ST. LOUIS (AP) — Ryan Howard still gets psyched up to play in St. Louis.

The Philadelphia first baseman homered and Aaron Nola threw seven innings to lead the Phillies to a 1-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday night.

Philadelphia has won seven of eight while St. Louis has lost five of six.

Howard, a St. Louis native, has 12 homers and 40 RBI in 36 games in Busch Stadium.

“This is home, this is where it all began for me,” Howard said. “I guess, being at home, I do feel I see the ball a lot better.”

Howard has 22 homers in 66 career games against the Cardinals, his favorite boyhood team.

“For some reason guys hit well in certain ballparks,” Philadelphia manager Pete Mackanin said. “It was good to see him bust out.”

Howard broke out of an 0-for-12 skid with a sixth-inning homer off Michael Wacha (2-2) that traveled 411 feet. Howard, who attended Lafayette High in the St. Louis suburb of Wildwood, picked on the first pitch.

“I was just looking for something up in the zone,” Howard said. “He does a great job of keeping the ball down and putting it where he wants to put it. He kind of left that one over the middle and I tried to take advantage of it.”

Wacha admitted he made a mistake.

“A backed up cutter, I left it over the middle,” Wacha said. “He put a good swing on it. He doesn’t miss those.”

Nola (2-2) allowed two hits and struck out seven in a career-high 111-pitch stint. He has a string of 20 consecutive scoreless innings dating to April 22. Nola, who retired the last 10 batters, has given up one run or fewer in four of six starts this season.

“I feel like I’m mixing my pitches in well,” Nola said. “I’ve been trying to throw my changeup a little more. And tonight, when I did it, I felt like I used it efficiently.”

Jeanmar Gomez picked up his ninth save in as many opportunities. Hector Neris struck out the side in the eighth.

Right fielder Peter Bourjos made a diving catch of a sinking liner by Randal Grichuk to end the fourth inning with Yadier Molina on base.

Wacha gave up one run and five hits in eight innings. He struck out eight and walked three.

“What a great outing, he had everything,” St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said. “It’s shame we weren’t able to get a little more going offensively.”

The Cardinals also threatened in the first inning. Matt Carpenter led off with a double, but Nola retired the next three hitters in order.

LATE SHOW

The Cardinals have scored a major league-best 61 runs after the sixth inning this season. They have hit 19 home runs in that stretch, also tops in the majors.

TRAINER’S ROOM:

Cardinals: OF Tommy Pham, who took batting practice on Monday, will likely go out on a rehab assignment in the next few days. Pham has missed 26 games after being placed on the DL with a left oblique strain on April 4.

UP NEXT

Phillies: LHP Adam Morgan (0-0, 5.40) will make his second start of the season in the third game of the four-game series on Wednesday. Morgan gave up three runs in five innings of a 4-3 win over Cleveland on Friday.

Cardinals: RHP Mike Leake (0-3, 5.83) will start for the Cardinals. He has given up four or more runs in all five starts this season. Leake, who was signed as a free agent on Dec. 23 after six years with Cincinnati, is 2/3 with a 6.00 ERA in eight career starts against Phillies.

— Associated Press —

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Adam Wainwright pitched six innings and hit a three-run home run — the first of five for St. Louis — as the Cardinals snapped a four-game losing streak with a 10-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Monday night.

Matt Adams, rookie Aledmys Diaz and Randal Grichuk added solo homers and Kolten Wong hit a two-run homer to help St. Louis overcome a 3-0 deficit and avoid its first five-game slide since losing seven straight from July 26-31, 2013.

Wainwright, who has struggled since missing most of last season with an Achilles tendon injury, has won two straight. Wainwright (2-3) was the last Cardinals pitcher to get a win after yielding four runs over 5 1/3 innings in an 11-4 rout at Arizona on April 27.

In this victory, Wainwright pitched six innings, allowing three runs and five hits. He improved to 6-2 in 11 career starts against the Phillies.

