ST. LOUIS (AP) — Khris Davis hustled home on an infield grounder in the eighth inning and the Oakland Athletics rallied for two runs, beating the St. Louis Cardinals 3-2 Saturday night.

St. Louis starter Mike Leake was scratched because he was still recovering from having shingles. The Cardinals fell to 1-8 in interleague games at Busch Stadium this season.

Oakland trailed 2-1 in the eighth when Davis singled with one out against Matt Bowman (2-5) and Ryon Healy doubled, extending the longest active hitting streak in the majors to 13 games.

Seung Hwan Oh relieved and Max Muncy hit a grounder that Brandon Moss stopped with a dive, but Davis easily beat the throw to score the tying run. Brett Eibner followed with a sacrifice fly.

A’s starter Zach Neal pitched a career-best six innings. Oakland pitchers held the Cardinals without a hit after the fourth inning, retiring the last 17 batters.

Daniel Coulombe (2-1) and Liam Hendriks combined for two perfect innings to set up Ryan Madson, who pitched a perfect ninth for his 26th save.

Cardinals rookie Alex Reyes made his first major league start, giving up one run on two hits and four walks in 4 2/3 innings.

Zach Duke relieved and hit pinch-hitter Danny Valencia to load the bases, then walked Davis to force home a run. Reyes had started his big league career with five relief appearances, pitching 9 1/3 scoreless innings.

Randal Grichuk hit his 18th homer, a 431-foot drive in the second. The Cardinals have homered in 16 straight games, one shy of their season best.

ENSHRINEMENT

Prior to the game, the Cardinals inducted former players Joe Torre, Chris Carpenter and Terry Moore, as well as former club president Sam Breadon, into the team’s Hall of Fame.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Athletics: LHP Sean Doolittle (shoulder) did not make his scheduled rehab appearance this weekend for Triple-A Nashville after his shoulder didn’t feel well enough for him to throw in a game.

Cardinals: Manager Mike Matheny said Leake first displayed symptoms of shingles on Monday and has been healing slowly.

UP NEXT

Athletics: RHP Andrew Triggs (0-1, 4.38 ERA) will be making his fifth career major league start. The A’s will be trying to win their first road series since taking two of three from Texas Rangers from July 25-27.

Cardinals: LHP Jaime Garcia (10-9, 4.37 ERA) will be making his first career start against Oakland. He is 1-1 with an 11.00 ERA in his last two starts.

— Associated Press —

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Luke Weaver didn’t have any big plans to celebrate his first major league win.

Jedd Gyorko homered and Weaver pitched six strong innings as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Oakland Athletics 3-1 on Friday night.

“It’s a little late,” the 23-year-old Weaver said. “Maybe just bed.”

Gyorko’s 423-foot shot in the first extended the Cardinals’ home run streak to 15 games, the longest active streak in the majors, and made it 2-0 after just two batters.

“I got a pitch that I was kind of looking for, a change-up, and put a good swing on that,” Gyorko said.

Weaver (1-1) gave up one run and four hits in a career-high six innings in his home debut for the Cardinals. Five of his seven strikeouts were looking.

“Luke was great tonight,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. “Nice to see him get out of the first without all kinds of traffic and having to be under stress right from the beginning. He had a good clean first and I thought he’s just continuing to get better with every start.”

Weaver lowered his ERA from 5.00 to 3.60.

“I think I made a couple of mechanical things that made me stay through the pitches better,” Weaver said. “But just believing that I can be aggressive in the zone and trusting the stuff and I think it paid off tonight.”

Cardinals center fielder Randal Grichuk made a diving catch on a sinking drive by Stephen Vogt to end the fifth, and Jhonny Peralta made a sprawling stop at third base and threw out Khris Davis to start the sixth.

“That was a great catch by Grich out there,” Weaver said. “It minimized some stress on me and saved the game run-wise.”

Yonder Alonso’s solo homer in the second inning was the A’s only run.

Seung Hwan Oh got the last three outs for his 13th save helping the Cardinals get their first interleague win at home in eight tries this season.

Ross Detwiler (1-3) gave up three runs and six hits while striking out six in 5 1/3 innings.

“I think he mixed the pitches a little better,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “I think his breaking balls were a little better and he was getting ahead more so.”

