Professional – Page 162 – St. Joseph Post Archive

Cardinals drop series finale at Milwaukee 6-3

Posted on April 26, 2015

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Adam Lind’s homer gave a quick boost to the Brewers’ struggling hitters. The runs that Mike Fiers kept off the board were just as important.

Lind hit a two-run shot and Milwaukee beat the St. Louis 6-3 Sunday for just their second victory in the last 12 games.

The Cardinals got 13 hits, but stranded a season-high 14 runners, including eight in the first three innings.

“The ball that Lind hit, that was huge for us,” Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said. “To get three points up there early and to have a lead, and to hit a home run to do it, which we haven’t had many of, so I thought that was huge to get us going.

Milwaukee, off to the worst start in team history, improved to 4-15. Every other team in the majors has at least six wins.

The Cardinals had won nine of 10. They headed back to St. Louis, where ace Adam Wainwright will have an MRI on Monday to see how long his injured Achilles and left ankle will sideline him — there is speculation he could miss the rest of the season.

“There’s nothing I can do about it, so might as well not be nervous about it or worried about it,” said Wainwright, wearing a protective boot on his left ankle. “Worry doesn’t do anybody any good.”

Mike Blazek (1-0) pitched two innings for the victory. Fiers gave up one earned run on nine hits and two walks in four-plus innings, pitching out of bases-loaded jams in the second and third.

“I had to battle today. I do not think a lot of things went my way,” said Fiers, who gave up two grand slams in his previous start. “I made some big pitches when it really mattered and got out of some tough innings with the bases loaded.”

The Brewers took a 3-0 lead in third off Lance Lynn (0-3), who was tagged for six runs on 10 hits in five innings.

Logan Schafer reached on infield single that bounced off the back of Lynn and Gerardo Parra tripled. Cardinals right fielder Jason Heyward appeared to stumble on Parra’s hit and left the game with left groin tightness, and was listed as day to day.

Lind then hit his third homer.

“I didn’t get the job done, plain and simple. I’ve got to be better than that,” Lynn said. “It’s just get people out when it’s time to get them out and I wasn’t able to do it when I was supposed to today.”

The Cardinals got a run back in the fourth when Jon Jay, who replaced Heyward, singled with two outs. Jay moved up when Lind mishandled a pickoff throw and scored on Jhonny Peralta’s single.

Mark Reynolds, who played last season for Milwaukee, cut the lead to 3-2 with his first home run to lead off the fifth, chasing Fiers.

The Brewers scored three times in the bottom half on doubles by Parra, Khris Davis and Elian Herrera, and an RBI single by Hector Gomez.

Catcher Cody Stanley, called up from Triple-A Memphis to take Wainwright’s roster spot, made his major league debut as a pinch hitter to lead off the eighth and singled off Jonathan Broxton. He later scored on Matt Adams’ bases-loaded grounder.

“It was a good at-bat, too, against a good setup guy with good stuff,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. “And, it was able to get us one run closer to where we needed to be. Just a good first day for him.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: C Yadier Molina was out of the lineup for the second straight day as he recovers from getting hit by a foul tip on Friday. “He’s feeling better, even though we just need to go ahead and take at least another day,” Matheny said. “He can hit, he can run, but squatting is the major issue right now.”

Heyward said he felt something grab when he turned to make his throw after fielding Parra’s triple. “When I tried to throw the ball, that’s when I felt it. When I tried to set my back foot and throw, that’s when it grabbed.” Heyward said coming out of the game was precautionary and his availability on Monday would be up to the training staff.

Brewers: CF Carlos Gomez is getting closer to ready to play when he’s eligible to come off the 15-day DL. “(Gomez) was really good running bases yesterday,” Roenicke said. “He is taking flyballs. He is doing all the things I think he needs to do to be ready. We will just see where the timing is. He should be close.” Gomez went on the DL on April 16 with a strained right hamstring.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: RHP John Lackey gets the start as the Cards return home for a four-game series against Philadelphia after a six-game road trip. He is 1-0 with a 4.34 ERA in three starts.

Brewers: Jimmy Nelson, 1-1 with a 1.35 ERA, will be making his fourth start to open a three-game series at Cincinnati. The 25-year-old right-hander has been one of the few bright spots this season, giving up no more than two runs in any start.

PERFECT TIME

Stanley didn’t have much time to spare after being told Saturday night that he was being called up. He said he arrived at the stadium at 11:30 a.m. with the game scheduled to start at 1:10 p.m. “Came to straight to the field, got dressed and went out,” he said. “It’s an indescribable feeling, for sure.”