Phillies starter Jeremy Hellickson (2-2) got chased after 5 1/3 innings. In his first outing against St. Louis since 2011, Hellickson gave up six runs, seven hits and four walks as the Phillies had a six-game winning streak ended.

The Cardinals tied the game 3-3 in the fourth inning when Wainwright walloped a three-run homer 408 feet into the second deck in left field. Wainwright hit a 3-1 fastball for his seventh career home run and first since Sept. 5, 2012, against the New York Mets.

In his previous two plate appearances, Wainwright had extra base hits. He doubled in the first inning and hit a bases-loaded triple in his last at-bat against Arizona.

St. Louis made it 5-3 on back-to-back home runs by Adams and Diaz to start the sixth. Diaz’ 417-foot blast, his fifth, went into the second deck in left field. The sixth run came on Stephen Piscotty’s RBI single.

Wong hit his first homer of the season with two outs in the eighth and Grichuk followed with a solo shot, giving St. Louis a 9-3 lead.

St. Louis hit six homers in a 14-3 win over Cincinnati on April 15.

The final run for the Cardinals came on an RBI single by Brandon Moss.

The Phillies took a 3-0 lead in the third on three singles and a walk. Freddy Galvis drove in two runs with a bases-loaded double to left.

BATTING EIGHTH

The Phillies hit their pitcher in the eighth slot in the lineup for the 11th straight game. Philadelphia is 9-2 with that arrangement.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Phillies: LF Cody Asche, who has been on the 15-day DL due to a Grade 1 strain of his right oblique he suffered in February, took some swings before the game as he starts to begin some baseball activities.

Cardinals: OF Tommy Pham, who sustained a left oblique strain on Opening Day, took batting practice for the first time Monday since going on the DL April. 4. It is expected Pham may begin a minor league rehab assignment later this week. He has missed 25 games.

UP NEXT

Phillies: Aaron Nola (1-2, 3.55) will make his first career appearance against St. Louis. Nola’s last two starts have been solid. The 22-year-old rookie, who was the Phillies’ 2014 first-round draft pick, threw seven innings of one-run, four-hit ball in a 5-2 win in Milwaukee on April 22. In his last outing, Nola allowed two hits during seven innings in a 3-0 win at Washington but did not get the decision.

Cardinals: Michael Wacha (2-1, 3.07) will make his sixth start of the season. He has a 2.16 ERA in his last four starts with the Cardinals winning three games. He threw a season-high seven innings in his last start, a 3-0 loss at Arizona. He had a season-high nine strikeouts but gave up two home runs after not allowing any in his first four starts.

— Associated Press —

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Max Scherzer always makes sure to eat some toasted ravioli when he comes back to Missouri.

After he pitched seven strong innings Sunday to beat his hometown team for the first time, maybe Scherzer should have the St. Louis specialty more often.

“That’s the best I’ve seen Max this year,” Washington Nationals manager Dusty Baker said after his team completed a three-game sweep of the Cardinals with a 6-1 victory. “Sharp with the breaking ball, good velocity. . It was Max’s day. Max kept us in the game until our offense did something.”

Clint Robinson and Danny Espinosa hit back-to-back home runs, providing the power for Washington on a day when NL MVP Bryce Harper struck out all four times up.

Scherzer (3-1), who grew up in suburban St. Louis, struck out nine and scattered four singles. He didn’t allow a runner past first base, earning his first win in five career starts against the Cardinals.

“I instantly could feel like I was on top of the ball and anytime I needed it the fastball was down at the knees,” Scherzer said. “That’s when I’m at my best. When I can throw the fastball early in the counts and throw strikes in and away, it just sets up all my stuff.”

By finishing the weekend sweep, the Nationals emphatically ended years of frustration at Busch Stadium. It was their first series win in St. Louis since May 2007. Washington improved to 17-7 overall, the best start in club history through 24 games.

The Cardinals have lost four straight and dropped to 5-7 at home this season. St. Louis went 55-26 at home in 2015.