The Cardinals capped the scoring in the sixth thanks to alert base running. Brandon Moss read a soft fly perfectly off the bat of Yadier Molina and advanced from first to third as the ball fell beyond the reach of A’s second baseman Max Muncy in short center field. Molina then intentionally got into a run-down on a shallow fly ball by Peralta, allowing Moss to score.

“A couple base running plays from guys that aren’t necessarily known as base stealers,” Matheny said. “Moss taking the blooper and reading off the bat to challenge to get to third, but Yadi very heads up trying to get that run across realizing that it was worth the out to make sure we get that run.”

Oakland’s Ryon Healy singled in the fourth to extend his hitting streak to 12 games, the longest active stretch in the majors.

HOMECOMING

Detwiler went to Holt Senior High in Wentzville, Missouri, 40 miles west of Busch Stadium. He fell to 0-3 with a 4.67 ERA against his hometown team.

“It’s nice to be at home when we’re away from the field, but it’s another game once you’re here,” Detwiler said. “Whatever city it doesn’t make much of a difference. It’s all who you’re playing.”

ROSTER MOVE

The Cardinals recalled RHP Miguel Socolovich and optioned RHP Sam Tuivailala to Triple-A Memphis.

TRAINERS ROOM

Athletics: INF Billy Butler (concussion) made the road trip and might be cleared to play early next week.

Cardinals: RHP Mike Leake (shingles) will not make his scheduled start Saturday, the club announced after the game. He will be replaced by RHP Alex Reyes.

UP NEXT

Athletics: RHP Zach Neal (2-3, 5.49 ERA) will make his first career appearance against St. Louis. He has walked two in 39 1/3 innings and his .046 walks per nine inning average is the lowest in the majors among pitchers with at least 25 innings.

Cardinals: Reyes, a highly-touted prospect, (1-0, 0.00 ERA) will make his first big league start. He has one save and 13 strikeouts in 9 1/3 career innings.

— Associated Press —

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright lost his glove trying to tag out Yoenis Cespedes in a bizarre play and lost the game, too, when Alejandro De Aza’s homer and five RBI sent the New York Mets over St. Louis 10-6 Thursday night.

Seth Lugo (1-2) pitched five scoreless innings for his first big league win. The Mets took two of three to win their first series at Busch Stadium since 2008.

Brandon Moss hit two home runs for the Cardinals and Jedd Gyorko and Stephen Piscotty also connected.

The Mets led 3-0 in the fifth when Wainwright (9-8) and Cespedes were involved in a strange sequence.

Cespedes tried to go from first to third on a bloop single by James Loney. When several Cardinals chased the ball, Wainwright covered third base. Cespedes slid and his cleat pinned Wainwright’s glove to the bag — he would’ve been out, but when Wainwright pulled away his hand, the mitt stayed stuck under Cespedes’ foot.

Because Wainwright didn’t control the ball, Cespedes was called safe in a ruling upheld by replay. Moments later, De Aza hit a three-run homer to make it 7-0.

Lugo gave up two hits and struck out five to earn his first win since May 10 at Triple-A Las Vegas. On Tuesday night, Mets reliever Robert Gsellman also posted his first big league win.

Together, Lugo and Gsellman helped the Mets win a road series from the first time since July 22-24 in Miami.

Lugo left the game with right calf cramp while warming up before the sixth. By then, he’d also gotten his first hit in the majors.

James Loney got three hits and scored twice for the Mets. Loney is hitting .529 (18 for 34) against Wainwright for his career.

Wainwright struggled for the third time in his last four starts, giving up seven runs — only two earned — and nine hits in five innings.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Mets: OF Jay Bruce (calf) was out of the lineup after leaving Wednesday night’s game with cramps. … LHP Jonathon Niese (left knee) underwent arthroscopic surgery to repair a meniscus tear.

Cardinals: Matt Adams (right shoulder inflammation) began a rehab assignment at Triple-A Memphis. He batted second and hit a two-run homer Thursday for the Redbirds.

UP NEXT

Mets: RHP Bartolo Colon (11-7, 3.36 ERA) will start off a 10-game homestand against Philadelphia. LHP Adam Morgan (1-7, 6.21 ERA) will start for the Phillies.

Cardinals: RHP Luke Weaver (0-1, 5.00 ERA) will make his third major league start, facing Oakland. The A’s will counter with Ross Detwiler (1-2, 5.91 ERA).

— Associated Press —

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Matt Carpenter, Randal Grichuk and Stephen Piscotty homered off Mets starter Jacob deGrom, powering the St. Louis Cardinals past New York 8-1 Wednesday night.