— Associated Press —

St. Louis beats Milwaukee after Wainwright leaves with injury

Posted on April 25, 2015

MILWAUKEE (AP) — St. Louis lost ace Adam Wainwright to an ankle injury, and then got a boost from Mitch Harris that helped the Cardinals to a 5-3 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday night.

Wainwright was helped from the field by a trainer after injuring his left ankle while stumbling out of the batter’s box on his popup to first leading off the fifth inning. He allowed three hits in four shutout innings.

The 29-year-old Harris then tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings in his major league debut after serving five years of active duty in the U.S. Navy following his graduation from the Naval Academy.

Matt Holliday hit a three-run drive in the seventh for St. Louis, which has won four in a row. It was Holliday’s first homer of the season.

The Brewers lost for the 10th time in 11 games to fall to 3-15. Every other team in the majors has at least six victories.

Milwaukee scored three runs with two outs in the eighth on an RBI single by Adam Lind and a bases-loaded double by Aramis Ramirez, but Hector Gomez bounced out to third to strand the tying runs.

Matt Belisle (1-0) got five outs for the win and Seth Maness pitched 1 1/3 innings for his first save.

Holliday’s 26th career homer against the Brewers put the Cardinals up 5-0. Matt Carpenter, who extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a fifth-inning single, doubled with one out in the seventh and Jason Heyward drew a walk.

Brewers manager Ron Roenicke was ejected during the pitching change to Jeremy Jeffress, whose first pitch was hammered over the wall in right-center by Holliday.

St. Louis grabbed a 2-0 lead in the second when Kolten Wong had an RBI triple and came home on a wild relay throw to third by shortstop Jean Segura.

Wainwright will be re-evaluated when the Cardinals return to St. Louis. The Cardinals complete a six-game trip with a Sunday afternoon game at Miller Park.

Milwaukee right-hander Wily Peralta (0-3) allowed seven hits in six innings in his third consecutive loss. He struck out four and walked two.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: RHP Lance Lynn (1-1, 1.56 ERA) has allowed one earned run in each of his three starts this season. He is 6-2 in his career against the Brewers, including 4-1 with a 1.85 ERA in six starts at Miller Park.

Brewers: Mike Fiers, who gave up two grand slams in his last outing, has yet to make a quality start in three outings. Fiers, who hit Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton in the face last September, is 0-3 this season with a 6.75 ERA and opponents are batting .333 against him.

TRAINER’S ROOM:

Cardinals: C Yadier Molina, forced out of Friday’s 3-0 win over the Brewers after being struck on the right knee guard by a foul tip, was out of the lineup. Tony Cruz started in place of Molina. “We’re still hopeful that we’re talking a day or so. We’ll adjust as we need to,” manager Mike Matheny said.

Brewers: With starters Carlos Gomez (CF), Jonathan Lucroy (C) and Scooter Gennett (2B) all on the disabled list, Roenicke has been forced to mix-and-match, using 16 different lineups through the first 17 games. “I guess what it tells you is that, if you’re changing all the time, something’s not working,” Roenicke said.

UPON FURTHER REVIEW

The Brewers successfully challenged a call at first base in the sixth inning, negating what would have been the Cardinals’ fourth double play. Pinch-hitter Elian Herrera opened with a walk and Jean Segura followed with a bouncer to second. Segura was originally called out on the end of 4-6-3 double play, but the call was overturned after a review estimated at 49 seconds. The Brewers are 4-0 in challenges this season.

— Associated Press —

Seven players disciplined for Royals-White Sox brawl

Posted on April 25, 2015

CHICAGO (AP) — The Kansas City Royals and Chicago White Sox each lost Saturday without playing a game.

Four members of the Royals and three from the White Sox were punished for their roles in a series-opening brawl in Chicago, and six of the players drew suspensions. Major League Baseball placed the blame for the fighting squarely on both teams.

Royals pitcher Yordano Ventura was handed a seven-game suspension, fellow starter Edinson Volquez given five games and outfielder Lorenzo Cain and reliever Kelvin Herrera got two games apiece.

White Sox pitchers Chris Sale and Jeff Samardzija were suspended five games each, while catcher Tyler Flowers escaped suspension but joined the others in getting an undisclosed fine.

All the players who received suspensions are appealing, which means they will be able to play in Sunday’s series finale.

The game scheduled for Saturday was rained out.

