HOUSTON — Bud Norris pitched into the eighth inning for his first victory since May 21, and Jose Altuve homered and the Houston Astros avoided a sweep, beating the St. Louis Cardinals 2-0 on Wednesday night.
Norris (6-13) allowed 2 hits and struck out 7 without a walk in 7 1/3 innings to snap a career-long 12-game losing streak which spanned 18 starts in the last National League game in Houston with the Astros moving to the American League West for 2013.
The victory broke a 10-game winning streak for the Cardinals over Houston and cut their lead over Los Angeles and Milwaukee to 3 1/2 games for the second NL wild card spot after both teams won Wednesday.
Norris hurled the gem despite a tough stretch where he has been slowed by a blister on index finger of his right hand and flu-like symptoms.
Wilton Lopez got the final five outs to complete the three-hitter and get his eighth save. Norris clapped his hands once and smiled when Houston got the final out.
Chris Carpenter (0-1) allowed 4 hits and 2 runs in 6 innings in his second start since missing 150 games following right shoulder surgery.
Norris had retired 12 of 13 when he hit Adron Chambers to start the eighth inning. Daniel Descalso reached on an error by Brett Wallace, when his grounder rolled between the first baseman’s legs.
Norris struck out Pete Kozma before he was lifted for Lopez. Pinchhitter Carlos Beltran grounded into a forceout that left Descalso out at second and Chambers on third base, before Jon Jay grounded into a forceout to end the threat.
BRAVES 3, MARLINS 0 Atlanta beat visiting Miami as Martin Prado homered and Paul Maholm (13-10) combined with three relievers on a sixhitter. Prado hit a first-inning home run off Josh Johnson (8-14) and drove in Jose Constanza with a third-inning single. The Braves had only four hits. BREWERS 8, REDS 1 Ryan Braun hit his NLleading 41st home run, and visiting Milwaukee kept its wild-card chances flickering with a victory over Cincinnati. Shaun Marcum (6-4) went six innings for his first victory since returning from an elbow problem, allowing only four hits.
DODGERS 8, PADRES 2 Matt Kemp had four hits, falling a triple shy of the cycle, and four RBI as visiting Los Angeles used a rare offensive outburst to beat San Diego.
NATIONALS 8, PHILLIES 4 Bryce Harper hit his 20th home run, Ian Desmond and Kurt Suzuki also connected and visiting Washington beat Philadelphia. John Lannan (4-0) gave up 2 runs and 5 hits in 5 1/3 innings to win his second start since taking Stephen Strasburg’s spot in the rotation. METS 6, PIRATES 0 David Wright broke the New York Mets’ record for hits and Jeremy Hefner bounced back from a horrendous start in a victory over visiting Pittsburgh. Ruben Tejada tied a career high with four hits, including two RBI singles, and Scott Hairston doubled home a run as the Mets took advantage of some shoddy Pittsburgh defense to win for the fifth time in six games.
American League
ORIOLES 12, BLUE JAYS 2 Chris Davis and Manny Machado each connected twice and host Baltimore tied a team record with seven home runs, routing Toronto. Nate McLouth hit a leadoff shot in the first inning and Jim Thome and Mark Reynolds also homered.
RAYS 4, RED SOX 2 Carlos Pena and Ben Francisco hit back-to-back, tape-measure home runs in the fifth inning to lead visiting Tampa Bay over Boston.
TIGERS 5, ROYALS 4 Jhonny Peralta brought home the go-ahead run when Andy Dirks’ hard slide broke up a potential inning-ending double play in the eighth inning and host Detroit beat Kansas City. Triple Crown candidate Miguel Cabrera was robbed of a tiebreaking home run in the fifth inning by Alex Gordon’s catch above the left-field wall. YANKEES 8, TWINS 2 C.C. Sabathia struck out 10 batters over eight innings and visiting New York beat Minnesota. Sabathia (14-6) threw 89 of his 118 pitches for strikes.
Wednesday’s games
NATIONAL LEAGUE
LA Dodgers 8, San Diego 2 Washington 8, Philadelphia 4 Atlanta 3, Miami 0 Milwaukee 8, Cincinnati 1 NY Mets 6, Pittsburgh 0 Houston 2, St. Louis 0 Chicago Cubs at Colorado, (n) Arizona at San Francisco, (n)
AMERICAN LEAGUE
NY Yankees 8, Minnesota 2 Detroit 5, Kansas City 4 Baltimore 12, Toronto 2 Tampa Bay 4, Boston 2 Oakland at Texas, (n) Cleveland at Chicago White Sox, (n) Seattle at LA Angels, (n)
Sports, Pages 22 on 09/27/2012