earned.

St. Louis infielder Jedd Gyorko finished the game on the mound, the first time the six-year veteran had pitched in the majors. Gyorko gave up a run, two hits and hit a batter with a pitch.

Jose Martinez drove in two runs as part of a 3-for-3 night. He also walked.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Marlins: Optioned RHP Odrisamer Despaigne to Triple-A New Orleans and selected the contract of RHP Ben Meyer.

Cardinals: RHP Alex Reyes (right lat strain) underwent season-ending surgery. … RHP Matt Bowman (finger blisters) and RHP Greg Holland (right hip impingement) will begin rehab assignments Thursday at Triple-A Memphis.

UP NEXT

Miles Mikolas (6-1, 2.49 ERA) starts Thursday afternoon for the Cardinals in the finale of the three-game series against Elieser Hernandez (0-3, 4.29). Mikolas is coming off of his first loss of the season against Pittsburgh last Friday. Hernandez will make his first career start vs. St. Louis.

— Associated Press —

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Brian Anderson and J.T. Riddle homered to help a shaky Jose Urena get his first win of the season as the Miami Marlins stopped a six-game losing streak with a 7-4 victory Tuesday night over the St. Louis Cardinals.

Anderson had a two-run homer and two singles for the Marlins, who had lost nine of 10.

In getting swept last weekend, the Marlins allowed 21 runs at Arizona and only scored four times. Miami entered the St. Louis series 1-6 on this road trip with a minus-22 run differential.

Urena (1-7) pitched five innings, allowing 10 hits and four runs for his first win in 13 starts. Miami lost his previous 14 starts — a dubious team record — dating back to Sept. 26 last year. Urena started on opening day this season but his last win came on Sept. 20, 2017.

Kyle Barraclough pitched the ninth for second save.

The Cardinals returned their opening day battery from the 10-day disabled list for the series opener with right-hander Carlos Martinez and catcher Yadier Molina coming back.

In his return, Martinez was not sharp. He made his first start in four weeks since straining his right lat muscle in a May 8 loss to Minnesota. Martinez threw 75 pitches, going four innings. He allowed four hits and two runs with five walks and five strikeouts. He was helped by three double plays.

Preston Guilmet (0-1) made his St Louis debut after the Cardinals called him up Tuesday from Triple-A Memphis. It was a forgettable one inning of work.

In his first game against his former team, St. Louis’ Marcell Ozuna went 3 for 4 with an RBI. In his last four games, Ozuna has gone 8 for 14, including a milestone 100th home run and grand slam, with six RBI.

The Marlins scored three runs off Guilmet for a 5-2 lead in the fifth. Derek Dietrich scored on a sacrifice fly by Justin Bour. Anderson hit a two-run homer that just cleared the fence in right field to score J.T. Realmuto.

St. Louis got two runs back in the fifth. Tommy Pham drove in a run with a bases-loaded fielder’s choice. Ozuna followed with a run-scoring single, but Urena picked Pham off third and got a groundout to end the inning.

Miami added two runs off reliever Austin Gomber in the sixth to make it 7-4. Riddle led off with a homer and J.B. Shuck scored on a sacrifice fly by Dietrich.

St. Louis took a 1-0 lead in the second when Ozuna ran through a stop sign at third to score on a single to left by Molina.

Miami scored twice in the third. Starlin Castro scored on a double play and Dietrich came home on Anderson’s infield single that hit Martinez’s glove and glanced off his shoulder.

The Cardinals made it 2-all in their half of the third. Matt Carpenter scored when Pham hit into a double play.

GOOD CATCH

Dietrich ran almost to the infield to make a sliding catch of a short fly to left hit by Jose Martinez in the first inning. Dietrich rolled over, popped up and fired to first base to double up Carpenter.

ROSTER MOVES

St. Louis optioned right-hander Mike Mayers to Triple-A Memphis, where catcher Steven Baron was designated for assignment to make room for Guilmet on the 40-man roster.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Marlins: RHP Nick Willgren is on the 10-day disabled list with a bruised right middle finger.

Cardinals: INF Greg Garcia has been placed on the paternity list. Garcia likely will return Thursday following the birth of his first child, a girl named Olivia.