“Everybody had some elements of their behavior over the course of that incident on both sides that they wish they handled differently,” White Sox general manager Rick Hahn said during a conference call Saturday. “Respect the fact that our players stood up and took responsibility for their actions and expressed remorse over those things they wish had been handled better.

“It is something that happens from time to time,” Hahn added. “It’s part of the game.”

It’s a costly part of the game, though. Along with the suspensions, Hahn said reliever Matt Albers fractured a finger on his throwing hand in the melee and will go on the disabled list.

Meanwhile, Herrera is already awaiting an appeal on a five-game suspension that was handed down after he threw a pitch behind Oakland third baseman Brett Lawrie during a series last weekend.

Ventura was fined for hitting Lawrie with a 99 mph fastball during the same series. “We understand that Major League Baseball has to do what they think is fair in situations like this,” Royals manager Ned Yost said in a team statement.

“Now, we just have to wait for the appeals process to play out.” Tensions between the Royals and White Sox had been building since the opening series of the season, when the teams combined to hit six batters. Two more were plunked early Thursday night when Ventura hit Jose Abreu in the fourth inning and Sale hit Mike Moustakas in the fifth.

The simmering anger finally boiled over in the seventh, when Ventura snagged a grounder from Chicago outfielder Adam Eaton and the two exchanged words before Eaton was thrown out at first. Eaton had to be restrained from Ventura, who was ejected from his second straight start.

“It was a messy situation,” Ventura said through a translator. Players from both dugouts and bullpens then ran onto the field. Volquez whiffed throwing a haymaker, and several other players threw punches in a fight that lasted several minutes. “There are real negative repercussions of this,” Hahn said.”

After he was thrown from the game, Sale went to the Royals clubhouse and was seen pounding on the door.

While nothing more transpired, Hahn said he spoke to his star pitcher about it Friday. “It was a private conversation,” Hahn said. “We certainly understand where Chris was coming from in terms of the emotion involved in the moment and what he was hoping to accomplish, and at the same time realizing that perhaps there was a better way to handle these things going forward.”

Five players ultimately were ejected from Thursday night’s game, which the Royals won in 13 innings.

Among them was Cain, who has been hit by pitches four times this season. Moustakas and teammate Alex Gordon have been hit an AL-leading five times apiece, and the Royals have been hit 17 times as a team — tied with Texas for the league lead entering the day. “This game’s emotional and it seems to follow them around,” said White Sox manager Robin Ventura, who famously charged the mound and was pummeled by the Rangers’ Nolan Ryan during a game in 1993.

“Everybody gets emotional and reacts to things and that’s what happened.”

The Royals are starting to earn a fighting reputation. Along with their two series with the White Sox and a tense three-game set in Oakland, Ventura got into a heated argument with Angels slugger Mike Trout during a series in Los Angeles. While acknowledging that the Royals must do a better job of containing their emotions, Yost insisted that his club has rarely been the instigator in a string of testy situations.

“Hopefully it’s all behind us,” he said Thursday night, “and we can move forward.”

The teams played eight innings Friday night without incident, but the rest of the game was postponed due to rain with the score 2-2. It was supposed to resume Saturday, but more rain in Chicago means that it will now resume Sunday with the Royals batting in the top of the ninth. John Danks is scheduled to start for the White Sox in the second game Sunday, while fellow left-hander Jason Vargas is expected to go for the Royals. No makeup date was announced for Saturday’s game.

— Associated Press —

Royals-White Sox suspended by rain after 8 innings

Posted on April 25, 2015

CHICAGO (AP) — No fighting in this one. Just a lot of rain.

One night after a benches-clearing brawl led to five ejections, the Royals and White Sox were tied at 2 when Friday’s game was suspended by rain heading into the ninth inning.

Managers Robin Ventura of the White Sox and Ned Yost of the Royals huddled with the umpires after the eighth, and then crew chief Tim Welke waved the players off the field.

The game was suspended after a 40-minute delay. It will be resumed on Saturday at 1:10 p.m. CT with the Royals batting in the top of the ninth. Saturday’s originally scheduled game will begin when the suspended contest is over.

But the forecast also looks bad for Saturday, raising the question about when they might be able to resume play. The contingency plan is to play the rest of Friday’s game on Sunday afternoon if Saturday is washed out.

Yost will have the heart of his tough bullpen intact when the game finally does resume.

“Kelvin (Herrera) or Wade (Davis) with the lead. It just depends on what happens in the top of the ninth,” Yost said.

