Jake Westbrook pitched 6 1-3 innings of two-run ball and contributed three hits, All-Star Matt Carpenter continued his strong season with three hits and three RBIs, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the San Diego Padres 9-6 on Friday night.

A career .116 hitter, Westbrook had never had more than one hit in a game. The right-hander, who scored twice and had an RBI, surpassed his hit output for the year with two singles and a double in his three at-bats. That raised his batting from .100 to .217.

On the mound, Westbrook (6-4) scattered eight hits while striking out one and walking four.

After rookie Carlos Martinez allowed three runs in the ninth to make it a three-run game, All-Star Edward Mujica got the last two outs to record his 27th save in 29 chances.

Fellow All-Stars Carlos Beltran and Yadier Molina each drove in two runs for the Cardinals, with Beltran contributing two sacrifice flies and Molina a two-run double in the seventh.

St. Louis reached a season-best 22 games over .500 (58-36) and owns the best winning percentage in the majors (.617).

The Padres’ lone All-Star representative, Everth Cabrera, drove in two runs with a two-run single off Westbrook in the seventh. San Diego, which lost 18 of 22 to conclude the first half, fell to 15-32 on the road and 74-149 in St. Louis (6-19 at new Busch Stadium).

Former Cardinal Jason Marquis (9-5) lost his third straight. Marquis, who has not won since beating Arizona 6-4 on June 15, was touched for six runs on eight hits and three walks.

Marquis blanked the Cardinals the first two innings before Westbrook led off the third with a single to center. He later scored on Beltran’s sacrifice fly to center.

Two innings later, Westbrook started another rally when he doubled over right fielder Will Venable’s head to begin the fifth. Carpenter followed with an RBI double to the gap in left center and he scored on Beltran’s sacrifice fly one out later that made it 3-0.

The Cardinals broke it open and chased Marquis by scoring three times in the sixth. With the bases loaded and one out, Westbrook coaxed a single through the middle to drive in Matt Adams. Carpenter then drove home two more with an RBI single to center.

— Associated Press —

Yadier Molina hit a three-run homer in St. Louis’ four-run ninth inning, and the Cardinals beat the Chicago Cubs 10-6 on Sunday night in the majors’ final game before the All-Star break.

Allen Craig lined a tiebreaking RBI single into left field before Molina drove an 0-2 pitch from Kevin Gregg (2-2) over the wall in left for his seventh homer. Craig and Molina tuned up for Tuesday’s game in New York with four hits apiece, helping St. Louis to a season-high 21 hits overall.

Chicago went up 4-3 on Darwin Barney’s three-run homer in the sixth and pinch hitter Cody Ransom had a tying two-run double in the eighth, but the Cubs’ bullpen was unable to hold off the NL’s highest-scoring team.

Pete Kozma had two RBI singles as the Cardinals won for the seventh time in nine games to salvage a split of the four-game series. Edward Mujica (2-1) had his second blown save opportunity in 28 chances, but managed to get the win on the same day he was chosen to replace teammate Adam Wainwright on the NL All-Star team.

Despite injuries to key pitchers Chris Carpenter, Jaime Garcia and Jason Motte, St. Louis heads to the All-Star break with baseball’s best record at 57-36. It leads the NL Central by one game over surprising Pittsburgh, which lost 4-2 to the New York Mets earlier in the day.

Barney also had a run-scoring single for the Cubs, who went 6-4 on a 10-game stretch in Chicago that included a makeup game at the crosstown White Sox last Monday. The four RBIs for Barney matched a career high set in a 14-4 victory against Pittsburgh on July 30, 2012.

After a slow start, the Cubs (42-51) are a respectable 24-21 in their last 45 games. It’s good enough for a four-game improvement compared to last year at this point, when the North Siders were 38-55 on their way to their first 100-loss season since 1966.

The Cardinals carried a 3-1 lead into the sixth, but Wainwright got into trouble after Alfonso Soriano began the inning with a fly ball to the warning track in right. Dioner Navarro and Brian Bogusevic then hit consecutive singles to put runners on first and second.

Wainwright bounced back to strike out Dave Sappelt, but his first pitch to Barney was up and over the plate, and he drove it into the basket in left field for his sixth homer.

That proved to be just a minor little speed bump for the Cardinals, who used four hits to regain the lead during a two-run seventh. Kozma singled in Molina to tie it at 4 and eventually came around on Matt Carpenter’s bouncer into center field.