Carlos Martinez (4-1) needed only 63 pitches to get through his first five innings but was charged with four runs and seven hits in 6 2/3 innings. He walked none and struck out eight, including Harper three times.

Martinez left the Cardinals briefly late last week to address a personal matter. The 24-year-old right-hander is the subject of a civil lawsuit filed against him by a woman in West Palm Beach, Florida, near the team’s spring training site in Jupiter.

The lawsuit filed in Miami seeks more than $1.5 million and accuses the pitcher of a negligent transmission of a sexually transmitted disease. It seeks actual and special damages along with mental anguish and exemplary damages. It also seeks punitive damages because of outrageous actions.

Martinez’s attorney has said the claims are false. The pitcher mostly avoided the issue after the game.

“I’m pretty sure I am healthy and I’m pretty sure I’m feeling good and I’m pretty sure I know who I am and at the same time, this is not part of the job,” Martinez said through a translator. “That’s for my lawyer and agent to take care of.”

Matt den Dekker snapped Martinez’s 16-inning scoreless streak with a single in the sixth to score Jose Lobaton, breaking a scoreless tie.

The home runs by Robinson and Espinoza came on consecutive pitches in the seventh, quickly turning a one-run game into a 4-0 Nationals lead.

“He had one of his best fastballs he’s had yet,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said of Martinez. “Command of his off-speed stuff just one inning got him.”

Five of the Nationals’ runs came on first-pitch swings.

“The best pitch to hit, especially with runners in scoring position, is the first pitch because the pitcher’s going to try to get ahead of you and then he’s going to go to work on you,” Baker said. “So you’ve got to get to work on him before they go to work on you.”

Daniel Murphy added an RBI double in the eighth, and pinch-hitter Chris Heisey homered in the ninth.

Scherzer also had a pair of hits, the second of which chased Martinez. Scherzer’s bunt moved Lobaton into scoring position ahead of den Dekker’s single.

Brandon Moss’ opposite-field home run with two outs in the ninth kept the Cardinals from being shut out.

MOLINA KEPT OFF THE BASES

Yadier Molina went 0 for 3, snapping an 11-game hitting streak and an 18-game streak of reaching base safely. Ted Simmons was the last Cardinals catcher to reach base safely in 19 straight when he reached in 30 consecutive games in 1979.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Nationals: C Wilson Ramos was activated from the bereavement list, and C Pedro Severino was optioned to Triple-A Syracuse.

Cardinals: SS Jhonny Peralta (thumb) took grounders and threw to first for the first time since his injury in spring training. He also took controlled swings, but there is no specific timetable yet for his return.

UP NEXT

Nationals: LHP Gio Gonzalez (1-1, 1.42 ERA) gets the start as Washington begins a three-game series at Kansas City on Monday night. Gonzalez is 3-3 with a 7.49 ERA in eight career starts against the Royals, who counter with RHP Edinson Volquez (3-1, 3.34).

Cardinals: RHP Adam Wainwright (1-3, 7.16 ERA) starts the opener of a four-game series against the visiting Phillies on Monday night. Wainwright helped himself by hitting a three-run triple to earn the win in his last start. The Phillies will start RHP Jeremy Hellickson (2-1, 3.81).

— Associated Press —

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Jayson Werth is finding his stroke for a team that wrapped up a big first month.

Werth’s three-run home run capped a four-run first inning and Joe Ross had another stingy outing for the Washington Nationals in a 6-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday.

“The way things have been going, I feel like I can’t just catch a break,” Werth said. “I think it got us going, it got me going. Hopefully I can build on that and we can get this thing rolling.”

Ross (3-0) allowed one run on six hits in six innings, raising his ERA to 0.79. He has given up only two runs in 22 2/3 innings and bounced back nicely after skipping a turn because of a blister on his middle finger.

“I felt good, I felt pretty strong,” Ross said. “There wasn’t really like an inning or two of trying to settle in, so I think the time off, I guess, paid off for me.”

Manager Dusty Baker said he just kept an eye on the right-hander.