The first-pitch temperature was 44 degrees, and there were periods of rain throughout the night, intensifying in the sixth inning. Kansas City’s infielders shielded themselves in the dugout during two pitching changes in the sixth.

The grounds crew worked on the field after every half-inning, but the rain never let up and the field was becoming unplayable when it was called.

Former White Sox farmhand Paulo Orlando had three hits for the Royals, who are 12-4 on the season.

Chicago had a scare in the third when White Sox starter Jose Quintana caught Alcides Escobar off first base. Quintana threw to Jose Abreu, who appeared to have Escobar in a rundown.

Abreu ran down Escobar and put the tag on for an out while Escobar was diving into second. Abreu got tangled with Escobar’s leg and fell on his right side. Abreu was on the ground for a minute before getting up and taking smell salts from a team trainer.

He stayed in the game and had two hits.

“He landed on either the foot or the base on his ribs so it kind of knocked the wind out of him and it was cold,” Ventura said. “I thought it was his wrist or something like that but it was cold when I got out there and so there was a lot of stuff going on. Once he got over that, you could tell he was fine.”

Orlando doubled and scored on Escobar’s single in the third. He also had a tiebreaking RBI single in the fifth.

The White Sox got on the board in the fourth. Alexei Ramirez reached second on Escobar’s two-base throwing error and eventually scored on Tyler Flowers’ groundout.

Chicago’s Adam Eaton tripled and scored on Melky Cabrera’s sacrifice fly in the seventh.

Quintana allowed seven hits in seven innings, bouncing back from a rough outing in his previous start. The left-hander was tagged for nine runs and 10 hits in four-plus innings of 9-1 loss at Detroit on Sunday.

Royals starter Danny Duffy pitched 5 1/3 innings and was charged with an unearned run and six hits.

“It felt good, felt like I was locating for the most part,” Duffy said. “It was kind of slippery out there, but we ended up making it work. I was getting down through my pitches enough to really be effective.”

UP NEXT

Royals: Edinson Volquez will try to continue his strong start in Saturday’s game versus the White Sox. In his first three starts with the Royals, Volquez is 2-1 with a 1.99 ERA.

White Sox: John Danks is 7-1 with a 2.63 ERA in his career against the Royals.

FINNEGAN RETURNS

Before the game, the Royals recalled left-handed reliever Brandon Finnegan from Double-A Northwest Arkansas and optioned infielder Orlando Calizte to Triple-A Omaha.

Finnegan was the 17th overall pick in last year’s draft. He had a 1.29 ERA in seven regular-season appearances with the Royals in 2014, and then went 1-1 with a 10.50 ERA in seven postseason games.

— Associated Press —

Martinez, Cardinals shut out Milwaukee in series opener

Posted on April 25, 2015

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Carlos Martinez likes pitching in Miller Park, and it shows.

Martinez struck out eight in seven innings, Jason Heyward and Jhonny Peralta homered, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers 3-0 Friday night.

“I feel good in this stadium,” the 23-year-old Martinez said through a translator. “I like the mound.”

Martinez (2-0) gave up four hits and walked two in the longest of his 11 career starts. The right-hander has a 2.04 ERA in eight road games against the Brewers, with 19 strikeouts in 17 2/3 innings.

“I don’t know what it is about Milwaukee, but he’s bouncing and jumping all over the place. He was a little higher energy than we’ve seen,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. “He had a very live fastball today and I thought he used his other stuff effectively, but his fastball was the story.”

Martinez has won each of his last two starts while lowering his ERA to 1.35 for the season.

“He’s attacking the hitters, putting them away with that slider, with that changeup,” catcher Yadier Molina said.

Jordan Walden pitched the eighth and Trevor Rosenthal finished for his seventh save in seven tries, completing a five-hitter.

Heyward belted a solo shot off Matt Garza in the third, lifting St. Louis to a 2-0 lead. Peralta homered leading off the sixth.

Garza (1-3) allowed seven hits in six innings while striking out a season-high six.

Milwaukee has dropped nine of 10. At 3-14, the Brewers have the worst record in the majors.

The Brewers threatened in the third, but were hurt by poor baserunning.

Garza led off with his fourth career walk and advanced to second on Jean Segura’s single. As Gerardo Parra squared to bunt, Garza broke for third. Initially ruled safe, Garza was called out after a review. Parra then struck out and Segura was caught stealing.

