ST. LOUIS - Rookie Jeff Locke pitched seven innings of three-hit ball and Russell Martin had two of Pittsburgh’s four home runs in a 9-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday that gave the Pirates the series and the NL Central lead.
Jones had three hits and John McDonald added an RBI double for Pittsburgh, which ended rookie Shelby Miller’s streak of 14 scoreless innings at home to start the season. The Pirates have won nine of 12 overall, leapfrogging St. Louis for first place.
Locke (3-1) has worked 13 scoreless innings while allowing five hits his last two starts. The Cardinals got just three singles and advanced two runners into scoring position against the 25-year-old left-hander, who earned the fifth spot in the rotation with a strong spring.
Justin Wilson allowed a walk the last two innings to wrap up the Pirates’ fifth shutout, tied for the league lead with St. Louis and San Francisco. All of them have been collaborations.
Miller (3-2) struggled to put away hitters and was taken out after 113 pitches and giving up two home runs in 5 2/3 innings. He struck out seven, one off his season best, and was charged with three runs.
MARLINS 6, CUBS 4 Giancarlo Stanton homered twice and drove in four runs and host Miami beat Chicago to avert a four-game series sweep. The Marlins improved to 6-19, still worst in the majors, and 3-10 at home.
PHILLIES 5, METS 1 Ryan Howard snapped a seventh-inning tie with a pinch-hit double, Cole Hamels earned his first victory of the season and visiting Philadelphia took advantage of a crucial Mets error to beat New York and finish a three game sweep.
REDS 5, NATIONALS 2 Tony Cingrani struck out a career-high 11 - including four in one inning- while pitching two-hit ball through the sixth, and visiting Cincinnati beat Washington to avoid a four-game sweep.
PADRES 6, GIANTS 4 Chase Headley, Nick Hundley and Alexi Amarista homered off Ryan Vogelsong and host San Diego beat San Francisco for a three-game sweep.
DODGERS 2, BREWERS 0 Clayton Kershaw retired 18 consecutive batters and struck out 12 in eight dominant innings, Carl Crawford homered twice against Kyle Lohse and host Los Angeles beat Milwaukee.
DIAMONDBACKS 4, ROCKIES 2 Gerardo Parra tripled and scored twice, and Josh Wilson had a run-scoring double to lead host Arizona past Colorado.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
YANKEES 3, BLUE JAYS 2 Lyle Overbay sent a knuckle ball from R.A. Dickey (2-4) into the right field bullpen for a go-ahead, two-run home run in the seventh inning and host New York beat Toronto for a four-game sweep.
RED SOX 6, ASTROS 1 John Lackey returned from the disabled list and pitched six solid innings, David Ortiz drove in two more runs and host Boston matched a team record with its 18th victory in April by beating Houston for a four-game sweep.
TWINS 5, RANGERS 0 Kevin Correia pitched eight sharp innings, Justin Morneau homered and host Minnesota beat Texas. The Rangers lost consecutive games for the first time this season.
RAYS 8, WHITE SOX 3 David Price struck out nine in winning for the first time this season, Ben Zobrist hit a go-ahead RBI single in the eighth and visiting Tampa Bay beat the Chicago White Sox.
ROYALS 9-3, INDIANS 0-10 Jeremy Guthrie kept the Indians off-balance, Alcides Escobar and Alex Gordon homered and host Kansas City routed Cleveland to open a day-night doubleheader at Kauffman Stadium. Mike Aviles’ five RBI led the Indians in the nightcap. Corey Kluber went seven strong innings to pick up the victory.
MARINERS 2, ANGELS 1 Jason Bay and Michael Morse hit home runs, leading host Seattle over the Los Angeles Angels.
ATHLETICS 9, ORIOLES 8 Third baseman Manny Machado made a throwing error in the 10th inning and host Oakland completed a five run comeback by beating Baltimore.
INTERLEAGUE
TIGERS 8, BRAVES 3 Miguel Cabrera’s three run home run in the seventh inning broke the game open, and host Detroit finished off a three-game sweep of Atlanta. Austin Jackson and Omar Infante also homered for the Tigers.
Sunday’s games
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Miami 6, Chicago Cubs 4 Philadelphia 5, NY Mets 1 Cincinnati 5, Washington 2 Pittsburgh 9, St. Louis 0 Arizona 4, Colorado 2 LA Dodgers 2, Milwaukee 0 San Diego 6, San Francisco 4 AMERICAN LEAGUE
NY Yankees 3, Toronto 2 Boston 6, Houston 1 Kansas City 9-3, Cleveland 0-10 Tampa Bay 8, Chicago White Sox 3 Minnesota 5, Texas 0 Oakland 9, Baltimore 8, 10 inn.
Seattle 2, LA Angels 1
INTERLEAGUE
Detroit 8, Atlanta 3
Sports, Pages 16 on 04/29/2013