Carpenter set the tone, hitting a leadoff home run in the first inning. The Cardinals went on to win for the seventh time in nine games.

Piscotty and Yadier Molina each had three of the Cardinals’ season high-tying 19 hits.

Carlos Martinez (12-7) gave up one run and four hits over eight innings. He also got two hits himself.

Roughed up for the second straight start, deGrom (7-7) allowed five runs on 12 hits in 4 2/3 innings. He was tagged for a career-worst eight runs and 13 hits in his previous outing against San Francisco.

Carpenter was back in the leadoff spot after several games hitting third. His 16th homer this year was his third leadoff homer of the season.

Jay Bruce led off the Mets second with a double but had to leave because of a cramp in his right calf. Pinch-runner Alejandro De Aza scored on a double by Asdrubal Cabrera.

Piscotty drove in the go-ahead run in the third with an infield single.

Grichuk, who had doubled earlier, hit his 17th homer in the fourth. Piscotty connected for his 19th homer, a two-run drive, in the fifth.

Greg Garcia and Molina later had RBI singles.

EARLY EXIT

The Mets said Bruce was taken out for precautionary reasons. He hit .158 in his first 20 games with the Mets after being traded over from Cincinnati.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Mets: LHP Jonathan Niese (left knee) is headed for surgery after getting hurt in a start Tuesday night.

Cardinals: Lance Lynn, coming off reconstructive elbow surgery last November, made his third rehab start at Double-A Springfield. There’s a chance the right-hander could help in the bullpen before the season ends.

UP NEXT

Mets: Seth Lugo (0-2, 3.04) makes his second start in place of injury Steven Matz (left shoulder tightness), who could return late this month.

Cardinals: Adam Wainwright (9-7, 4.71) allowed four home runs in 6 2/3 innings on July 27 and got a no-decision in his lone appearance against the Mets this season.

— Associated Press —

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Wilmer Flores and Justin Ruggiano homered as the New York Mets beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-4 on Tuesday night.

Jose Reyes reached four base times and scored three runs. Asdrubal Cabrera had three hits, drove in a run and scored once.

The offense helped Robert Gsellman (1-0) get the decision in his major league debut. Gsellman, pressed into action after starter Jonathon Niese left with an injury in the first inning, pitched 3 2/3 innings without allowing an earned run.

Jeurys Familia earned his 42nd save, one shy of the Mets’ season record set by Familia last year and Armando Benitez in 2001.

Cardinals lefty Jaime Garcia (10-9) gave up a season-high six runs at home, in just four innings. New York broke a 22 1/3-inning streak in which Garcia hadn’t given up an earned run at home to the Mets.

Brandon Moss reached three times and drove in a run while Randal Grichuk’s solo homer in the sixth extended the Cardinals’ home run streak to 12 games.

Yadier Molina had three hits and an RBI for St. Louis.

WEB GEMS

Cabrera made a diving stop on a grounder up the middle by Jhonny Peralta to end the third. Cabrera’s stop and subsequent force out saved at least one run.

Yoenis Cespedes robbed Stephen Piscotty of a solo homer in the sixth with a leaping catch over the left field wall.

EARLY EXIT

Niese left the game after facing four batters with left knee pain.

Niese retired just one of the four hitters he faced, walking two and giving up an RBI single to Moss before being lifted for Gsellman. All three runners he allowed eventually scored.

TRAINERS ROOM

Mets: LHP Steven Matz (left shoulder tightness) was placed on the 15-day DL retroactive to Aug. 15 and INF Neil Walker was placed on the paternity leave list. Gsellman and IF T.J. Rivera were recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas.

Cardinals: IF Aledmys Diaz (right thumb fracture) took ground balls for the first time since being placed on the DL on Aug. 1 and INF Matt Adams (right shoulder inflammation) expects to go on a rehab assignment this week.

UP NEXT

Mets: RHP Jacob deGrom (7-6, 2.73 ERA) is looking to bounce back after allowing a career-high eight runs and 13 hits in a 10-7 loss to San Francisco on Aug. 18. He is 1-1 with a 4.38 ERA in two career games against St. Louis.

Cardinals: RHP Carlos Martinez (11-7, 3.24 ERA) allowed one run over seven innings in an 8-2 win over Houston on Aug. 17. He is 2-1 with a 1.31 ERA in his career against New York.