Molina’s run-scoring groundout got St. Louis on the board in the second, but the six-time All-Star left in the fifth in what the team said was a precautionary move. Molina was in pain after a foul tip struck him in the knee guard in the fourth. He is day to day.

Molina took a foul ball off the same knee last week.

“I was feeling better and boom, tonight I get hit again in the same spot,” he said. “He got me on the muscle. It’s just a big bruise.”

CAUGHT STEALING

Entering Friday night’s game, Molina, known for his strong arm, had only thrown out one attempted base stealer. Then he cut down two baserunners in in the third inning.

“I was excited. It’s been a while,” Molina said. “I feel good to get the outs.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: OF Peter Bourjos returned after being on paternity leave for three days. His wife, Ashley, gave birth to a son, Maxton. Infielder Dean Anna was optioned to Triple-A Memphis to clear a roster spot for Bourjos.

Brewers: OF Carlos Gomez continues to make progress in recovering from a right hamstring injury. He is on the 15-day disabled list. “He’s hitting again out on the field. He ran on the treadmill,” manager Ron Roenicke said. “Hopefully, it’ll be those 15 days or just a couple added onto that.”

UP NEXT

Cardinals: Adam Wainwright (2-1, 1.71 ERA) took the loss against the Brewers in St. Louis’ home opener on April 13. He is 12-8 with a 2.37 ERA in 31 career games versus the Brewers.

Brewers: Wily Peralta (0-2, 5.68 ERA) will make his second start of the season against St. Louis. He is 4-5 with a 4.58 ERA in 10 career starts against the Cardinals, but went 3-1 with a 2.18 ERA in five starts against them last season.

— Associated Press —

Royals beat White Sox 3-2 in 13 innings after brawl

Posted on April 23, 2015April 24, 2015

CHICAGO (AP) — A benches-clearing fight led to five ejections several innings before Eric Hosmer hit the go-ahead double in the 13th to lead the Kansas City Royals to a 3-2 win over the Chicago White Sox on Thursday night.

With two outs, Hosmer’s hit off Chicago’s Jake Petricka (0-1) brought in Jarrod Dyson. Wade Davis then pitched a scoreless 13th for his fourth save, giving Franklin Morales (2-0) the victory.

Kansas City won for the fourth time in five games in a game in which tempers flared.

In the seventh, Yordano Ventura snagged a grounder from Chicago outfielder Adam Eaton and they appeared to exchange words before Ventura threw to first to end the inning. Eaton had to be restrained from Ventura, who was ejected from a second straight start.

Players from both dugouts and bullpens ran onto the field and punches were thrown during a fight that lasted a couple of minutes.

The play was the culmination of tensions that seemed to rise during the game and carry over from their season-opening series earlier this month when the teams combined to hit six batters. In the bottom of the fourth, Ventura hit Jose Abreu. In the top of the fifth, Chris Sale hit Mike Moustakas.

Ventura was thrown out after the fight. On Saturday, after he allowed a three-run homer to the Athletics’ Josh Reddick, he hit Brett Lawrie and was ejected.

The four others tossed Thursday were Kansas City outfielder Lorenzo Cain and pitcher Edinson Volquez, along with Chicago’s Sale and pitcher Jeff Samardzija.

For Ventura, it was his fourth consecutive start that ended abruptly. Besides the ejections, on opening day against the White Sox he left with a thumb cramp. He was replaced April 12 against the Los Angeles Angels because of a right calf cramp.

Kansas City has been in a fighting mood for a week now.

In that three-game series against Oakland last weekend, the Royals and A’s cleared their benches each day. Nearly as many people were hit by pitches as hit home runs. And five players and coaches were ultimately thrown out of the finale Sunday, when things boiled over.

Among those tossed was reliever Kelvin Herrera, who threw a fastball behind the head of Lawrie, then pointed to his own head in a threatening manner. Herrera was suspended five games for it pending an appeal, a punishment that could have easily been stiffer.

Before the fight, Ventura pitched seven innings and allowed two runs while striking out eight. He also survived a scare in the third when Micah Johnson beat him to first base and accidentally kicked the pitcher’s right leg, though after a couple precautionary tosses the hard-throwing righty stayed in the game.

Sale only gave up two first-inning runs and lasted seven innings and allowed nine hits.

Chicago only had seven hits.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: INF Omar Infante (left groin) was not in the lineup. He left Sunday’s game after suffering the injury and hasn’t appeared since, though manager Ned Yost said “he’s getting to the point where he’s getting ready to play.” . Yost said RHP Greg Holland (right pectoral muscle) will be evaluated Saturday. . RHP Luke Hochevar (right elbow) threw a scoreless inning during a rehab assignment at Triple-A Omaha.