“He got out of trouble a couple times and made some pitches when he had to,” Baker said. “He wasn’t on a pitch limit, he was kind of on a performance limit.”

Werth added an RBI single in the eighth, his fifth in the first two games of a weekend series and 10th of the year, and raised his batting average to .211. With the victory, Washington clinched its first series win in St. Louis since May 25-27, 2007. It goes for a sweep Sunday after raising its record to 8-24 at 11-year-old Busch Stadium.

The NL East leaders are 16-7, their best start since moving from Montreal in 2005.

“You can’t win anything in April, but you can lose it,” Werth said. “We’ve got great chemistry.”

Opponents had been 2 for 13 with no runs in the first against Jaime Garcia (1-2) before the Nationals jumped on the lefty for four runs on three hits. Daniel Murphy had an RBI single before Werth hit his fourth over the left-field wall on a 2-1 changeup.

“I thought it stayed too much in the middle of the plate,” Garcia said. “I’ve just got to make a better pitch there.”

The Cardinals had two hits, a sacrifice bunt and Matt Carpenter’s sacrifice fly for a run in the fifth.

Garcia gave up only one more hit before leaving after 6 1/3 innings, striking out six and walking three. He entered the game 4-1 against Washington.

“My job is to keep us in the ballgame and give us a chance to win,” Garcia said. “I didn’t get the job done.”

Yadier Molina singled and doubled for an 11-game hitting streak and has reached safely in a career-best 18 straight games.

ON LEAVE

Carlos Martinez was given permission to leave the Cardinals on Friday to attend to a personal matter. Manager Mike Matheny said Martinez would start Sunday’s series finale.

SIGNIFICANT

Aledmys Diaz singled in the ninth for his 30th hit in April. Albert Pujols is the only other Cardinals rookie to do it, with 34 hits in 2001.

SLUMPING

St. Louis CF Jeremy Hazelbaker had two errors, one fielding and one throwing, and the second miscue resulted in an unearned run in the eighth. Randal Grichuk struck out pinch hitting in the seventh and is hitless in his last 16 at-bats.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Nationals C Wilson Ramos remained on the bereavement list while in Venezuela following the death of his grandfather.

UP NEXT

Washington RHP Max Scherzer (2-1, 4.35) is 0-1 with a 3.27 ERA in two career starts in his hometown. Martinez (4-0, 1.93) is among six pitchers in the majors to win the first four starts of the season.

— Associated Press —

PHOENIX (AP) — Rubby De La Rosa struck out a career-high 10 and pitched two-hit ball through seven innings, Chris Herrmann and Brandon Drury homered and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the St. Louis Cardinals 3-0 on Thursday night.

The Diamondbacks forced a split in the four-game series. De La Rosa (3-3) had been shaky this year and was demoted to the bullpen for a time but turned in his second straight strong start.

Herrmann’s two-run home run — after Drury’s blooper fell between center fielder Stephen Piscotty and shortstop Aledmys Diaz for a double — gave the Diamondbacks a 2-0 lead in the second. Drury lined a 2-1 pitch from Michael Wacha (2-1) into the left field seats for a solo shot in the fourth.

It was Drury’s second home run in two days.

— Associated Press —

PHOENIX (AP) — Adam Wainwright pitched into the sixth inning for his first win and hit a three-run triple in St. Louis’ fifth straight offensive outburst, lifting the Cardinals to an 11-4 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday night.

St. Louis scored 18 combined runs in two games to close out a sweep over San Diego and had 15 in splitting the first two against Arizona.

The Cardinals kept bashing, knocking around Patrick Corbin (1-3) and finishing with 14 hits, four by Stephen Piscotty.

Aledmys Diaz homered, scored three runs and had two RBI for the Cardinals, who have won four of five. Piscotty, Matt Carpenter and Matt Holiday also drove in two runs each.

Wainwright (1-3) gave up homers to Brandon Drury and Paul Goldschmidt but ended his worst start since 2012 behind the Cardinals’ big run support. He allowed four runs on seven hits and struck out five in 5 1/3 innings.