UP NEXT

Marlins: LHP Wei-Yin Chen (1-3, 6.10 ERA) will be making his second career start at St. Louis and first since July 16, 2016. In his last start, Chen, the team’s oldest starting pitcher at 32, made the shortest start of his Marlins career, lasting 1 2/3 innings. He allowed four runs on four hits with two walks in an 8-3 loss at San Diego.

Cardinals: RHP Jack Flaherty (2-1, 2.62) makes his first career start against Miami. In his last start, Flaherty did not earn a decision at Pittsburgh as he matched his shortest outing of the season (five innings).

— Asscoiated Press —

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Michael Wacha came close, again.

The St. Louis righty lost a no-hit bid in the ninth inning for the second time in his career, denied when pinch-hitter Colin Moran led off with a single Sunday in the Cardinals’ 5-0 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

“It’s just a slight disappointment because I wanted it,” Wacha said. “I’ve flirted with it a couple times. It just didn’t happen. Maybe next time.”

“I was trying to get a changeup down and away,” he said. “It ended up being middle-middle, just leaving it up in the zone. I gave him something he can handle.”

As a rookie in 2013, Wacha was one out away from a no-hitter when Washington’s Ryan Zimmerman got an infield single.

Wacha (7-1) came close to pitching the fourth no-hitter in the major leagues this season. He was in total control, striking out eight and walking two while mixing his fastball, curve and change.

Bud Smith was the last St. Louis pitcher to throw a no-hitter, doing it as a rookie in 2001 at San Diego. The last Cardinals pitcher to toss a no-hitter at home was Bob Forsch in 1983 against Montreal.

Wacha retired the first 13 batters, and the closest the Pirates had come to a hit was Josh Bell’s flyout to the warning track in the second inning until the ninth.

St. Louis catcher Francisco Pena appeared more disappointed than Wacha at missing a shot at history.

“By the sixth inning, I was thinking about it, I’m not going to lie,” Pena said. “I knew he could do it too because his pitches were working really well today.”

Moran fouled off the first three pitches before the Pirates rookie lined a clean single well over the head of second baseman Kolten Wong into right field.

“I was just trying to get a pitch somewhere near the middle of the plate,” Moran said. “And luckily, I got one I could do something with. Obviously, it was cool with the crowd standing on their feet.”

The hit signaled the end for Wacha, and the 26-year-old was pulled after 111 pitches — 119 is his career high. The crowd of 44,432 at Busch Stadium gave Wacha a standing ovation, and he received hugs from his teammates in the dugout.

St. Louis manager Mike Matheny had Wacha remain on the mound a little longer than usual so the fans could continue their cheers.

“I wanted to make sure he stood there and enjoyed it,” Matheny said. “The crowd didn’t disappoint. These are things you’ll never forget.”

Reliever Jordan Hicks gave up one hit while getting the last three outs.

Marcell Ozuna hit a grand slam on the eighth pitch of the game from Nick Kingham (2-2). In April, Kingham took a perfect game into the seventh inning against St. Louis in his big league debut before it was broken up.

The Cardinals have won three of four. Pittsburgh has lost three of four.

Wacha has allowed two runs or less in his last nine starts. He was the MVP of the 2013 NL Championship Series and an All-Star in 2015 before he was slowed by injuries. He made only had 24 starts in 20016 because of a shoulder inflammation.

There already have been three no-nos this year. Oakland’s Sean Manaea began baseball’s no-hit parade with a gem against Boston on April 21, four Los Angeles Dodgers pitchers combined to blank San Diego on May 4, and Seattle’s James Paxton threw one against Toronto on May 8.

Matt Carpenter drew a leadoff walk in the first, Tommy Pham singled and Jose Martinez reached on an error by shortstop Sean Rodriguez. Ozuna then hit his fourth career-grand slam.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Pirates: INF Jung Ho Kang hit a grand slam for Class A Bradenton on Saturday. Kang is on major league baseball’s restricted list.

Cardinals: C Yadier Molina is expected to return to the lineup on Tuesday. He suffered a pelvic injury with traumatic hematoma on May 5. Molina went 0-for-1 with a sacrificed fly in a rehab appearance for Class AA Springfield on Saturday.

UP NEXT

Pirates: RHP Joe Musgrove (2-0, 0.64) will face the Dodgers on Tuesday in Pittsburgh.