White Sox: Petricka (right forearm) made his debut Wednesday and said he felt “great” before Thursday’s game. “Normal soreness. That’s a great feeling,” Petricka said.

UP NEXT

Royals LHP Danny Duffy (1-0, 5.51) faces White Sox LHP Jose Quintana (1-1, 8.40). Duffy is 1-1 with a 3.72 ERA at U.S. Cellular Field, while Quintana is 0-6 with a 4.66 ERA all-time against Kansas City.

— Associated Press —

Wacha out duels Scherzer as St. Louis beats Washington

Posted on April 23, 2015

WASHINGTON (AP) — One of these days, Michael Wacha might be the guy who forces the other team’s starting pitcher to excel.

For now, the St. Louis Cardinals right-hander is having a delightful time trying to outdo the opposing team’s ace.

Wacha got the best of Max Scherzer, Matt Adams singled in the tiebreaking run in the sixth inning and the Cardinals beat the Washington Nationals 4-1 Thursday for their fourth straight series win.

In his previous two starts, Wacha outpitched Cincinnati star Johnny Cueto. This time, he was better than Scherzer — the 2013 Cy Young winner who came in with a sparkling 0.83 ERA.

“You know you’re going to have to go out there and try to match zeros against those guys,” Wacha said.

He did better than that.

Wacha (3-0) allowed one run and five hits in seven innings while lowering his ERA to 1.33. He walked two and struck out six, including Jose Lobaton three times.

“He was great,” manager Mike Matheny said. “I think he’s doing a nice job of not being distracted by who he’s facing.”

Scherzer (1-2) also went seven innings, giving up two runs and six hits. It was the first time in his four starts with Washington that he surrendered more than one earned run.

Scherzer hurt his wrist in the fifth inning while at the plate, but he dismissed the injury as a minor inconvenience.

“I haven’t batted too much and I jammed it a little bit,” the right-hander said. “I look forward to going out there and pitching my next start.”

Nationals first baseman Ryan Zimmerman was slow on the bases, a shortcoming that manager Matt Williams suspected was a minor case of plantar fasciitis.

“He has a little pain in the bottom of his foot,” Williams said. “Been bothering him for a while. Pretty soon we’re going to have to give him a break and sit him down.”

Matt Carpenter had two hits and scored a run for the Cardinals, who have won seven of eight. St. Louis took two of three from the Nationals in a matchup of 2014 division champions and remained unbeaten in series play this year (4-0-1).

Scherzer allowed the first two batters to reach base, then retired 16 of 17 before Jason Heyward singled with two outs in the sixth. The right-hander hit Matt Holliday with a pitch before Adams delivered a single to left for a 2-1 lead.

St. Louis added two runs in the eighth.

Jordan Walden got three outs in the bottom of the inning for the Cardinals and Trevor Rosenthal pitched a perfect ninth for his sixth save.

Facing the Cardinals for the first time since 2009, Scherzer, a St. Louis native, got off to a wobbly start. Carpenter lined the first pitch of the game into center field for a double, moved up on a single by Heyward and scored on a wild pitch.

In the Nationals fifth, Danny Espinosa led off with a double and Scherzer reached when a replay determined that Adams took his foot off first base before taking a throw. Denard Span followed with an RBI single.

With runners on the corners, Wacha retired Ian Desmond on a popup, struck out Bryce Harper and got Zimmerman to ground into a fielder’s choice.

HAVE A SEAT

Cardinals: C Yadier Molina was out of the starting lineup for the first time this season, despite a seven-game stretch in which he had 12 hits and six RBIs. “We had (the non-start) on the calendar a while back,” Matheny said.

Nationals: OF Jayson Werth didn’t play after going 4 for 19 in his previous five games. The slugger is batting .167 with no homers and two RBIs.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: OF Peter Bourjos is expected to return from paternity leave on Friday in Milwaukee.

Nationals: OF Anthony Rendon (left knee sprain) worked out the squad before the game and will start a rehabilitation assignment Friday with Double-A Harrisburg.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: RHP Carlos Martinez (1-0, 2.08 ERA) gets his third start of the season Friday night in the opener of a three-game set against the Brewers.