Wainwright has struggled since missing most of last season with an Achilles tendon injury, in part because of an inability to miss bats.

The two-time NL Cy Young Award runner up failed to strike out more than three batters in four straight starts for the first time since 2007. Wainwright, who has never had an ERA over 4.00 in a full season, has allowed at least three runs in every start this season and entered Wednesday’s game with a 7.25 ERA.

Drury certainly didn’t miss a hanging curveball by Wainwright in the second inning, lining it over the left field wall for a two-run homer.

Goldschmidt hit a ball even harder in the fourth inning, sending a towering solo homer to the deepest part of the park to put Arizona up 3-1.

But Corbin had his own struggles.

The left-hander limited the Cardinals to a run after scuffling in the first inning but couldn’t make it out of the sixth. St. Louis scored five runs in the inning — highlighted by Wainwright’s three-run triple over third base — to take a 7-3 lead.

Corbin allowed seven runs on seven hits and walked five in 5 2/3 innings.

Wainwright was pulled after David Peralta’s run-scoring single in the sixth cut the Cardinals’ lead to 7-4.

The Cardinals added to their lead in the seventh on Diaz’s run-scoring single and a two-run single by Carpenter.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Diamondbacks: RHP Josh Collmenter (shoulder) is scheduled to pitch in an extended spring training game on Thursday before going to Class A Visalia on a rehab assignment.

Cardinals: Holliday was back in the lineup after leaving Tuesday’s game with leg cramps.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: RHP Michael Wacha is 2-0 with a 1.50 ERA in his last three starts headed into Thursday’s series finale.

Diamondbacks: RHP Rubby De La Rosa has allowed one hit by a right-hander in their last 19 at-bats against him headed into Thursday’s start against the Cardinals.

— Associated Press —

PHOENIX (AP) — Carlos Martinez gave up three hits in eight scoreless innings, Brandon Moss and Stephen Piscotty homered and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 8-2 on Tuesday night.

Martinez (4-0) won for the fourth time in four starts. The 24-year-old right-hander held the Diamondbacks without a hit until David Peralta’s one-out single in the fourth.

Moss had four hits, including a three-run homer in the fifth inning. Piscotty added a two-run shot in the seventh.

Former Cardinal Shelby Miller (0-2) threw four scoreless innings before St. Louis broke through for five runs in the fifth.

Still, it was a small step forward for Miller, who had battled control issues and hadn’t made it past the second inning in his previous two outings.

Jake Lamb and Yasmany Tomas homered for Arizona off reliever Tyler Lyons in the ninth.

Martinez struck out four, walked one and hit a batter. Besides Peralta’s single, the other hits off him were Jean Segura’s sixth-inning single and Tomas’ seventh-inning double.

Chris Owings, an infielder shifted to the outfield with A.J. Pollock’s injury, showed his inexperience in center in the Cardinals’ big fourth inning. With runners at first and second and one out, Owings broke the wrong way, then made a diving attempt to catch Piscotty’s fly ball. The ball bounced off of Owings’ glove and rolled away for an RBI double.

Randal Grichuk followed with an RBI sacrifice fly, then Moss hit Miller’s 1-0 pitch into the right-field seats, his fifth home run of the season, and it was 5-0.

Miller went five innings, allowing five runs and five hits. He struck out six and walked four.

POWER SURGE

St. Louis and Arizona entered the game tied with the most home runs in the majors at 30 apiece. Only they kept it up on Tuesday.

They each have 32 homers, the Cardinals through 20 games, the Diamondbacks through 22.

Nine St. Louis batters have homered this year, led by Moss and Jeremy Hazelbaker with five apiece. Ten Diamondbacks have homered, led by Paul Goldschmidt’s five.

Arizona has home runs in seven straight games.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: OF Matt Holliday was out of the lineup as a precaution after leaving Monday night’s game with a right leg cramp.