Cardinals: Carlos Martinez (3-2, 1.62) will start the first of a three-game series at home against Miami RHP Jose Urena (0-7. 4.41) on Tuesday. Martinez is coming off the 10-day disabled list.

— Associated Press —

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Kolten Wong has a flair for the dramatic.

Wong led off the bottom of the ninth inning with a home run off Richard Rodriguez, giving the Cardinals a 3-2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday.

“You see guys that in those big situations tend to have the ability to get it done,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. “You really don’t want guys going up there thinking home run because that normally ends up a pop up on the infield, but whatever Kolten’s doing I’m not going to get in the way. If he’s thinking home run, keep thinking it in those situations.”

Austin Meadows had tied the score in the top half with a home run off Bud Norris (2-1), who blew a save for the first time in 12 chances.

Wong homered on a slider from Rodriguez (1-2), his second game-ending homer this season and the fourth of his big league career. Pittsburgh lost for the sixth time in eight games and has lost four of its last five games against the Cardinals.

It was Wong’s first homer since May 18 and fourth this season.

“He’s got such quick hands, he necessarily doesn’t have to cheat,” Matheny said. “It’s when he’s timed up and he timed everything up there and the ball jumped for him.”

Marcell Ozuna homered in the second, the 100th of his career and first in 105 plate appearances at Busch Stadium with the Cardinals. Colin Moran tied the score in the fifth with his first home run since May 22, connecting on a changeup from Luke Weaver.

Tommy Pham, in a 3-for-41 slide, put the Cardinals back ahead with an RBI single in the bottom half.

Weaver needed 90 pitches to get through five innings, allowing four hits.

Pirates starter Chad Kuhl gave up four hits in six innings.

“We’ve had some good swings,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. “We’ve had some battles in the box, done some good base running, made some good defensive plays. I think the big picture is this team likes to fight and they like to play. They bounce back well.”

DEBUT

Austin Gomber, a 24-year-old left-hander, pitched three scoreless innings for St. Louis in his major league debut. A fourth-round draft pick in 2014, he replaced Weaver and walked Meadows, struck out Starling Marte and got Josh Bell to ground into a double play. Gomber retired his next six batters in order.

“I was just taking it batter by batter, just enjoying the moment, taking it in and trying to do my best,” Gomber said.

Gomber gave a boost to an overworked bullpen.

“We had a few guys down that we couldn’t go to today,” Matheny said. “It was a tough call bringing Luke out early. Fortunately, Austin came in and really was impressive.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Pirates: INF Jung Ho Kang (restricted list) began a minor league assignment with Class A Bradenton on Friday and went 0 for 3 with a pair of walks and a run scored.

Cardinals: C Yadier Molina (pelvic surgery) was to start a rehab assignment at Double-A Springfield on Saturday night.

UP NEXT

Cardinals RHP Michael Wacha (6-1, 2.71 ERA) and Pirates RHP Nick Kingham (2-1, 3.75 ERA) are to start Sunday’s series finale. Wacha gave up a season-low two hits against Milwaukee on Tuesday and has held opponents to two runs or fewer in eight straight starts. Kingham made his major league debut against St. Louis on April 20, retiring his first 20 batters before Paul DeJong’s single.

— Associated Press —

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Just like his teammates, Jameson Taillon had been struggling after a strong start to the season.

The promising young Pirates right-hander put it all back together Friday night.

Taillon pitched three-hit ball over eight innings and Pittsburgh beat the St. Louis Cardinals 4-0 on Friday night for its second win in its past seven games.

“I just kind of blacked out and executed my pitches,” Taillon said.

Pittsburgh had lost three straight to St. Louis during a 3-10 stretch, mostly against NL Central opponents.

Taillon (3-4) hadn’t won since April 8, when he one-hit the Cincinnati Reds in a 5-0 win. He was nearly as good this time against St. Louis, striking out six and walking one to slim his ERA to 3.97.

“This was a good one, man,” he said. “I’ve had a couple of good ones (in the majors). I know I have the ability of pitching deep in the games. I know I have the ability of turning the lineup over three or four times.

“Now, it’s about consistency and showing I can do it more often.”