Nationals: Washington sends Jordan Zimmermann and his 6.14 ERA to the mound vs. the Marlins to launch a 10-game road trip that goes through Miami, Atlanta and New York.

— Associated Press —

Kansas City loses series finale to Minnesota 3-0

Posted on April 22, 2015

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Mike Pelfrey pitched seven scoreless innings to pick up his first victory since 2013 as the Minnesota Twins beat the Kansas City Royals 3-0 Wednesday night.

Joe Mauer reached base four times with two hits and two walks and scored a run.

Pelfrey’s last victory was Sept. 23, 2013, against Detroit. He went 0-3 in five starts last year before undergoing season-ending elbow surgery on June 10.

Pelfrey (1-0) gave up five singles, walked two, hit two batters and struck out four. It was his longest outing since he went seven innings against Texas on Aug. 31, 2013.

Glen Perkins got the last three outs for his third save

Royals starter Jeremy Guthrie (0-1) gave up all three runs and six hits with a career high-tying six walks in five innings.

The Twins scored all their runs in the first on three hits, two walks and a hit batter. Oswaldo Arcia was hit by Guthrie with the bases loaded to bring home Brian Dozier. Kennys Vargas and Dozier singled in the other two runs. Guthrie induced Kurt Suzuki to ground into a double play with the bases loaded to end the inning and prevent further damage.

The Twins loaded the bases in the second on Torii Hunter’s double and walks to Joe Mauer and Dozier. However, Hunter was out trying to steal home to end the inning.

Guthrie did not allow a run after the first, but he was never sharp, throwing only 50 percent strikes in 98 pitches.

Yohan Pino replaced Guthrie and threw three scoreless innings.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Twins: LHP Brian Duensing (right intercostal strain) started soft tossing Wednesday.

Royals: 2B Omar Infante (strained left groin) missed his third straight game. Manager Ned Yost said Infante could have played, but did not want to push him.

UP NEXT

Twins: RHP Phil Hughes (0-3, 5.30 ERA) starts against the Mariners on Friday.

Royals: RHP Yordano Ventura (2-1, 4.80 ERA), fined Tuesday for hitting Oakland’s Brett Lawrie Sunday, starts Thursday against the Chicago White Sox.

— Associated Press —

Wong’s tiebreaking double in 8th helps Cardinals top Nats

Posted on April 22, 2015

WASHINGTON (AP) — Kolten Wong homered and drove in the tiebreaking run with a double in the eighth inning to lift the St. Louis Cardinals to a 7-5 victory over the Washington Nationals on Wednesday night.

Wong finished 3 for 4 with three RBIs. He had a two-run homer in the second inning and a single in the fourth.

Jon Jay drew a one-out walk off Blake Treinen (0-2) in the eighth and moved to third on Yadier Molina’s single. Wong then sliced a double down the left-field line, scoring Jay to break a 5-5 tie.

Matt Adams added a solo homer in the ninth off Rafael Martin to close the scoring.

Kevin Siegrist (1-0) pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings and Trevor Rosenthal got the last three outs for his fifth save.

St. Louis won for the sixth time in seven games.

Wong also made two spectacular defensive plays at second base, ranging into short center field to grab grounders and throw out Yunel Escobar to end the fifth and Wilson Ramos starting the sixth.

The Cardinals appeared headed for an easy night after taking a 5-0 lead in the third inning.

Matt Carpenter led off the game with a homer off Washington starter Doug Fister, and Wong added his two-run shot in the second. The Cardinals added two more in the third before Washington rallied to tie it.

The Nationals bounced back with five runs in the third, tying the game on Escobar’s three-run double with two outs off St. Louis starter John Lackey.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: OF Randal Grichuk is making progress toward a return. Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said Wednesday that Grichuk is moving around well but have yet to talk about a rehab assignment. Grichuk went on the disabled list with a lower back strain last Friday.

Nationals: 3B Anthony Rendon (sprained left knee) played five innings in extended spring training on Wednesday and is coming back to Washington for a workout with the Nationals on Thursday. He’ll then head to Double-A Harrisburg to begin a rehab assignment on Friday. Manager Matt Williams said he wasn’t sure of a timeline for Rendon returning to the Nationals but they wanted to get him up to playing nine innings and a bunch of at-bats.

WELCOME TO THE BIG LEAGUES

Nationals left-hander Matt Grace made his major league debut in this game. Called up earlier in the day when LHP Felipe Rivero (intestinal bleed) went on the 15-day disabled list, Grace threw a scoreless seventh inning, walking one without giving up a hit while the teams were locked in a 5-5 tie.

