ST. LOUIS -- Pittsburgh first baseman Pedro Alvarez insists his success against the St. Louis Cardinals is a fluke.
"The level and the focus that I have against them is the same as I have against everyone else," he said. "I treat the game pitch by pitch, just like I do in every game."
Whatever the reason, Alvarez continues to pound on the NL Central leaders.
He blasted a two-run homer in a seven-run first inning on Thursday night to help the Pirates break an eight-game losing streak at Busch Stadium with a 10-5 win over St. Louis.
The Pirates moved within six games of the Cardinals with their 12th victory in the last 18 games.
St. Louis, which won the first two games in the series, has won the last seven sets between the teams in St. Louis.
Alvarez and Neil Walker each had three hits as the Pirates held on after a huge first inning. The Cardinals closed the deficit to 7-5 in the seventh.
Alvarez, who also homered in the series opener on Tuesday, has 18 home runs against St. Louis since the start of the 2010 season, the most against the Cardinals in that span. He has 57 career RBIs against the Cardinals, his highest total against any major league team.
"Just one of those things," he said.
Francisco Liriano (8-6) pitched 6 innings and gave up 3 runs and 6 hits.
Lance Lynn (9-7) got just two outs in the shortest of his 119 career starts. He gave up six runs, and four of the runs were unearned after a throwing error by third baseman Matt Carpenter.
Walker started the outburst with a triple and Andrew McCutchen doubled. Jung Ho Kang reached on the error and Alvarez followed with his 17th home run of the season, a two-run drive to center.
Liriano and Gregory Polanco added RBI singles that finished Lynn, and Walker capped it by singling home a run.
Walker had hits from each side of the plate in the lengthy first inning.
"It's rare, but as a switch hitter, that's what you're supposed to do," Walker said.
After getting the first out of the game, Lynn allowed eight of the next nine hitters to reach safely.
"It was terrible, plain and simple," Lynn said. "You give up seven runs and don't get out of the first inning, that's a poor effort."
St. Louis Manager Mike Matheny said it was just one of those off days for Lynn.
"It's not something we normally see from Lance," Matheny said. "Those happen from time to time. You've just got to let them go."
Following one-run and two-run losses in the first two games of the series, the Pirates came out aggressive from the first pitch on Thursday.
"We didn't play our best ball the first two days," Pittsburgh Manager Clint Hurdle said. "So where do you go from there? It was really good for everybody to get involved in the offense in that first inning."
Added Walker, "We had good approaches early on. We made (Lynn) throw strikes. We were able to take advantage of some situations."
The Cardinals got a two-run single from Yadier Molina in the bottom half.
Jhonny Peralta cut the deficit to 7-4 with a run-scoring hit in the seventh off reliever Joakim Soria. Molina's sacrifice fly brought the Cardinals to within 7-5.
Walker hit an RBI double during a three-run ninth.
The Pirates salvaged a victory in a place where they have still lost 13 of their last 16.
"It was good for us to get a little momentum in this ballpark," Walker said. "Given what we've done here, it's huge. You try not to make things too important, but this was big for us."
METS 12, ROCKIES 3 Curtis Granderson and Kelly Johnson each homered and drove in three runs, powering host New York to a rout of Colorado that completed a four-game sweep. Noah Syndergaard recovered nicely from a rocky start for his latest victory at Citi Field, where the Mets have won 10 consecutive against Colorado. With their seventh consecutive home victory and 11th in 13 games overall, the NL East leaders (63-52) moved 11 games over .500 for the first time since June 27, 2010.
CUBS 9, BREWERS 2 Kyle Schwarber hit two home runs and drove in four runs, Jon Lester won his fourth consecutive decision and Chicago beat visiting Milwaukee for its seventh victory in a row. Schwarber, Dexter Fowler and Anthony Rizzo each homered in the fifth inning as Chicago won for the 13th time in 14 games. The Cubs' winning streak is their longest since 2011. The Cubs, holding the lead for the second NL wild-card spot, completed their first undefeated homestand of at least seven games since 2008.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
ANGELS 7, ROYALS 5
C.J. Cron and Kole Calhoun each drove in a pair of runs in the ninth inning, rallying Los Angeles past host Kansas City and its stout bullpen for a victory and an end to its seven-game skid against the Royals. Kansas City had built a 5-1 advantage heading to the eighth, but All-Star reliever Wade Davis coughed up two runs in his first appearance since Aug. 6, when a stiff back put him on the shelf. Greg Holland (3-1) entered in the ninth and gave up a leadoff single, a walk and threw a wild pitch. Cron followed with a pinch-hit double to tie the game, and after Johnny Giavotella singled, Calhoun added his go-ahead double into the right-field corner.
YANKEES 8, INDIANS 6 Brian McCann hit a three-run home run, Stephen Drew also connected and visiting New York broke a five-game losing streak with a victory over Cleveland. New York remained a half-game behind Toronto, which has won 11 in a row, in the AL East. Limited to a total of six runs during their skid, the Yankees shook loose as McCann homered in the first inning. Drew hit a solo home run in the second, added an RBI double in the fourth and wound up scoring a career-high four runs. Nathan Eovaldi (12-2) won his seventh consecutive decision, allowing four runs in 5 1/3 innings.
BLUE JAYS 4, ATHLETICS 2 Surging host Toronto won its 11th consecutive game, beating Oakland behind Mark Buehrle's arm and Ryan Goins' bat. The AL East leaders, who also won 11 in a row in June, became the first team to post a pair of winning streaks of at least 11 since Cleveland in 1954. Buehrle (13-5) won his fourth consecutive decision and improved to 8-1 in 14 starts since May 29. He allowed 2 runs and 7 hits in 7-plus innings. Blue Jays starters have permitted three earned runs or fewer in 17 consecutive games, one shy of the club record.
RANGERS 6, TWINS 5 Mitch Moreland drove in four runs on a career-high four hits, including a two-run home run to help visiting Texas avoid a sweep at Minnesota and rally past the Twins. Elvis Andrus hit the go-ahead sacrifice fly in the eighth inning against Casey Fien (2-5) after Adrian Beltre and Moreland started the frame with singles. Twins starter Ervin Santana squandered a 4-0 lead, thanks to the towering two-run shot by Moreland in the fourth and a two-run, go-ahead double by the first baseman in the fifth.
Sports on 08/14/2015