St. Louis has dropped three of five. Miles Mikolas (6-1) gave up two runs — one earned — in six innings. He allowed six hits, struck out two and walked one. This was his first loss since returning to the U.S. following a stint in the Japanese professional league.

“We talk about giving us a chance for the offense to do something,” Cardinal manager Mike Matheny said. “He’s been really good all season, and that was one of those games you’d think that he had held them down enough for us to make something happen but their guy was really good.”

Adam Frazier, who was penciled in at second base late after Josh Harrison was scratched from the original lineup with flu-like symptoms, doubled in the third and tripled in the fifth before scoring Pittsburgh’s first two runs. His double ricocheted off Mikolas’ left foot and bounced into shallow left field. He scored on Josh Bell’s sacrifice fly.

It was more than enough for Taillon, who got 15 groundball outs.

“He was pumping the zone,” Frazier said. “Pitches were down, right on the corners. Not many misses tonight.”

Francisco Cervelli followed Frazier’s triple with his own to give the Pirates a 2-0 lead.

Pittsburgh tacked on two more runs in the eighth on an RBI double by Corey Dickerson and a sacrifice fly from Colin Moran.

Marcell Ozuna had two of the three hits off Taillon, both infield singles. Dexter Fowler also had a single.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Pirates: IF Jung Ho Kang played his first U.S. game in more than a year with Class A Bradenton. Kang, 31, is currently on the Major League Baseball’s restricted list after missing the 2017 season following his third DUI arrest in his native South Korea in December 2016. Kang was not permitted to enter the U.S. until he was issued a work visa in late April. He went 0 for 3 with two walks and two strikeouts.

Cardinals: C Yadier Molina is scheduled to make rehab starts for Double-A Springfield on Saturday and Sunday. He expects to return to the Cardinals for their Tuesday game with Milwaukee. Molina suffered a pelvic injury with a traumatic hematoma on May 5 that required emergency surgery.

UP NEXT:

Pirates RHP Chad Kuhl (4-3, 3.94) will face Cardinals RHP Luke Weaver (3-5, 4.63) Saturday in the third game of a four-game set. Kuhl is looking for his first win since May 6. He lost his last outing, which followed three consecutive no decisions. Weaver has dropped three straight decisions and four of his past five.

— Associated Press —

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Yairo Munoz hit a three-run, game-ending homer to cap St. Louis’ five-run ninth inning and rally the Cardinals to a 10-8 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday night.

Munoz ripped the first pitch from closer Felipe Vazquez (2-2) over the wall in center field to give St. Louis its sixth walk-off win of the season.

Francisco Cervelli hit a tie-breaking three-run homer in the eighth to give the Pirates an 8-5 lead. However, Pittsburgh couldn’t hold on and lost in St. Louis for the fifth straight time and 12th in the last 14.

Josh Bell also homered for the Pirates

Munoz, who drove in five runs, had a two-run single in the first inning.

Luke Voit, called up from Triple-A Memphis earlier in the day, started the ninth-inning rally with a two-run single with the bases loaded to pull St. Louis to 8-7. Munoz followed with his homer.

Mike Mayers (2-0), also recalled earlier in the day, picked up the win with 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief.

Greg Garcia broke a 4-4 tie with a run-scoring hit in the fifth off Trevor Williams, who allowed five runs and nine hits over five innings.

Dexter Fowler also drove in two runs in the four-run first.

St. Louis starter Jack Flaherty gave up four runs and seven hits over five innings.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Pirates: RHP Ivan Nova, placed on the 10-day disabled list with a sprained right ring finger on Monday, will likely pitch in a simulated game before returning to the rotation. RHP Nick Kingham (2-1, 3.75) will start in Nova’s spot on Sunday.

Cardinals: RHP Alex Reyes was placed on the 10-day disabled list Thursday with a right latissimus dorsi strain after tossing four scoreless innings on Wednesday in Milwaukee. Cardinals vice president and general manager Michael Girsch indicated Reyes will miss at least two starts and likely more. “It is significant,” Girsch said. … The Cardinals recalled LHP Austin Gomber, RHP Mayers and INF Voit from Triple-A Memphis on Thursday. RHP John Gant and OF Tyler O’Neill were optioned to Memphis.