Diamondbacks: RHP Josh Collmenter (right shoulder tightness) threw one inning (11 pitches) in an extended spring training game on Monday, then pitched another inning in the bullpen. He is to pitch in another extended spring training game on Thursday before going to Class A Visalia on a rehab assignment.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: RHP Adam Wainwright (0-3, 7.25 ERA) takes the mound for St. Louis still looking for his first win of the season.

Diamondbacks: LHP Patrick Corbin (1-2, 3.51) makes his fifth start of the season, in the third game of the four-game series with the Cardinals.

— Associated Press —

PHOENIX (AP) — Jean Segura is batting a cool .400 in his home ballpark after the four hits he registered Monday night in the Arizona Diamondbacks’ 12-7 win over the St. Louis Cardinals.

One of the four hits was a go-ahead three-run home run in the sixth inning that came during a historic turn at bat for the Diamondbacks.

“I was not ready for an inside pitch. I just reacted to that pitch and I just hit it out,” Segura, a first-year Diamondback, said. Then he was asked about hitting at Chase Field. “Even when I was a visitor I loved to play here. Everything is going to my favorite side.”

Segura’s blast highlighted Arizona’s nine-run sixth inning and made ace Zack Greinke a winner despite allowing seven runs. The Cardinals bullpen was rocked in the sixth after starter Jaime Garcia was removed with two runners on base.

Greinke (2-2) lasted 6 2/3 innings and gave up 11 hits. He’s surrendered 21 runs in five starts and has a 6.16 earned run average.

“I thought I did all right. It’s just kind of embarrassing giving up seven runs thinking you did all right,” Greinke said. “I’ll take it, as long as it’s not like that all the time.”

Matt Bowman (0-1) gave up a run-scoring single to Chris Owings, his second RBI of the night, and Greinke helped himself by bouncing a single through a drawn-in infield that was expecting a bunt with two strikes.

Kevin Siegrist entered with one out and served up Segura’s fourth home run of the season, a line drive into the left field seats. Siegrist then put two runners on and was taken out in favor of Seth Maness, who surrendered Yasmany Tomas’ RBI double, Welington Castillo’s two-run single and another RBI single for Owings.

“The guys battled back again,” Arizona manager Chip Hale said. “It’s a real relentless attitude.”

The three relievers were charged with six combined earned runs. The nine-run inning tied for the third-most productive in Diamondbacks history and most ever for Arizona against St. Louis in one inning, and those in the crowd cheering for the home team gave it a standing ovation with the final out after 14 batters came up the plate.

“We put up those kind of runs against a pitcher like Greinke, we’ve got to figure out a way to get it done,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. “Siegrist was our most rested guy and it ended being a rough inning for us.”

Rookie Jeremy Hazelbaker, a mid-game injury replacement, hit a two-run home run in his first at-bat of the game for St. Louis. Hazelbaker took Greinke deep with two outs in the top of the fifth inning to give the Cardinals a 5-2 lead.

DIAMONDBACKS MOVES

The Diamondbacks did some re-arranging of their bullpen before Monday’s game. Pitchers Dominic Leone and Keith Hessler were recalled from the minors, Leone from Triple-A Reno and Hessler from Double-A Mobile. Relievers Evan Marshall and Tyler Wagner were optioned to Reno.

OOPS

St. Louis CF Randal Grichuk completely misjudged Tomas’ line drive to center field in the second inning, and it ended up costing the Cardinals a run. Grichuck came in for the ball but it sailed over his head and bounced off the wall without him getting a glove on it to slow it down. Tomas scored later in the inning.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: Matt Holliday grounded out to third for the second out of the third inning, then Hazelbacker took over in left field in the bottom of the inning. Holliday is listed as day to day. “It was tight when he was heading down to first base and we had to get him out,” Matheny said. … Carpenter fell trying to field a bouncing ball from Arizona Jean Segura in the first inning. A trainer came out to check on him but Carpenter stayed in the game.

