HOUSTON — Lance Lynn pitched seven innings to earn his 17th victory, rookie Pete Kozma hit a two-run home run and the St. Louis Cardinals strengthened their grip on a playoff spot with a 6-1 victory over the Houston Astros on Monday night.
Yadier Molina also homered as the Cardinals moved 3 1/2 games in front of Milwaukee and Los Angeles for the second NL wild card. The Brewers lost 12-2 at Washington earlier in the day, and the Dodgers were off.
Lynn (17-7) struck out 9 and allowed 1 run and 5 hits. The right hander is 4-0 with a 0.89 ERA in his last four outings, including a relief appearance against Milwaukee on Sept. 9.
Kozma extended St. Louis’ lead to 3-0 with his second major league home run in the second, a day after hitting his first one. Molina hit his 21st home run of the season to make it 4-1 in the fourth.
Houston starter Fernando Abad (0-6) pitched 1 2/3 innings before leaving with a strained right oblique. He walked one and allowed a run. He was replaced by Fernando Rodriguez, who was charged with 3 runs and 7 hits in a career-long 4 1/3 innings.
Lynn improved to 4-0 in five career appearances against the Astros, and St. Louis beat Houston for the ninth consecutive time in front of a crowd of 12,584 - the smallest crowd in the history of the 12-yearold ballpark.
Daniel Descalso got St. Louis off to a fast start with a two-out RBI triple in the second inning. Kozma’s home run bounced off the wall above the Crawford Boxes in left field.
Molina looked healthy a day after he was out of the lineup with lower back spasms. The All-Star catcher was injured avoiding a pitch Saturday. He fell face down to the ground in the seventh inning getting out of the way of a pitch inside, but jumped right back up, before eventually drawing a walk.
Scott Moore had an RBI single in the second for Houston. Moore drove in Jason Castro, who reached on a wild pitch after he struck out leading off the inning.
NATIONALS 12, BREWERS 2 Jayson Werth wound up with a two-out, two-run double when Brewers center fielder Carlos Gomez lost a ball in the sun to spark a six-run fourth inning, and host Washington beat Milwaukee to cut its magic number for winning the NL East to five. Jordan Zimmermann (12-8) allowed 1 run and 4 hits in 62/3 innings, while delivering two hits and driving in a run as a batter.
METS 6, PIRATES 2 Ike Davis connected twice and reached a career-high 30 home runs, Jenrry Mejia pitched five effective innings for his first major league victory and host New York won its fourth consecutive.
ROCKIES 4, DIAMONDBACKS 2 Tyler Chatwood pitched effectively into the sixth inning and Andrew Brown homered for host Colorado.
American League YANKEES 6, TWINS 3 Andy Pettitte pitched six scoreless innings and visiting New York hit four home runs to beat Minnesota and extend their AL East lead. The Yankees took a 1 1/2-game edge over Baltimore, which split a doubleheader with Toronto. This is the first time since Sept. 2 their margin has been more than one game.
ORIOLES 4-5, BLUE JAYS 1-9 J.P. Arencibia broke open a tight game with a seventh-inning grand slam, and visiting Toronto beat Baltimore 9-5 to earn a doubleheader split and drop the Orioles 11/2 games out of first place in the AL East. In the opener, Adam Jones went 4 for 4 with a home run to lead Baltimore to a 4-1 victory.
RANGERS 5, ATHLETICS 4 Adrian Beltre singled home the winning run in the ninth inning and host Texas rallied past Oakland, stretching their AL West lead over the Athletics to five games with nine to play. The Athletics’ lead for the second AL wild-card slot was cut to two games over the idle Los Angeles Angels.
WHITE SOX 5, INDIANS 4 Adam Dunn homered twice, including a three-run shot in the eighth inning, and host Chicago beat Cleveland to maintain their one-game lead in the AL Central.
TIGERS 6, ROYALS 2 Justin Verlander pitched eight innings and Prince Fielder hit a home run, helping host Detroit beat Kansas City.
Monday’s games NATIONAL LEAGUE Washington 12, Milwaukee 2 NY Mets 6, Pittsburgh 2 St. Louis 6, Houston 1 Colorado 4, Arizona 2 AMERICAN LEAGUE Baltimore 4, Toronto 1, 1st game Detroit 6, Kansas City 2 Toronto 9, Baltimore 5, 2nd game Texas 5, Oakland 4 Chicago White Sox 5, Cleveland 4 NY Yankees 6, Minnesota 3
Sports, Pages 18 on 09/25/2012