Adams tacked on an RBI double in eighth, setting the stage for the wild finish.

Travis Wood, who will represent the Cubs at the All-Star festivities, allowed three runs and a season-high 10 hits in 5 2-3 innings. It matched the shortest outing of the year for the consistent lefty, who pitched at least six innings in 17 of his first 18 starts.

Molina was out of the starting lineup for St. Louis’ 6-4 loss on Saturday night and began the night in a 1-for-19 rut covering his previous seven games. But he singled in each of his first two at-bats and forced Bogusevic to make a leaping catch against the wall in center in the eighth.

— Associated Press —

Matt Garza pitched into the seventh inning for his fifth consecutive win and Alfonso Soriano homered again, leading the Chicago Cubs to a 6-4 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday night.

Garza allowed a season-high 10 hits in 6 2-3 innings, but held the NL’s highest scoring offense to two runs while improving to 5-0 with a 1.24 ERA in his last six starts. With a handful of scouts from several contenders watching his every move, the right-hander struck out four and walked two.

Garza’s hot stretch has made him one of the top names on the market ahead of the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline. But he also is eligible for free agency after the season, adding a tricky element to the negotiations between any interested team and a Cubs franchise looking for more top-level prospects for its rebuilding project.

Jon Jay had four hits and Matt Adams went 2 for 4 for St. Louis, which had won six of seven, including a 3-2 victory in the second game of the four-game series on Friday night. Lance Lynn was knocked out in the fifth inning in his second-shortest outing of the season.

The Cardinals played without outfielder Matt Holliday, who left Thursday’s night’s 3-0 loss to Chicago due to tightness in his right hamstring. All-Star catcher Yadier Molina was out of the starting lineup on his 31st birthday, but he hit for Rob Johnson in the eighth and stayed in the game.

Molina reached on an error by right fielder Julio Borbon, loading the bases with one out. Matt Carpenter hit a sacrifice fly, trimming the Cubs’ lead to 6-3, but James Russell got Daniel Descalso to fly out to end the inning.

Kevin Gregg allowed Jay’s two-out RBI single in the ninth before retiring Pete Kozma with runners on the corners for his 17th save in 19 chances.

Tony Cruz started for St. Louis at catcher and singled in Adams in the second. But he also was called for interference during Chicago’s three-run rally in the bottom half, setting up Starlin Castro’s dribbler up the third base line for an RBI single.

Soriano drove Lynn’s first pitch of the third over the wall in center field for his 16th homer, extending the lead to 4-1. The slugger went 2 for 5 and is batting .350 (21 for 60) with nine homers and 19 RBIs in his last 15 games, increasing the likelihood that he could be dealt in the next couple weeks.

Garza (6-1) escaped a jam in the fourth and was in control until the Cardinals chased him with three hits in the seventh, including Allen Craig’s run-scoring single.

Garza received a standing ovation from the crowd of 42,240 as he trudged off the mound following Craig’s hit, but the pitcher slammed his glove on his right leg as he made his way to the dugout, upset with the hit by his last batter.

Matt Guerrier came in with two runners on and got Adams to fly out to end the inning.

Lynn (11-4) was charged with six runs, five earned, and a season-high 10 hits in 4 1-3 innings. The right-hander dropped to 5-2 with a 3.30 ERA in eight career appearances against the Cubs.

— Associated Press —

Carlos Beltran had a forgettable 2,000th game in the majors on Thursday. His 2,001st might stay with him for a while.

After going 0-for-4 with two strikeouts one day earlier at Wrigley Field, Beltran bounced back Friday with three hits – falling a home run short of the cycle – and an RBI to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a 3-2 win over the Chicago Cubs.

”Yesterday wasn’t a good one and today was better, for sure,” said Beltran, who had a run-scoring triple, double and single. ”That’s baseball. Some days you feel like you come to the ballpark and you try and nothing works out your way, and today it seems like everything worked out my way.”

Beltran’s offense bolstered a second straight spot start for reliever-turned-starter Joe Kelly (1-3), who won his first game of the season.

”I just attacked with everything – slider, curve ball, change-up, four-seam, two-seam (fastball),” Kelly said. ”When you throw a couple of those for strikes, you make it easier on yourself. If you’re throwing some off-speed and command both sides of the plate with the heater, it makes for a little better time out there.”

It was the second straight start for Kelly, who had a no-decision against Miami last Saturday. He’s unsure if he’ll get another start soon or will head back to the bullpen.