Diamondbacks: Pitcher Josh Collmenter, on the 15-day disabled list since April 2 with right shoulder inflammation, threw an inning Monday in an extended spring training game and is scheduled to pitch next on Thursday.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: RHP Carlos Martinez (3-0) looks to stay undefeated when he faces the Diamondbacks Tuesday night. It’ll be his 40th career start. The Cardinals have won every game in which he has appeared against Arizona (5-0).

Diamondbacks: Former Cardinal Shelby Miller (0-1) faces his former team on Tuesday. Miller is 1-1 with a 0.59 ERA against the Cardinals in his career. He went 26-18 in 63 starts for St. Louis from 2012-14.

— Associated Press —

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Jedd Gyorko didn’t mind being booed when he returned to San Diego with the St. Louis Cardinals.

After all, what better revenge than going 6 for 11 with two homers, a triple, four RBI and three runs scored in the three-game series? All that and he didn’t even start the opener Friday night.

Gyorko homered, tripled and singled, and rookie Aledmys Diaz had a homer among his three hits as the Cardinals rallied to beat the Padres 8-5 on Sunday to take two of three.

“I heard it, but it is what it is,” Gyorko said about the booing. “People are going to do whatever they want, so if that’s what makes them happy, they can keep booing.”

Gyorko was traded to the Cardinals in December for Jon Jay. A second-round pick of the Padres in 2010, he spent his first three big league seasons with San Diego, receiving a $35 million contract extension early in his second big league season.

“I think especially when he got the reception that he got, it’s always nice to stick it to the team you were with before,” manager Mike Matheny said. “It’s pretty common in this game. You give a guy a chance to go back and play against a team that he was with and seems like it’s usually a pretty good opportunity for them to do something special, and Jedd had a real nice couple days for us.”

Added Gyorko: “I hope when I go back to St. Louis they boo me there, too, because it worked out pretty well.”

Gyorko had two chances to complete the cycle but flied out to left and grounded out to third in his final at-bats. Randal Grichuk had three hits and three RBI for St. Louis.

“I think that was my second career triple, so I haven’t been very close ever, so I think I wasted my best chance to get one,” Gyorko said.

“He hit the ball well against us,” San Diego manager Andy Green said. “We weren’t able to execute against him, probably more than anybody else. We ended up having to come to him a number of times by missing early in the count. He found himself in hitter’s counts and he did damage against us. Tip your cap.”

San Diego’s bullpen imploded for the second straight game. Kevin Quackenbush allowed consecutive homers to Gyorko and Diaz in the sixth to tie it, and Brandon Maurer (0-1) gave up three runs in the eighth, including Matt Carpenter’s go-ahead, RBI triple with one out and Grichuk’s two-run double with two outs.

In the last two games, San Diego’s bullpen allowed 15 runs, all earned, on 18 hits in eight innings, with four homers, four walks and five strikeouts. The Cardinals won 11-2 Saturday night, scoring 10 runs in the final three innings.

Kevin Siegrest (3-0) pitched the seventh for the win. Trevor Rosenthal pitched the ninth for his fifth save in as many chances.

The Padres gave Colin Rea a 5-3 lead after five, but Quackenbush allowed back-to-back homers to the only batters he faced, Gyorko and Diaz, which tied it in the sixth.

Gyorko homered to right, his third, on a 2-0 pitch. Diaz homered to left, his third, on a 0-1 pitch.

Diaz had his first five-hit game Saturday night while Gyorko had a three-run homer.

Cardinals starter Mike Leake, who went to high school in northern San Diego County, helped his own cause and gave the Cardinals a 3-2 lead when he singled in Gyorko with one out in the fourth. Gyorko was aboard on a leadoff triple to right.

San Diego tied it in the bottom of the inning on Christian Bethancourt’s solo homer into the bullpen in left-center with two outs. It was his first.

Bethancourt, who had a rough first inning by allowing a passed ball and a stolen base, also hit a sacrifice fly in the second.

Leake allowed five runs, three earned, on seven hits in five innings. He struck out four and walked two.