— Associated Press —

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Next to all of that St. Louis power, Mike Leake’s single might’ve looked puny.

But it scored two runs and those helped, too.

Leake pitched seven strong innings and contributed at the plate, and the Cardinals homered four times Sunday to beat the Philadelphia Phillies 9-0.

Jedd Gyorko, Stephen Piscotty, Brandon Moss and Jeremy Hazelbaker went deep.

“It’s not the only way we can score runs but it’s our main way,” Moss said. “We’ve got a lot of guys in the lineup that can do a lot of damage. It’s nice to have guys in the lineup who can change a game like that.”

The Cardinals had hit multiple home runs in nine straight games, tying a major league record, before failing to connect twice Saturday night in a 4-2 loss. Manager Mike Matheny was happy to see the bats get going again.

“We needed that to continue to watch these guys stay in a good rhythm,” he said.

Jhonny Peralta added three hits as the Cardinals finished a 6-3 road trip. They remained 1 1/2 games ahead of Miami for the final wild-card spot in the National League.

The Cardinals got six extra-base hits to set a club record of 14 straight games with at least three extra-base hits.

Leake (9-9) gave up seven hits and struck out eight. Philadelphia had homered in 14 straight games before getting blanked by Leake and two relievers.

“He needed that, we needed that,” Matheny said. “It was a great outing for him. You’re seeing some strange swings because the ball was moving a lot for him today, and I thought he used his changeup well. And the breaking ball was there for strikes when he wanted it.”

Vince Velasquez (8-6) fell to 0-4 with a 6.23 ERA in his last seven starts.

“He wasn’t locating his secondary pitches,” Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. “He’s going to be real good at one point. He’s got to keep working on it.”

Moss hit his 23rd homer and Leake added his single later in the fourth for a 4-0 lead.

Piscotty connected in the fifth, the eighth home run Velasquez has allowed in three games.

“I’m trying to figure it out,” Velasquez said. “I can’t give a solid answer because I don’t know what it is.”

Velasquez struck out 16 in a game earlier this season, but big league hitters have caught on to his fastball.

“I didn’t have electric stuff early and next thing you know everything goes south when you don’t have your secondary pitches,” he said. “I’m not figuring it out and haven’t found that turning point yet.”

In the eighth, Gyorko hit his 20th homer and Hazelbaker had a pinch-hit drive.

FOULS HIT FANS

A day after a young girl was taken to the hospital when she was struck by a foul ball behind the Cardinals dugout, a young woman was hit in the face by Leake’s foul in the sixth. She held an ice pack as she was helped to the concourse from her seat about 10 rows behind the dugout.

Phillies shortstop Freddy Galvis, who hit the foul that injured the fan Saturday night, said before the game that the team should extend the netting from behind home plate all the way to left field.

“The fans give you the money, so you should protect them, right?” Galvis said. “We’re worried about speeding up the game. Why don’t you put up a net and protect all the fans?”

FORE!

Asked how he was going to fix things, Velasquez said he was going to take some swings — with his clubs.

“I’m going to play a round of golf and take my mind off baseball,” he said. “I think a round of golf is going to solve it.”

IN A PINCH

The Cardinals tied a big league record with their 14th pinch-hit homer of the season. Hazelbaker matched a club mark for pinch-hit homers in a season with his fourth.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: After Monday’s day off, they begin a six-game homestand with the Mets. St. Louis RHP Jaime Garcia (10-8, 4.11) opposes LHP Jonathon Niese (8-7, 5.30). Garcia has won three straight games and is 2-2 with a 1.58 ERA in six career starts against the Mets.

Phillies: Start a five-game road trip on Tuesday night at the White Sox. RHP Jake Thompson (1-2, 8.79) faces Chicago LHP Carlos Rodon (3-8, 4.26).

— Associated Press —

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Jeremy Hellickson gave the Philadelphia bullpen a much-needed rest.

Cesar Hernandez homered, doubled and singled, and Hellickson pitched seven strong innings in the Phillies’ 4-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday night.

Hellickson became the first Philadelphia starter to throw seven innings since July 26.

“That was just what the doctor ordered,” Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said.

Maikel Franco had two hits, including a double and the winning RBI, and Aaron Altherr homered for the Phillies. They have hit home runs in 14 straight games.

“Great night for us,” Mackanin said.

Jeremy Hazelbaker homered and Jhonny Peralta had three hits for St. Louis, which had won five in a row. The Cardinals are 1 1/2 games ahead of Miami for the second wild-card spot in the National League.

