OAKLAND, Calif. - Adam Wainwright pitched a five-hitter to become the National League’s second 11-game winner, Matt Adams had his first two-home run game and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Oakland Athletics 7-1 Saturday.
Wainwright (11-5) tied Washington’s Jordan Zimmerman for most wins in the NL. He struck out 8 and walked 2 in a 112-pitch performance for his fourth complete game this year and 15th of his career.
What appeared a pitcher’s duel in the making changed quickly when A’s starter Jarrod Parker left in the fourth inning with tightness in his right hamstring on an unusually hot Bay Area afternoon.
Adams hit a three-run home run to highlight a four-run sixth and another in the eighth.
Josh Reddick’s RBI single in the eighth provided the lone A’s run on a dominant day by Wainwright.
Daniel Descalso broke a scoreless tie with a sacrifice fly in the fifth, and the Cardinals gave Wainwright plenty of support to take sole possession of the team lead in victories ahead of Lance Lynn’s 10.
Wainwright appeared to have no issues this time after objecting to Manager Mike Matheny’s decision to pull him after 6 2/3 innings in a loss to Texas last Sunday.
After a 1-2-3 first inning on nine pitches, Wainwright was on his way. A’s No. 9 hitter Derek Norris singled with two outs in the third for the first hit off Wainwright, who ended a two-start skid.
CUBS 5, MARINERS 3 Alfonso Soriano hit a two-run home run in the 11th inning to lift visiting Chicago to a victory over Seattle.Blake Parker (Arkansas Razorbacks/Fayetteville) earned his first major-league save.
REDS 6, RANGERS 4 Devin Mesoraco hit a two-run home run in the 11th inning and visiting Cincinnati snapped a three-game losing streak with a victory over AL West-leading Texas.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
BRAVES 11, DIAMONDBACKS 5 Jason Heyward hit a tying RBI double and Andrelton Simmons scored the go-ahead run on the same play in a seven-run eighth inning that gave host Atlanta a victory over Arizona.
METS 5, NATIONALS 1 Dillon Gee beat Washington for the third time this season and host New York scored the go-ahead run when third baseman Ryan Zimmerman and shortstop Ian Desmond made errors on the same play.
ROCKIES 2, GIANTS 1 Nolan Arenado hit a game-ending single with two outs in the ninth inning to lift Colorado to a victory over San Francisco. Michael Cuddyer singled in the first inning to extend his hitting streak to 26 consecutive games.
MARLINS 7, PADRES 1 Jacob Turner (2-0) pitched a seven-hitter for his first complete game in 19 career starts, helping host Miami beat San Diego.
PIRATES 2, BREWERS 1 Pedro Alvarez and Garrett Jones hit home runs and Francisco Liriano pitched six strong innings as surging Pittsburgh defeated Milwaukee.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
ANGELS 7, ASTROS 2 Joe Blanton pitched seven sharp innings, and Howie Kendrick and Chris Iannetta hit home runs to give visiting Los Angeles a victory over Houston.
BLUE JAYS 6, RED SOX 2 Jose Bautista hit two long home runs, starting with the 200th of his career and following with a tie breaking, two run drive off Junichi Tazawa in the eighth inning that led visiting Toronto over Boston.
INDIANS 4, WHITE SOX 3 Nick Swisher singled in the tie breaking run in the eighth inning, and visiting Cleveland beat Chicago.
TWINS 6, ROYALS 2 Kyle Gibson pitched six solid innings in his major-league debut, and Trevor Plouffe hit a home run to help host Minnesota beat Kansas City.
ORIOLES 11, YANKEES 3 Chris Davis homered twice to raise his major league-leading total to 30, and host Baltimore beat the Yankees to extend New York’s losing streak to four games.
RAYS 4, TIGERS 3 Yunel Escobar had an RBI single in the bottom of the 10th inning as host Tampa Bay rallied for a victory over Detroit.
Saturday’s games
NATIONAL LEAGUE NY Mets 5, Washington 1 Atlanta 11, Arizona 5 Colorado 2, San Francisco 1 Miami 7, San Diego 1 Pittsburgh 2, Milwaukee 1 Philadelphia at LA Dodgers, (n)
AMERICAN LEAGUE Toronto 6, Boston 2 Cleveland 4, Chicago White Sox 3 Minnesota 6, Kansas City 2 LA Angels 7, Houston 2 Tampa Bay 4, Detroit 3 (10) Baltimore 11, NY Yankees 3
INTERLEAGUE St. Louis 7, Oakland 1 Chicago Cubs 5, Seattle 3 (11) Cincinnati 6, Texas 4 (11)
Sports, Pages 24 on 06/30/2013