HOUSTON - Erik Bedard pitched six effective innings and the Houston Astros used a four-run fourth inning to beat the St. Louis Cardinals 4-3 on Wednesday night.
Bedard (3-3) allowed seven hits and walked one, but limited St. Louis to three runs. Three relievers then combined to pitch two hitless innings before Jose Veras worked the ninth for his 16th save.
Veras yielded a one-out single to Jon Jay and then walked Matt Adams, but pinch hitter Daniel Descalso struck out and Matt Carpenter flied out to end the game.
Allen Craig hit a home run for the second consecutive night and Yadier Molina had a two-run shot for the Cardinals, who lost for the fourth time in five games. They dropped into a tie with surging Pittsburgh for the lead in the NL Central.
Lance Lynn (10-2) allowed 5 hits and 4 runs, walked 4 and struck out 4 over 7 2/3 innings for his first loss in four career starts in Houston.
METS 3, WHITE SOX 0 Shaun Marcum pitched eight shutout innings for his first victory of the season, and Eric Young Jr. had three hits and drove in a run to lead visiting New York to a victory over Chicago.
PIRATES 4, MARINERS 2 Jordy Mercer hit a go-ahead single with two outs in the ninth inning and visiting Pittsburgh beat Seattle. The Pirates improved to 48-30 - they are 18 games over .500 for the first time since 1992, their last winning season.
ROYALS 4, BRAVES 3 Alex Gordon drove in David Lough in the 10th inning, giving host Kansas City a victory over Atlanta. Lough had entered the game the previous inning as a pinch hitter, but was still at-bat because Elliot Johnson was picked off first base to end the ninth. Lough singled off Braves reliever Alex Wood (0-2) to start the 10th and then reached second when Miguel Tejada laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt. That set the stage for Gordon, who hit a home run earlier in the game. He dropped a base hit into shallow left field, allowing Lough to score easily.
ATHLETICS 5, REDS 0 A.J. Griffin (6-6) pitched a two-hitter for his first victory in more than a month, Josh Donaldson hit a three-run home run and host Oakland beat Cincinnati.
MARLINS 5, TWINS 3 Placido Polanco hit a home run for the first time in more than a year and Jeff Mathis hit his first since last August, helping host Miami overcome a three-run deficit against Minnesota.
RED SOX 5, ROCKIES 3 John Lackey (5-5) struck out a season-high 12 over seven strong innings and Daniel Nava drove in two runs, leading host Boston to a victory and a sweep of the two game series against Colorado.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
BLUE JAYS 3, RAYS 0 R.A. Dickey (7-8) pitched a two-hitter for his first complete game of the year, Jose Reyes went 0 for 4 in his return from a two-month layoff and visiting Toronto beat Tampa Bay.
ANGELS 7, TIGERS 4 Mike Trout homered and drove in three runs, and Erick Aybar’s two run shot gave Los Angeles the lead for good as the Angels beat host Detroit. Miguel Cabrera and former Angels outfielder Torii Hunter (Pine Bluff) hit home runs for Detroit.
INDIANS 4, ORIOLES 3 Scott Kazmir took a no-hitter into the seventh, and visiting Cleveland scored two ninth-inning runs off Baltimore closer Jim Johnson to pull out a victory.
RANGERS 8, YANKEES 5 Nelson Cruz homered and visiting Texas got consecutive two-run doubles from Adrian Beltre and A.J. Pierzynski in a victory over New York.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
CUBS 5, BREWERS 4 Scott Feldman pitched six solid innings, Anthony Rizzo had a key two-run single and visiting Chicago held on to beat Milwaukee. Feldman (7-6) gave up just 3 runs and 6 hits while striking out 3 and walking none for his first victory this season against an NL Central Division opponent.
NATIONALS 3, DIAMONDBACKS 2 Jordan Zimmermann (11-3) dominated after a shaky start and rookie Anthony Rendon had his third three-hit performance as host Washington defeated Arizona.
Wednesday’s games
NATIONAL LEAGUE Washington 3, Arizona 2 Chicago Cubs 5, Milwaukee 4 Philadelphia at San Diego, (n) San Francisco at LA Dodgers, (n)
AMERICAN LEAGUE Toronto 3, Tampa Bay 0 Cleveland 4, Baltimore 3 Texas 8, NY Yankees 5 LA Angels 7, Detroit 4
INTERLEAGUE Miami 5, Minnesota 3 Oakland 5, Cincinnati 0 Pittsburgh 4, Seattle 2 Boston 5, Colorado 3 Kansas City 4, Atlanta 3 (10) NY Mets 3, Chicago White Sox 0 Houston 4, St. Louis 3
Sports, Pages 22 on 06/27/2013