REHAB CENTRAL

St. Louis C Yadier Molina will make a rehab start for Double-A Springfield on Saturday. Molina suffered a pelvic injury with a traumatic hematoma on May 5. … Cardinals RHP Carlos Martinez gave up two runs and five hits in four innings for Springfield in a rehab start against Corpus Christi on Thursday. He stuck out four and threw 63 pitches.

UP NEXT

Pirates RHP Jameson Taillon (2-4, 4.53) will face the Cardinals’ Miles Mikolas (6-0, 2.58) in the second game of the four-game series on Friday. Taillon is 1-1 with a 4.45 ERA in six career starts against St. Louis. Mikolas is 4-0 with a 3.13 ERA in four starts against Central Division foes this season.

— Associated Press —

MILWAUKEE (AP) — It was a memorable return for Alex Reyes. Same for Orlando Arcia, albeit for much different reasons.

Reyes pitched four scoreless innings for St. Louis in his return from Tommy John surgery, but Arcia hit a tiebreaking RBI single in Milwaukee’s two-run seventh and the Brewers held off the Cardinals for a 3-2 win on Wednesday.

“It was fun. It was fun knowing that I had the ball today,” Reyes said. “Being able to go out there that first inning and execute pitches pretty quickly and strike out two. It was huge.”

Making his first major league appearance since Sept. 29, 2016, the 23-year-old right-hander allowed 3 hits, struck out 2 and walked 2. He worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the second.

“My job is to get outs,” Reyes said. “That’s what I was trying to do.”

Fatigue was a bit of a factor for the rookie.

“Not necessarily in the second, more in the third,” he said. “I felt a little fatigue. I try not to think about it much when I’m out there.”

Cardinals manager Mike Matheny noticed a change and went out to check on Reyes in the fourth.

“Saw a drop in velocity,” Matheny said. “Needed to go out, check out, see what was going on. He said it was nothing that he didn’t normally feel. It was just something that got us concerned.”

Reyes was done after throwing 73 pitches, 42 for strikes.

“Obviously, we’re going to be extra cautious with him,” Matheny said.

Reyes was 4-1 with a 1.57 ERA two years ago, striking out 52 in 46 innings. He felt pain during a pre-spring training bullpen session in February 2017 and was operated on by Cardinals physician Dr. George Paletta.

Reyes went 3-0 in four minor league injury rehabilitation starts this month at Class A Palm Beach and Peoria, Double-A Springfield and Triple-A Memphis. He struck out 44 in 23 innings.

“This was the first time he’s had to work,” Matheny said. “All those minor league rehab starts he had barely had anybody on base. So, he had to bear down. Didn’t give up any runs. His stuff looked right. His stuff looked good.”

Arcia was recalled from Triple-A Colorado Springs. He was sent down to work on his batting and was surprised at being recalled so soon.

“Things weren’t going my way and they wanted me to go down there to work on my hitting and reset everything.” Arcia said through an interpreter. “Thankfully, things were starting to go a lot better.”

He looked pretty good in the seventh. With two out and runners on first and second, Arcia stopped a slide of 0-for-15 with a base hit against Sam Tuivailala (1-1).

Jeremy Jeffress (5-0) got the win despite allowing two runs in the top of the seventh. Josh Hader struck out the side in the eighth and got two outs in the ninth, and Corey Knebel struck out Jose Martinez for his fifth save in seven chances.

Milwaukee went 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position, but the NL Central leaders still improved to 19-8 in May, setting a team record for wins in the month. Christian Yelich homered for the Brewers, and Erik Kratz had two hits and scored a run.

Harrison Bader homered for St. Louis, and Dexter Fowler had three singles.

MAKING MOVES

Reyes was reinstated from the 60-day disabled list. Right-hander Mike Mayers was optioned to Memphis, and right-hander Dominic Leone was transferred to the 60-day DL. Leone has been out since May 5 with right upper arm nerve irritation.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: Fowler returned to the starting lineup after missing three games with a bruised right knee. He was hit by a pitch Saturday at Pittsburgh. … LF Marcell Ozuna was a late scratch and replaced by Tyler O’Neill. Ozuna pinch hit in the ninth and walked.