”I don’t look too far ahead about anything,” said Kelly, who allowed three hits and a run in 5 1-3 innings, struck out four and walked two. ”I go out there and when they tell me to pitch, I pitch. That’s what’s good about being versatile, and I’m just still happy to be here.”

Edward Mujica pitched the ninth for his 26th save in 27 opportunities.

Thursday’s 3-0 loss snapped a five-game winning streak for the Cardinals.

An added bonus was a seventh inning pinch-hit triple by Rob Johnson, whose contract was purchased Tuesday from Triple-A Memphis. Johnson then scored on Matt Carpenter’s go-ahead double.

”We needed it,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said of Johnson’s clutch hit. ”It’s a feel-good for a guy who’s been doing a lot of things right for us in our system. In a situation, he helped us produce and we wound up getting a run out of it.”

St. Louis jumped on Cubs starter Carlos Villanueva (2-5) for two runs in the top of the first inning. Carpenter singled and scored on Beltran’s triple, followed by Allen Craig’s RBI single.

The Cubs cut St. Louis’ lead to 2-1 in the third. Luis Valbuena walked, went to second when Starlin Castro was hit by a pitch, Anthony Rizzo hit into a fielder’s choice that pushed Valbuena to third and then Alfonso Soriano’s single scored Valbuena.

After Carpenter’s double scored Johnson in the seventh to make it 3-1, Castro closed the score to 3-2 with a leadoff homer in the eighth – but the Cubs would get no closer, stranding seven runners in the game.

Even with Villanueva’s shaky first inning, Cubs manager Dale Sveum still liked what he saw from his starter.

”Six innings, 90 pitches, obviously settled down after the first inning,” Sveum said. ”Everything got much sharper and he did a great job.”

The Cubs are 12-8 in their last 20 games, and are 3-5 against St. Louis this season. They faced the best team in baseball for the second straight week. Last weekend, they took two of three from Pittsburgh, which had the best record in the majors at the time.

— Associated Press —

Even at his lowest point, Edwin Jackson kept believing he would somehow turn his season around.

It sure is looking like an about-face now.

Jackson earned his third straight win, combining with four relievers on a four-hitter, and Anthony Rizzo drove in all the runs to lead the Chicago Cubs to a 3-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday night.

”This is probably the craziest start I’ve had in baseball,” Jackson said, referring to his season. ”It’s a game of grinding it out. As long as you believe and you have the confidence that you can come in and turn things around, it’s all that matters.

”Nobody expected me to start like I did – myself, the front office, the team, the managers. No one. But it’s a game, you have to keep grinding. You can either sink or you can swim.”

The Cubs almost went down at the end of this one.

St. Louis had the tying run at the plate in the ninth inning after Kevin Gregg dropped a throw covering first base after Rizzo made a diving stop on Allen Craig’s grounder and David Freese walked. Alfonso Soriano battled the lights and made a shoestring catch on Jon Jay’s liner to end the game.

Cardinals manager Mike Matheny was then seen arguing vehemently with plate umpire Dan Bellino and might have made contact with him in front of the first-base dugout. He also had to be restrained.

Matheny said he wasn’t sure if he made contact with Bellino or if he will be disciplined by baseball. He was actually upset at the umpire for taking off his mask after a called third strike on Matt Adams to start the inning.

”It had more to do with the umpire and how he mistreated one of our players, with Adams,” Matheny said. ”It had nothing to do with the call. It had everything to do with going too far.”

Either way, the Cubs escaped with the win. Gregg got his 16th save in 18 chances, and St. Louis’ five-game winning streak ended.

Jackson (6-10) struck out five without a walk in seven innings. Starlin Castro added three singles and scored two runs for the Cubs, who won for the fifth time in six games.

The Cardinals lost Matt Holliday to tightness in his right hamstring when he ran out a grounder in the fourth inning.

Rizzo delivered an RBI double in the first inning after Castro singled with one out and made it 3-0 in the third off Jake Westbrook (5-4), poking a two-run single to left past a drawn-in infield.

That was enough for Jackson, who didn’t give up either a run or a walk for the first time this season. He also matched his longest outing of the year and improved to 5-2 in his last seven starts after opening 1-8.

”Hopefully, this is (a sign of) things to come in the second half,” Rizzo said.

The Cubs made some crisp plays behind Jackson, including Brian Bogusevic’s leaping catch against the center-field wall to rob Adams of an extra-base hit leading off the seventh.