“We had a hard time getting anything going against their starter,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. “We couldn’t get a lot of those late hits we’ve been accustomed to getting.”

St. Louis fell short of setting a major league record of 10 straight games with multiple home runs. The Cardinals tied the mark with a pair of homers Friday night.

Hellickson (10-7) skipped his last start because of back tightness. The right-hander looked healthy and sharp, allowing two runs on seven hits with eight strikeouts and one walk. He pumped his fist into his glove after striking out pinch-hitter Greg Garcia to finish the seventh.

“I felt good,” Hellickson said. “It was good to save the bullpen tonight. I was just getting ahead and kept the fastball down for the most part.”

Franco put the Phillies ahead for good with a two-out single to left in the fifth that scored Hernandez from third.

Jeanmar Gomez pitched a scoreless ninth for his 33rd save in 37 opportunities.

The Phillies jumped on rookie Luke Weaver (0-1) with a pair of runs in the first.

Hernandez led off by driving an 0-1 pitch into the seats in right field for his fourth homer of the season. The Phillies have gotten Hernandez to level his swing midseason, and he is batting .350 since June 27. He is hitting .500 with a pair of homers in seven games during Philadelphia’s homestand.

“He’s really swinging the bat well,” Mackanin said. “We had a harsh reality check for him — keep the ball out of the air.”

Cameron Rupp put Philadelphia in front 2-0 with a broken-bat RBI single to left.

The Cardinals tied it in the third. Weaver singled to center for his first career hit and scored on Hazelbaker’s two-run homer to left.

After the Phillies took the lead in the fifth, Altherr made it a 4-2 game by drilling an 0-1 pitch from Jonathan Broxton over the wall in left.

YOU AGAIN?

Altherr’s homer was the first the Phillies have hit off Broxton since Matt Stairs’ pinch-hit homer in Game 4 of the 2008 NLCS at Los Angeles.

WEAVER’S OUTING

Weaver, a 22-year-old making his second career start, went five innings and allowed three runs on nine hits with six strikeouts and no walks.

“I might be trying to make too good of pitches, which pushes the pitch count up,” said Weaver, who was lifted after 96 pitches. “It’s not about making the perfect pitch, just making a quality one.”

RARE WIN

The Phillies won for just the third time in their last 12 games against St. Louis.

FAN HIT

A young fan sitting about 20 rows behind the Cardinals dugout was struck by a foul ball off the bat of Freddy Galvis in the eighth inning. After being treated at the seat for several minutes, the fan was carried out to the concourse by an adult into the waiting arms of medical personnel.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Phillies: Hernandez was back in the starting lineup after a two-game absence due to a sore right foot. He did pinch-hit in Friday night’s game.

UP NEXT

The teams conclude their three-game series Sunday when Cardinals RHP Mike Leake (8-9, 4.78) faces RHP Vince Velasquez (8-5, 4.14).

— Associated Press —

HOUSTON (AP) — Cardinals right-hander Carlos Martinez ended a tough stretch in emphatic fashion Wednesday.

Martinez took a no-hitter into the sixth, Jeremy Hazelbaker and Brandon Moss hit home runs and St. Louis beat the Houston Astros 8-2.

Martinez (11-7) pitched seven innings of three-hit ball, allowing a run while striking out seven. He retired 15 of the first 16 batters before giving up a leadoff double to Teoscar Hernandez in the sixth.

Martinez had allowed 14 runs over his previous three starts.

“He’s been impressive,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. “I enjoy watching guys improve. When you see him pitch like that and maintain like that, that’s improvement.”

Martinez leads St. Louis pitchers with 11 starts of seven or more innings.

“Every day I go out on the hill focused on my work and ready to go through nine innings hopefully,” Martinez said. “Some days there’s bad days, some days there’s good days like today. I stayed focused and I felt really good. I feel like it’s just part of the game and I went out and did the best I could.”

The Cardinals have won four straight and have a slim lead for the second NL wild-card spot over the Pirates and Marlins.

St. Louis is averaging 7.5 runs per game during this winning streak and began its offensive frenzy Wednesday in the third inning against starter Doug Fister.

Eight Cardinals batted in the three-run third, highlighted by Stephen Piscotty’s two-run single and Yadier Molina’s RBI double.

Hazelbaker bashed a 3-2 pitch from Fister in the fourth for his first home run since July 29. Moss blew it open in the seventh with a three-run homer off Tony Sipp.