DOUBLE TROUBLE

Lackey made two errors on one play in the bottom of the fourth inning. Denard Span hit a grounder back to the box that Lackey fielded, then dropped and then threw wildly past first. However, the Nationals stranded Span at second.

UP NEXT

Cardinals RHP Michael Wacha (2-0, 1.35) has beaten the Reds in his first two starts, giving up a total of two runs while winning both times.

Nationals: RHP Max Scherzer (1-1, 0.83), a St. Louis native, is coming off a stellar eight-inning effort in a victory over the Phillies last Friday. He has already struck out 25 in 21 2/3 innings this season.

— Associated Press —

Moustakas helps Royals rally past Minnesota 6-5

Posted on April 21, 2015

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Ned Yost stuck by Mike Moustakas when just about everyone else had given up on him, dutifully penciling him into the Royals’ starting lineup at third base despite all of his slumps.

Finally, the Kansas City manager is feeling vindicated.

Moustakas hit an early two-run homer, then drove in the go-ahead run with a single in the eighth inning, as the Royals rallied to beat the Minnesota Twins 6-5 on Tuesday night.

“You almost want to stand up on this table and yell, `I told you so!” Yost said, flashing a wry grin. “But I’m not. I’m not an I-told-you-so kind of guy.”

The Royals trailed 5-3 in the sixth when Christian Colon started their comeback with an RBI double. Colon added a run-scoring groundout off Casey Fien (0-1) in the eighth to knot the game, and Moustakas fileted a single to left off Glen Perkins to take the lead.

It was the kind of opposite-field hit that Moustakas struggled to deliver a year ago.

“Just looking for a fastball. He was throwing a bunch of fastballs,” Moustakas said of Perkins, the Twins’ left-handed closer. “I was able to fight that one to left field.”

Chris Young (1-0) pitched two scoreless innings in relief of Jason Vargas, and Wade Davis breezed through the Twins in the ninth for his third save of the season.

Davis has been closing games with All-Star reliever Greg Holland on the disabled list.

Joe Mauer drove in a run in the second for Minnesota, and Trevor Plouffe, Oswaldo Arcia, Kurt Suzuki and Shane Robinson had run-scoring singles in the sixth inning.

Alex Gordon also went deep for the Royals (11-3), who have taken the first two games of the three-game set after losing their only series of the season in Minnesota last week.

The Royals are off to their best start since 2003, and have won eight of their first nine at home. They also improved to 16-5 in their last 21 against the Twins at Kauffman Stadium.

Minnesota dropped to 1-7 on the road this season.

Gordon’s solo shot to right staked the Royals to the lead in the second inning, but the Twins quickly answered in the fourth off Vargas with three consecutive singles.

Kansas City pulled back ahead in the fifth. Colon led off with a single, and Moustakas just managed to coax a fly ball over the right-field wall for a two-run homer.

Dancing with trouble throughout the night, Vargas finally got bogged down in the sixth inning. The left-hander got the first two outs thanks in part to catching Mauer in a run-down between third and home, but then gave up consecutive two-out RBI singles.

Royals manager Ned Yost lifted him for reliever Jason Frasor, and he gave up two more two-out singles — none of the four were particularly hard-hit — that gave Minnesota a 5-3 lead.

Colon drove in a run with a two-out double in the bottom half to start the Kansas City rally, but Twins reliever Blaine Boyer managed to retire Alcides Escobar to leave the tying run on third.

Kansas City also left the bases loaded in the third and a runner on second in the fifth, but managed to come through when the game was on the line in the final innings.

“A loss always hurts,” Fien said. “When I don’t my job that’s what happens.”

STARTING TROUBLE

Vargas allowed five runs on eight hits and a walk, while Twins counterpart Tommy Milone gave up four runs on five hits and four walks. Both lasted 5 2/3 innings. “Walks in general are just no good,” Milone said. “It seems usually to bite you in the butt.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Twins: Suzuki started at catcher despite taking a hard foul ball off his shin courtesy of Arcia while standing in the on-deck circle during Monday night’s game.

Royals: 2B Omar Infante (groin strain) took grounders and hit soft toss before the game, and Yost said he could have been used in an emergency situation.

UP NEXT

Twins: RHP Mike Pelfrey (0-0) is 0-2 with a 9.49 ERA against the Royals.

Royals: RHP Jeremy Guthrie (1-0) has won his last four regular-season decisions.

— Associated Press —