The Cardinals had runners on first and second in the eighth after Blake Parker gave up a leadoff single to Jay and walked pinch-hitter Daniel Descalso with one out. James Russell then retired Matt Carpenter on a liner to center, and Pedro Strop threw a wild pitch to put runners on second and third before Carlos Beltran struck out swinging to end the threat.

Westbrook went seven innings, allowing three runs and seven hits. But it was a tough night for the NL Central leaders, particularly with Holliday leaving the game.

He came up clutching his hamstring halfway to first base on a grounder to short in the fourth. He walked off gingerly after being tended to by a trainer and didn’t go out to left field in the bottom half.

”I think I’ll have a better feel for what it looks like (Friday),” Holliday said. ”And hopefully, it will be day to day and I’ll be able to use the (All-Star) break, and it will be all right.”

— Associated Press —-

Matt Carpenter hit a two-run home run and Matt Holliday drove in two with a two-out hit to help the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Houston Astros 5-4 on Wednesday night.

Carpenter’s ninth homer of the season in the seventh gave the win to Seth Maness (5-1). Tony Cruz got hit by starter Jordan Lyles’ first pitch of the inning and one out later Carpenter put a 2-1 pitch into the right field stands off reliever Wesley Wright (0-3).

Maness gave up two hits and a run in two innings of relief. He struck out three.

Edward Mujica earned his 25th save in 26 tries. He has appeared in six consecutive games, going 1-1 with four saves.

Lyles gave up four runs and six hits in 6 1-3 innings. He struck out two and walked two. Lyles hasn’t won a game since beating Milwaukee on June 18.

Shelby Miller used 94 pitches to labor through five innings. He gave up three earned runs, walked five and struck out five. He had a total of six full counts, coming back to strike out Jason Castro and getting Brett Wallace to ground out.

Wallace, who had four hits and scored a run, drove in Jose Altuve in the seventh to give Houston a 4-3 lead. His only out was a grounder in the fifth that led to Houston’s third run.

Holliday’s single in the fifth tied the score at 3-3. His slap to right field drove in Cruz and Shane Robinson, who had a pinch hit single in place of Miller.

Allen Craig walked to open the second and scored on Matt Adams’ single. Adams has five RBIs in in his past six games.

After going in order to start the game, the Astros put their leadoff batter on and had a runner reach scoring position in three of the next four innings against Miller.

Chris Carter hit his 18th home run just over the right field fence to open the second. Houston then used a Wallace single, two walks and an error for a 2-0 lead. It took a 3-1 lead after Jason Castro hit a ground rule double and J.D. Martinez drove him in with a single in the fifth.

— Associated Press —

Adam Wainwright picked up his National League-tying 12th win with seven scoreless innings and Matt Holliday hit his team-high 13th home run to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a 9-5 win over the Houston Astros on Tuesday night.

Matt Carpenter had three hits and drove in three runs for St. Louis, which has won four in a row and five of six.

Houston dropped its ninth in the last 11 and leads the majors with 58 losses.

Wainwright (12-5) improved to 13-1 in 15 career starts against Houston. His 1.56 ERA against the Astros is the lowest for any opponent. Wainwright allowed five hits, struck out nine and walked one. The right-hander, who will make his second All-Star appearance next week, has won seven successive starts against his former NL Central rival. His lone loss to the Astros was a 2-0 setback on Aug. 2, 2009.

Wainwright is tied with Washington’s Jordan Zimmermann (12-3) for most wins in the NL.

St. Louis closer Edward Mujica struck out J.D. Martinez with two on and two out to pick up his 24th save in 25 opportunities.

The Cardinals, who jumped out to a 7-0 lead, battered former nemesis Bud Norris (6-8) for seven runs and 11 hits in five innings. Norris entered the game with an 8-5 mark and a 2.74 ERA against St. Louis.

Holliday slammed Norris’ seventh pitch of the game over the left-field wall for a 2-0 lead. Carpenter highlighted a three-run rally in the fourth with a two-run double.

David Freese broke out of an 0-for-11 skid with three hits for St. Louis, which has won its last seven home games against Houston. Daniel Descalso chipped in with a pair of doubles.

Freese and Descalso started the fourth with hits. Carpenter pushed the lead to 5-0 with a double that just eluded a diving Carlos Pena at first. Carlos Beltran followed with an RBI single.