Moss has four home runs in the last six games and leads the Cardinals with 22 homers in just 281 at-bats. It’s a nice resurgence for the 32-year-old, who hit .250 with four homers in 51 games last season after being acquired from Cleveland in July.

“Seems like everybody discounted everything he did before he got to us,” Matheny said. “That was a bunch of homers. Then he comes over smoking the ball and not getting anything for it. You could just see where he was trending and where he continues to trend. This guy’s got legitimate big power.”

St. Louis has 49 home runs since the All-Star break to lead the National League.

“It’s good we’re just having good approaches and obviously we’re having success at the plate,” Hazelbaker said. “It comes from preparation and just knowing what we’re capable of and just being prepared every at-bat.”

Fister (11-8) gave up four runs, seven hits and a walk while striking three in four innings.

“It was a disappointing day,” Fister said. “Any loss is a tough loss to swallow. I felt good today. I felt strong, I felt in control, but they put a few good swings on balls, and the ball bounced their way today.”

Fister has allowed four or more runs five times in his past 10 starts after reaching that mark once in his first 14 outings this season.

Alex Bregman drove in Hernandez with a single in the sixth. The rookie has seven RBI in the last 11 games and is batting .312 in that time.

Houston has been outscored 29-11 during a four-game losing streak and surrendered eight or more runs in three straight games for the first time this season.

“The rollercoaster ride that we’ve been on is no fun when we’re in this portion of it,” Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. “This game will test your character, it’ll test your resolve, it’ll test your ability to come back from adversity and this is another test for us. We’ve got the better part of six weeks left in the regular season, and we need to compile some wins.”

UP NEXT

Cardinals: RHP Adam Wainwright (9-7, 4.72 ERA) starts against Philadelphia on Friday. Wainwright is looking for his eighth season with 10 or more wins and needs four to tie Dizzy Dean (134) on the Cardinals career list.

Astros: RHP Joe Musgrove (1-0, 1.47 ERA) starts against Baltimore on Thursday after getting his first major league win against Toronto on Friday.

— Associated Press —

HOUSTON (AP) — Tommy Pham and Jedd Gyorko each homered to help the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Houston Astros 8-5 on Tuesday night.

The Cardinals roughed up ace Dallas Keuchel (7-12) to overcome a rocky outing from starter Jaime Garcia (10-8). Garcia gave up five runs and seven hits in five innings, including three home runs.

The Astros dropped their third in a row, and the Cardinals won their third straight on the day they learned outfielder Matt Holliday and reliever Seth Maness are headed for the disabled list. Holliday will have surgery on his right thumb and could miss the remainder of the regular season, while Maness will have Tommy John surgery, likely sidelining him until 2018.

Seung Hwan Oh pitched a scoreless ninth, striking out three, for his 12th save.

Keuchel had his second rough start in the last two weeks. The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner allowed six runs and six hits in five innings Tuesday after allowing seven runs in five innings in Detroit on July 31, matching his season high for runs allowed.

Houston’s Alex Bregman hit his first major league home run in the first in his 78th career at-bat. Houston erased a 2-0 first-inning deficit with Bregman’s homer, a solo homer from Marwin Gonzalez and an RBI single from Jose Altuve.

The Cardinals evened the score 4-4 in the fifth with Pham’s two-run homer and later extended the lead to 8-4 when Gyorko homered off reliever Pat Neshek for his 18th of the season.

Yadier Molina added two RBI for St. Louis despite going 0 for 4.

Jason Castro had a solo home run for Houston in the sixth.

Altuve singled in the ninth for his 1,000th career hit, becoming the fastest player in franchise history to reach the milestone, doing it in 786 games. Cesar Cedeno previously held the record, reaching 1,000 hits in 889 games, one game faster than Jeff Bagwell.

TRAINING ROOM

Cardinals: Holliday will have surgery Wednesday on his right thumb. Holliday was hit by a pitch against the Cubs last Thursday and could be sidelined through September. … The Cardinals recalled RHP Sam Tuivailala from Triple-A Memphis.

