NATIONAL LEAGUE

CARDINALS 5, METS 2

ST. LOUIS -- Michael Wacha escaped a pair of jams with strikeouts, and the St. Louis Cardinals snapped a fifth-inning tie en route to a 5-2 victory over the New York Mets on Tuesday night.

Yadier Molina hit his first home run since May 24 for the Cardinals, who have won eight of nine and will go for a three-game sweep today. David Wright hit his first home run since May 28, and Lucas Duda also connected for the Mets, who have lost 11 of 14.

Daisuke Matsuzaka worked a scoreless seventh inning in relief of Mets starter Jonathon Niese (3-4). Matsuzaka left Sunday's start against San Diego after one inning because of a severe upset stomach.

Wacha (5-5) gave up a run and five hits in six innings. He fanned Daniel Murphy with runners on second and third to end the fifth and preserve a 1-all tie, and struck out Ruben Tejada with two on to end the sixth when the Cardinals led 3-1.

Jon Jay's RBI triple with two outs in the fifth gave the Cardinals the lead, and Matt Holliday followed with an RBI double. Pinch-hitter Kolten Wong and Peter Bourjos added RBI in the sixth, with both runs unearned after second baseman Murphy dropped Daniel Descalso's slicing, looping liner with a man on and two out.

MARLINS 6, CUBS 5 Garrett Jones hit a three-run home run in the seventh inning and host Miami rallied to beat Chicago. Adeiny Hechavarria started the Marlins' seventh with a bunt single for his fourth hit. Rafael Furcal had a two-out, two-run single in the fourth for his first RBI since 2012.

PHILLIES 5, BRAVES 2 Ryan Howard homered and Kyle Kendrick won consecutive starts for the first time in 11 months for visiting Philadelphia as they beat Atlanta. The Phillies got a solid start from Kendrick (3-6), who had gone 2-11 in his previous 20 starts since last Aug. 11.

REDS 6, PIRATES 5 Todd Frazier led off the ninth inning with a tiebreaking home run, lifting Cincinnati past host Pittsburgh after the Reds' bullpen blew a three-run lead.

BREWERS 7, DIAMONDBACKS 5 Jonathan Lucroy homered twice, including a grand slam in an eventful seventh inning, and visiting Milwaukee made it two in a row over Arizona.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

ANGELS 9, INDIANS 3 Mike Trout homered twice and drove in four runs, and rookie Matt Shoemaker remained unbeaten as a starter as visiting Los Angeles beat Cleveland. Trout's three-run home run in the fifth broke a 3-all tie and capped a four-run inning.

ORIOLES 7, RAYS 5 Chris Davis hit a replay-delayed grand slam and visiting Baltimore beat Tampa Bay. Davis was awarded a slam off Erik Bedard (3-5) during a five-run third-inning after a video review showed his drive struck the foul pole.

RED SOX 2, TWINS 1 Brock Holt scored both Boston runs, Jon Lester weathered a shaky start and pitched six-plus strong innings as Boston held off visiting Minnesota. Lester (8-7) has a winning record for the first time this season.

ROYALS 11, TIGERS 4 Alex Gordon and Mike Moustakas homered as part of a seven-run second inning, and visiting Kansas City took over first place in the AL Central with a victory over Detroit, its ninth consecutive victory. The Royals, who trailed the Tigers by seven games after a May 20 loss, now lead Detroit by a half-game atop the division.

YANKEES 3, BLUE JAYS 1 Masahiro Tanaka (11-1) gave up a home run to Jose Reyes on the first pitch of the game, then earned his major league-high 11th victory as host New York beat Toronto for its 14th consecutive home victory over the Blue Jays.

INTERLEAGUE

MARINERS 6, PADRES 1 Robinson Cano hit a two-run home run and Jesus Montero got his first big league home run in more than a year to help Seattle sweep a two-game set with visiting San Diego.

NATIONALS 6, ASTROS 5 Anthony Rendon doubled twice and drove in three runs, and Washington opened a six-game homestand with a victory over Houston.

WHITE SOX 8, GIANTS 2 Gordon Beckham and Dayan Viciedo hit two-run home runs, John Danks pitched effectively into the seventh inning and host Chicago snapped a four-game losing streak with a victory over San Francisco.

Sports on 06/18/2014