Allen Craig added run-scoring hits in the sixth and eighth. He is second in the NL with 71 RBIs.

St. Louis reliever Kevin Siegrist pitched a scoreless eighth inning. He has not allowed a run over the first 12 games of his career, a franchise record.

The Astros scored four times in the ninth. Jake Elmore and Jose Altuve had RBI singles.

— Associated Press —

After losing consecutive starts for the first time in his career, Lance Lynn resisted the temptation to alter his approach.

He has 11 wins prior to the All-Star break both of his years in the rotation because he stayed with the plan.

”That last one was all singles and bloops,” manager Mike Matheny said after a 3-2 victory over the Miami Marlins wrapped up a three-game sweep Sunday. ”The adjustment really is not to make too many adjustments.

”He was a bulldog,” Matheny added.

Lynn outpitched Marlins All-Star Jose Fernandez and Matt Holliday homered for St. Louis, which rebounded from a 3-8 stretch that bumped them from the majors’ best record.

The Cardinals regained a share of the NL Central lead with the Pirates, who lost to the Cubs.

”We’ve had some heartbreaks as of late,” Lynn said. ”To be able to get a sweep any time of the year is great. It would be nice to get hot right before the All-Star break and rattle off a bunch of wins.”

Lynn (11-3) worked seven strong innings in 87-degree heat and matched All-Star Adam Wainwright for the team lead in wins. He struck out seven, fanning Giancarlo Stanton all three times, shaking off two outings in which he gave up nine runs in 13 2-3 innings.

”I tried to not even think about the last one,” Lynn said. ”You’re going to have times where it seems like every time you throw a pitch and they hit it’s a hit, no matter where it goes.

”That’s kind of what the feeling was the last time,” he said, ”but it can’t always be like that.”

The 20-year-old Fernandez (5-5) worked six innings a day after getting the nod as the Marlins’ lone All-Star and gave up three runs on four hits and a season-high four walks. He hadn’t allowed more than two earned runs in his previous six outings.

”They were just better than us,” Fernandez said. ”I thought I made some good pitches but it’s not a secret for anybody, the Cardinals are one of the best teams in the league.”

The Cardinals swept the Marlins, with whom they share a spring training complex in Jupiter, Fla., for the first time since Aug. 4-7, 2011 at Florida, and the first time at home since May 23-25, 2000.

Trevor Rosenthal escaped a bases-loaded jam in the eighth by getting pinch-hitter Greg Dobbs on a groundout, getting some help when Stanton froze between second and third and could not score on Logan Morrison’s hit.

”If a couple of things go our way or we make a couple of better plays, we win this game,” Morrison said. ”That’s why they’re going to be in the playoffs. That’s why we’re not, because they know how do those things.

”We’re young. We’re learning. We’ll get there,” Morrison said.

Edward Mujica pitched for the fourth straight game and finished for his 23rd save in 24 chances, giving him a win and two saves in the series.

Adeiny Hechavarria and Jeff Mathis had an RBI apiece for the Marlins, who had won eight of 10 entering the series and had been on a 19-11 roll for the majors’ best record since May 31. Derek Dietrich doubled, walked and was hit by a pitch twice.

Holliday’s 12th homer, and first in 12 games, was a 420-foot shot to straightaway center in the first.

Both teams manufactured a run early. A wide throw to the plate from first baseman Morrison helped Carlos Beltran score on the front end of a double steal with Holliday in the third for St. Louis, and Mathis had a squeeze bunt for an RBI in the fourth for the Marlins.

Stanton fanned three times for the second time in four games. He’s 1 for 7 against Lynn with a homer, two RBIs, a walk and five strikeouts.

— Associated Press —

Matt Adams got a curtain call after the biggest swing of the game. Then the St. Louis Cardinals capitalized on the day’s biggest mistake.

Jon Jay scored from first on a single after right fielder Giancarlo Stanton’s throwing error with two outs in the ninth for a 5-4 victory over the Miami Marlins on Saturday.

”We’ve had a lot of close games like this that we couldn’t quite pull off at the end,” manager Mike Matheny said. ”So, it doesn’t matter to me. Just that we did.”

Edward Mujica (1-1) worked a scoreless ninth for the Cardinals after Adams’ pinch-hit, two-run homer tied it two innings earlier.

Jay drew a full-count walk off A.J. Ramos (3-3) with two outs in the ninth and took third easily on Robinson’s pinch-hit single, then scored without a play after Stanton hesitated before throwing a relay that skipped under Logan Morrison’s glove at first base.

