NATIONAL LEAGUE

Consecutive HRs in 7th lift Marlins over Cards

— John Buck and pinch hitter Logan Morrison connected for consecutive home runs in the seventh inning, rallying the Miami Marlins past St. Louis 5-3 Wednesday night and ending their eight-game losing streak against the Cardinals.

The Cardinals had won five in a row overall. Miami won for just the second time in 10 games.

Tony Cruz’s first career home run in the top of the seventh put the Cardinals ahead 3-2.

Buck tied it with one out when he homered off Fernando Salas. Morrison then sent a drive off Sam Freeman (0-1) that hit the top of the right field fence, bounced off a nearby railing and dropped back into play.

After being stopped at second base while the umpires reviewed the play, Morrison was allowed to finish his home-run trot. It was Morrison’s first career pinch-hit home run.

Buck has seven home runs this season, including three in his last six games. This was the second time the Marlins have hit back-to-back home runs this season - Justin Ruggiano and Morrison accomplished the feat on June 1 at Philadelphia.

Omar Infante’s RBI double in the eighth gave the Marlins an insurance run.

Anibal Sanchez (4-6) ended his three-game losing streak, allowing three runs in seven innings.

Steve Cishek pitched the eighth and Heath Bell recorded his 15th save in 19 chances by pitching the ninth. He got Allen Craig to pop up with Matt Carpenter on second to end the game.

ASTROS 1, PADRES 0 Lucas Harrell (7-6) pitched his first complete game and left fielderJ.D. Martinez threw out a runner at the plate in the ninth inning to preserve Houston’s victory over visiting San Diego.

BRAVES 6, DIAMONDBACKS 4 Chipper Jones and Jason Heyward homered and host Atlanta withstood Arizona’s comeback attempt to beat the Diamondbacks.

NATIONALS 11, ROCKIES 5 Jordan Zimmermann pitched seven strong innings, Ryan Zimmerman and Tyler Moore both homered and visiting Washington beat Colorado.

PIRATES 11, PHILLIES 7 Chase Utley homered in his first at-bat of the season, but visiting Pittsburgh spoiled his return by connecting three times and beating Philadelphia.

BREWERS 8, REDS 4 Rickie Weeks and Cody Ransom each hit two-run home runs off Homer Bailey (5-6) and visiting Milwaukee avoided a three-game sweep by beating Cincinnati.

GIANTS 3, DODGERS 0 Tim Lincecum allowed four hits over seven innings, and host San Francisco held Los Angeles scoreless for the third consecutive game.

METS 17, CUBS 1 Daniel Murphy homered twice, Scott Hairston hit a grand slam and David Wright drove in five runs to lead visiting New York to a rout of Chicago.

American League ANGELS 13, ORIOLES 1 Torii Hunter (Pine Bluff) homered and scored four runs, Jered Weaver pitched into the seventh inning and visiting Los Angeles beat Baltimore.

RANGERS 13, TIGERS 9 David Murphy went 4 for 5 with 2 home runs and matched his career high with 5 RBI to make a winner out of Roy Oswalt (2-0) as Texas defeated visiting Detroit.

ROYALS 5, RAYS 4 Billy Butler greeted reliever Burke Badenhop (1-2) with a home run in the eighth inning, powering host Kansas City to a victory.

ATHLETICS 2, MARINERS 1 Jarrod Parker (4-3) struck out a career-high nine in seven dominant innings, Yoenis Cespedes and Coco Crsip homered for Oakland’s only two hits and the Athletics beat host Seattle.

RED SOX 10, BLUE JAYS 4 The Red Sox scored six runs in the first inning against a wild Ricky Romero, David Ortiz hit his 399th career home run and host Boston beat Toronto.

WHITE SOX 12, TWINS 5 Chris Sale (9-2) won again, pitching seven easy innings with support from a three-run home run by Adam Dunn, and visiting Chicago beat Minnesota.

YANKEES 5, INDIANS 4 Andy Pettitte broke his ankle on the same day the Yankees put CC Sabathia on the disabled list, and Robinson Cano hit a go-ahead home run to help New York beat visiting Cleveland.

Wednesday’s games NATIONAL LEAGUE Milwaukee 8, Cincinnati 4 NY Mets 17, Chicago Cubs 1 San Francisco 3, LA Dodgers 0 Pittsburgh 11, Philadelphia 7 Atlanta 6, Arizona 4 Miami 5, St. Louis 3 Houston 1, San Diego 0 Washington 11, Colorado 5 AMERICAN LEAGUE NY Yankees 5, Cleveland 4 Chicago White Sox 12, Minnesota 5 Boston 10, Toronto 4 Kansas City 5, Tampa Bay 4 Oakland 2, Seattle 1 LA Angels 13, Baltimore 1 Texas 13, Detroit 9

Sports, Pages 18 on 06/28/2012

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