Astros: P Lance McCullers (elbow soreness) will take another week away from throwing, manager A.J. Hinch said. McCullers was placed on the 15-day disabled list on Aug. 3. … IF Luis Valbuena (hamstring) ran bases Tuesday and took batting practice, with expectations of starting a rehab assignment soon. Valbuena strained his right hamstring on July 27. … OF Colby Rasmus did light conditioning Tuesday for the first time after undergoing a procedure last Wednesday to remove a cyst in his right ear. He was placed on the disabled list on Aug. 7 and hopes to return around the start of September.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: Carlos Martinez (10-7, 3.34) will try to get his first win in four starts. He has a 7.36 ERA across his first two August starts after entering the month with a 2.99 ERA on the season.

Astros: Doug Fister (11-7, 3.61) looks to replicate earlier success against St. Louis. He allowed five hits and two runs in 7 1/3 innings against the Cardinals on June 14, earning the win. He also won his last start against Minnesota despite allowing five runs and eight hits in seven innings.

— Associated Press —

CHICAGO (AP) — Stephen Piscotty hit a three-run homer, Brandon Moss followed with a solo shot one out later and the St. Louis Cardinals used a five-run eighth inning to beat the Chicago Cubs 6-4 on Sunday night.

Piscotty hit his 17th homer off setup man Hector Rondon (2-3), who entered with a 3-1 lead in his first appearance since Aug. 2 because of a triceps injury. After pinch-hitter Kolten Wong and Greg Garcia singled, Piscotty lofted a shot to deep left-center field that put the Cardinals ahead 4-3.

Moss added his 21st homer, then Randal Grichuk doubled in a run off Travis Wood.

The Cardinals split a four-game series with major league-leading Chicago, which dropped its second straight following an 11-game winning streak.

Cubs starter John Lackey allowed only one unearned run and four hits before leaving with two outs in the seventh with an injury. Anthony Rizzo went 3 for 4 with a solo homer and three RBI, and Ben Zobrist knocked in a run with a sac fly.

Lackey was sailing along and struck out five in his fourth straight solid start. But right-hander grimaced in pain after throwing a pitch to Grichuk. Lackey walked off the field and was replaced by Justin Grimm, who struck out Grichuk.

Matt Bowman (2-4) got three outs in the seventh in relief of Mike Leake for the win. Leake allowed three runs on six hits in six innings and retired 16 in a row over one stretch despite entering with a 9.00 ERA in his previous four starts.

Cardinals closer Seung Hwan Oh got the final five outs, including three strikeouts in the ninth, for his 11th save in 12 chances.

Garcia snapped an 0-for-31 streak with a single with one out in the third, then came around to score an unearned run on Zobrist’s throwing error to make it 2-1.

Leake settled into a pitchers’ duel with Lackey with a little help from his defense.

St. Louis third baseman Jhonny Peralta made a diving stop, rolled and threw to first in one motion on Addison Russell’s sharp grounder in the fourth.

Kris Bryant ended Leake’s run with a triple to right-center with one out in the sixth. He scored on Rizzo’s second RBI single to make it 3-1.

After the Cardinals took a 6-3 lead in the eighth, Rizzo hit his 25th homer in the bottom half.

LET’S PLAY TWO

Cubs manager Joe Maddon says he’d have no problem with MLB shortening the season by adding more doubleheaders, but not drawn-out day-night twinbills. Maddon would be for second games starting 30 minutes after the end of the first, and for teams adding two players to their rosters.

“I think the fans would dig it, too,” said Maddon, while noting he understands the economics of day-night doubleheaders with separate admissions. “If you have to put a premium on the price tag, I don’t know.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: OF Matt Holliday (broken right thumb) is expected to be re-examined by the team’s hand specialist on Monday. . St. Louis LHP Kevin Siegrist left after striking out Zobrist in the eight with an apparent injury and was replaced by Oh.

Cubs: Rondon said before the game he was “100 percent ready.” He allowed four runs in 1/3 of an inning.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: Following a day off Monday, LHP Jaime Garcia (9-8, 3.93) opens a two-game set in Houston against LHP Dallas Keuchel (7-11, 4.56). St. Louis also has Thursday off, but manager Mike Matheny plans no changes to his strained rotation.

Cubs: Chicago also has Monday off, then hosts Milwaukee in a day-night doubleheader Tuesday. RHP Trevor Cahill (1-3, 3.07) is expected to come off the DL (right knee tendinitis) and start in the opener against Brewers RHP Matt Garza (4-4, 4.83). Chicago’s Jason Hammel (12-5, 2.90) is 5-0 with a 1.16 ERA since the All-Star break and will take the mound in the nightcap against RHP Chase Anderson (7-10, 4.93).

— Associated Press —