”I was just trying to get the ball before it hit the ground,” Morrison said. ”I should have played it back or just let it go because it was on the line.

”We should have won that game, no doubt about it, but we didn’t and now it’s over and that’s why we play every day.”

Stanton did not speak to reporters after the game.

The Marlins got homers from Derek Dietrich and Morrison but their run of four straight series wins ended after dropping the first two against the Cardinals.

Manager Mike Redmond was ejected for arguing a close play at the plate in the fourth, with replays indicating Adeiny Hechavarria’s legs crossed the plate before catcher Tony Cruz tagged him on the shoulder.

Redmond was already frustrated after an incorrect call at third base Friday ended up saddling the Marlins with an unusual double play in a 4-1 loss. He thought Hechavarria was ”clearly safe” and wasn’t certain that Cruz made the tag.

”I knew that run was going to be big,” Redmond said. ”You can only take so much, right? I think of those guys in the dugout and they’re busting their butts. You’ve got to stick up for those guys, too.”

Adams’ homer off Mike Dunn foiled the Marlins’ switch from starter to a lefty-lefty matchup and tied it at 4. Adams has both of the Cardinals’ pinch homers this season and is 6 for 16 against lefties with two homers and six RBIs.

”In that situation, I don’t know if I’d pull him for anyone,” Matheny said. ”He’s earned it. If we’re going to use him, we’re going to use him.”

Both starters reached season bests for innings, with Eovaldi going up three runs in 6 2-3 innings and Joe Kelly allowing four runs in six innings.

Matheny gave Kelly the fifth spot in the rotation on June 22 but the Cardinals didn’t need him until now because of three off days, and the right-hander was used just once in long relief on June 28 before facing the Marlins. Matheny said Kelly will get another start next week.

Morrison has four homers in his last six games against the Cardinals. His fourth of this season put the Marlins up 3-1.

Kelly singled for his sixth career hit in 38 at-bats and scored on Matt Carpenter’s triple in the third, a hooking drive that barely got past center fielder Marcell Ozuna. Carlos Beltran followed with an RBI single before Matt Holliday grounded into his 21st double play, by far the most in the majors.

Dietrich doubled with one out in the second and scored easily on Hechavarria’s single.

— Associated Press —

Jake Westbrook worked seven strong innings and Allen Craig had two RBIs for a lineup that spoiled Jacob Turner’s homecoming early on in the St. Louis Cardinals’ 4-1 victory over the Miami Marlins on Friday night.

Matt Holliday doubled twice with an RBI and Edward Mujica rebounded with the save for the Cardinals, who had lost eight of 11 and plummeted from the majors’ best record to second place in the NL Central entering a five-game homestand.

The Marlins totaled three hits and lost for just the third time in 11 games.

The hard-throwing Turner (2-1), a former first-round pick from suburban St. Charles, Mo., and confidant of Cardinals manager Mike Matheny, surrendered four runs on seven hits in six innings. The 22-year-old entered with a 1.76 ERA his first six starts of the year and threw his first career complete game his last time out.

Westbrook (5-3) was hurt only by Logan Morrison’s 440-foot homer to straightaway center leading off the second that ended the right-hander’s streak of 23 innings without allowing an earned run at home to start the season. The sinkerballer got all three outs on ground balls five times and benefited from two double plays, one of them a bit unusual, and is 3-1 in his last four starts.

Trevor Rosenthal struck out the side in the eighth and Mujica worked a perfect ninth with a pair of strikeouts for his 22nd save in 23 chances. He blew his first save opportunity of the year Thursday night in a loss to the Angels.

With runners on first and second and none out in the fifth, Turner was called out by home plate umpire Fieldin Culbreth after his sacrifice bunt attempt bounced off the plate and right to catcher Yadier Molina for an apparent quick tagout. Molina pumped once before throwing to third and Adeiny Hechavarria was ruled out without a tag.

Holliday and Craig doubled with two outs in the first to nearly identical drives to right-center to put the Cardinals in front. They got RBI doubles from Holliday and Matt Adams plus a sacrifice fly from Craig in the third to make it 4-1.

Craig is near the top of the National League with 68 RBIs and entered with a league-leading .469 average with runners in scoring position.

A standing room crowd of 46,177 attracted by a Mike Shannon bobblehead giveaway gave the longtime Cardinals announcer a lengthy ovation before the seventh.

— Associated Press —