CARDINALS 7, NATIONALS 5
WASHINGTON -- Kolten Wong keeps causing trouble for the Washington Nationals.
Wong homered and drove in the tiebreaking run with a double in the eighth inning to lift the St. Louis Cardinals to a 7-5 victory over the Washington Nationals on Wednesday night.
Wong finished 3 for 4 for the second consecutive night. He hit a two-run home run in the second inning and the tie-breaking double gave him three RBI.
He also made two spectacular plays at second base and a third good one, helping St. Louis on offense and defense.
"You always want to try and have that one game where you can play both sides really well, and (this) was my night," Wong said. "I got to play well on both sides, and I got to help to contribute to the win."
Wong ranged into short center field to grab grounders and throw out Yunel Escobar to end the fifth and Wilson Ramos starting the sixth. He also made a nice play later that inning on Danny Espinosa's grounder, going far to his left and throwing to pitcher John Lackey covering first.
"(He) had a huge day," St. Louis Manager Mike Matheny said. "There's a couple of plays there you just don't think that there's any chance. Just overall a very good day for Kolten."
The tiebreaking hit might have been Wong's biggest moment. Jon Jay drew a one-out walk off Blake Treinen (0-2) in the eighth and moved to third on Yadier Molina's single. Wong then sliced a double down the left-field line, scoring Jay to break a 5-5 tie.
Matt Adams added a home run in the ninth off Rafael Martin to close the scoring.
Kevin Siegrist (1-0) pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings and Trevor Rosenthal got the last three outs for his fifth save as St. Louis won for the sixth time in seven games.
METS 3, BRAVES 2 Lucas Duda hit a tiebreaking single in the eighth inning that sent host New York to its 10th consecutive victory. Wilmer Flores hit a tying home run and an RBI single for the Mets (12-3), on their longest winning streak since taking 10 in a row in July 2008.
PIRATES 4, CUBS 3 Gregory Polanco hit his first home run of the season and Vance Worley (2-1) got through 5 2/3 shaky innings for his second consecutive victory as host Pittsburgh held off Chicago. Polanco's leadoff home run in the bottom of the fifth inning off Jason Hammel increased the Pirates' lead to 4-1.
ROCKIES 5, PADRES 4 Pinch-hitter Daniel Descalso delivered an RBI single in the ninth inning after Corey Dickerson tied the game in the eighth with his second home run of the night, helping host Colorado snap a five-game skid with a victory over San Diego.
MARLINS 6, PHILLIES 1 Adeiny Hechavarria had two hits and scored the go-ahead run and visiting Miami took advantage of Philadelphia’s sloppy play to end a five-game losing streak with a victory over the Phillies.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
TWINS 3, ROYALS 0 Mike Pelfrey pitched seven scoreless innings to pick up his first victory since 2013 as visiting Minnesota beat Kansas City. Joe Mauer reached base four times with two hits and two walks and scored a run. Pelfrey's last victory was Sept. 23, 2013, against Detroit.
WHITE SOX 6, INDIANS 0 Jeff Samardzija (1-1) threw six shutout innings to outduel Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber and host Chicago beat Cleveland. First baseman Jose Abreu's first-inning home run gave Samardzija early run support. Abreu finished 2 for 4 with three RBI.
YANKEES 13, TIGERS 4 New York scored six runs off David Price in the first inning amid swirling snow flurries, and Mark Teixeira added a three-run home run in the seventh to cap a rout of host Detroit. Price (1-1) allowed eight runs and 10 hits in 2 1/3 innings.
MARINERS 3, ASTROS 2 J.A. Happ earned his first win with the Mariners as the Seattle bullpen held off visiting Houston. Acquired from Toronto in an offseason trade, Happ (1-1) won in his third start. He gave up two runs and eight hits in 7 1/3 innings, walking none and striking out five. Roberto Hernandez (0-2) allowed three runs in seven innings.
BLUE JAYS 4, ORIOLES 2 Rookie Devon Travis got three hits, including a go-ahead home run that sent host Toronto over Baltimore. Justin Smoak also connected for the Blue Jays.
RAYS 7, RED SOX 5 Jake Elmore homered, Brandon Guyer had a two-run, pinch-hit single in a four-run sixth and host Tampa Bay rallied from a four-run deficit to beat Boston.
INTERLEAGUE
DIAMONDBACKS 8, RANGERS 5 Archie Bradley shook off a shaky start to pitch six effective innings, lifting host Arizona to a victory over Texas. Bradley (2-0) walked five in the first three innings, including one that scored a run, but proved to be effectively wild, holding the Rangers to a run and two hits. He is the fifth pitcher since 1914 to allow two hits or fewer in six-plus innings in two of his first three big league starts. Chris Owings homered off Yovani Gallardo (2-1) and had a run-scoring single for the Diamondbacks.
Sports on 04/23/2015