Brewers: SS Tyler Saladino (left ankle sprain) was placed on the 10-day DL. He got hurt Tuesday night. Eric Sogard started in his place, and Arcia took over in the seventh.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: RHP Jack Flaherty (2-1, 2.15 ERA) is scheduled to make his third career start against Pittsburgh on Friday. RHP Trevor Williams (5-3, 3.43 ERA) starts for the visiting Pirates.

Brewers: RHP Chase Anderson (4-3, 4.42 ERA) faces the Chicago White Sox on Friday night in the opener of an eight-game trip. He beat the White Sox 5-1 for Arizona in his major league debut on May 11, 2014.

— Associated Press —

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Michael Wacha is tweaking his delivery and getting results.

The St. Louis righty pitched two-hit ball for 6 2/3 innings and the Cardinals hit three home runs to beat the Milwaukee Brewers 6-1 on Tuesday night.

Harrison Bader, Matt Carpenter and Francisco Pena each hit solo drives to help St. Louis top the NL Central leaders.

Wacha (6-1) allowed just one run. He walked four and struck out three, and combined with two relievers to limit the Brewers to three hits.

“They’ve got a tough lineup over there. They’ve got a really good team,” Wacha said of the Brewers, who had won 10 of their previous 12 games. “It’s all about execution out there on the mound. Guys were playing great defense behind me.”

Wacha improved to 6-0 over his last 10 starts with a 2.31 ERA in that span.

“He was in control all the way,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. “He ran into a little bit of trouble late.

“He’s not relying on just the fastball-changeup,” he said. “He has altered his mechanics to be able to make the high pitch and to get right back to being in the bottom of the zone when he wants to. It’s a lot harder than it sounds.”

The Cardinals took control by scoring four times in the second inning off Zach Davies (2-5). Bader led off with a home run, Carpenter walked with the bases loaded and Jedd Gyorko wound with a two-run single when his slowly hit grounder escaped the reach of second baseman Hernan Perez.

Davies, making his second start since coming off the disabled list with a right rotator cuff injury, allowed five runs and eight hits over five innings.

“Everything hasn’t felt great the last couple games starting back, but you’re at the top level, you’ve got to find it some time,” Davies said.

Perez got the Brewers’ first hit with a soft single to center to lead off the fifth. The only other hit off Wacha was a sharp single by Eric Sogard in the seventh, the last batter the Cardinals pitcher faced.

“He had command of all his pitches tonight, hitting his spots well,” Sogard said. “You’ve just got to try and get a mistake and make the most of it.”

Milwaukee scored in the seventh on a pinch-hit double by Jonathan Villar off reliever Sam Tuivailala. Jordan Hicks finished with two perfect innings, striking out four.

STREAK STOPS

The Brewers’ string of errorless games ended at eight and a strange play was the culprit. Catcher Manny Pina was called for catcher’s interference, allowing Marcell Ozuna to reach base leading off the third inning. Milwaukee is 12-14 when it commits an error and 23-7 when it does not.

FEELING GOOD

Cardinals catcher Francisco Pena tied his career high with three hits, including a long home run off the center-field background off reliever Dan Jennings in the eighth. “It felt great,” Pena said. “I’m just trying to swing at my pitch and not the pitcher’s pitches, and when I do that I think I’ll be real good.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: OF Dexter Fowler remained out of the lineup for a third straight game after being hit by a pitch on the right knee on Saturday in Pittsburgh. Fowler is hitting .157 in 43 games this season. … RHP Carlos Martinez is scheduled for a Thursday start with Double-A Springfield and will be limited to 50-60 pitches. He was placed on the disabled list on May with a right upper back strain.

Brewers: SS Tyler Saladino sprained his left ankle on a play in the third inning and had to be helped off the field. Saladino jammed his ankle into the second-base bag as he took a throw from Perez on a force play. Saladino, who was hitting .324, is headed to the disabled list, Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. He added that SS Orlando Arcia would be a candidate to return from Triple-A Colorado Springs.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: RHP Alex Reyes returns after missing all of last season following Tommy John surgery on his right elbow. In four rehab starts in the St. Louis minor league system, Reyes has tossed 23 scoreless innings while striking out 44 of 82 batters faced.

Brewers: RHP Junior Guerra (3-3, 2.98 ERA) will make his 10th start of the season and second against the Cardinals.

— Associated Press —