“Great offense today,” Leake said. “We came in and did what we needed to do this series, and took two out of three, so it’s a good series.”

The Cardinals got consecutive RBI singles by Grichuk and Yadier Molina with two outs in the first.

Rea allowed five runs, four earned, on seven hits in five innings, with three strikeouts and two walks.

NEXT UP

Cardinals: St. Louis continues its seven-game trip through the NL West when it opens a four-game series Monday night at Arizona. Scheduled starter LHP Jaime Garcia (1-1, 2.70) has made five career starts against Arizona and is 5-0 with a 2.51 ERA.

Padres: LHP Drew Pomeranz (2-1, 2.04) is scheduled to start Monday night in the opener of a three-game series at San Francisco, which will counter with LHP Madison Bumgarner (1-2, 3.91).

— Associated Press —-

ST. LOUIS (AP) — St. Louis right-hander Carlos Martinez is ready to show his appreciation to outfielder Randal Grichuk.

Grichuk robbed Anthony Rizzo of a home run with an over-the-wall catch in the first inning on Wednesday to help Martinez settle into seven strong innings, and the Cardinals beat the Chicago Cubs 5-3 to avoid a sweep to their NL Central rivals.

“It was so big I’m going to pay him a dinner in San Diego,” Martinez said.

Matt Holliday homered and the Cardinals scored twice in each of the first two innings against Kyle Hendricks (1-2).

Chicago, the first team in the majors to 11 wins, had won three of its previous four and took the first two games of the series.

Martinez (3-0) allowed three hits and one run. He struck out five and walked three in recording his third quality start in three outings this season.

Grichuk’s highlight-reel catch seemed to provide a perfect lift for Martinez.

“It’s the second robbed homer I’ve gotten to,” Grichuk said. “Definitely being the Cubs in a big game, it’s probably my top one.”

The game was delayed 3 hours, 21 minutes by rain in the middle of the seventh. Grichuk, who jumped and reached over the wall with his glove, joked that he watched the replay of his grab 72 times during the stoppage.

Martinez seemed to get better as the game went along and retired the last six batters he faced.

“He had more of a feel than straight power,” St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said.

Martinez also added a run-scoring hit in the second to push the lead to 4-0.

Trevor Rosenthal got his fourth save by striking out the side in the ninth. It was his 100th career save.

Holliday hit a two-run shot in the first off Hendricks, who gave up seven hits and four runs over 5 1/3 innings.

Cubs starters had gotten through the sixth inning in 14 straight games to begin the season, a streak that matched the 1910 team for the franchise record.

“It was just a battle today,” Hendricks said. “It kind of started in the bullpen. I just didn’t have it.”

Holliday has three homers, including two in a 14-3 win over Cincinnati on Friday. He managed just four during last year’s injury-plagued campaign.

Yadier Molina pushed the lead to 5-3 with an RBI single in the eighth off reliever Adam Warren.

The Cubs are 7-2 on the road and have outscored their opponents by 43 runs this season, the largest differential in the majors.

Chicago manager Joe Maddon was pleased with the way his team battled back from 4-1 down to get to within one after the lengthy delay.

“I was really impressed with the way we went about our business,” Maddon said. “They were chirpy in the clubhouse the whole time.”

BREAKING OUT

St. Louis outfielder Stephen Piscotty broke out of an 0-for-10 slump with a double in the first inning.

TRYING TO CHANGE THE TREND

Chicago, which won two of three against St. Louis, is looking to capture the season series for the first time since 2010.

UP NEXT:

Cubs: RHP Jake Arrieta (3-0, 1.23) will open a four-game series at Cincinnati against LHP Brandon Finnegan (1-0, 2.04) on Thursday. Arrieta has recorded three straight quality starts to begin the season.

Cardinals: RHP Adam Wainwright (0-2, 8.57) will kick off a three-game series at San Diego on Friday against RHP Andrew Cashner (0-1, 5.40). Wainwright is 6-2 lifetime against the Padres and has won his last three starts against them.

— Associated Press —