Rookie makes it happen as Cards end losing streak

National League

CARDINALS 2, PADRES 1

ST. LOUIS -- Rookie outfielder Tommy Pham will never forget his first major league hit.

Or his first stolen base and run scored.

Pham scampered home with the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly by Jhonny Peralta in the eighth inning, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the San Diego Padres 2-1 on Saturday to stop their longest losing streak of the season at four games.

Recalled on Friday from Class AAA Memphis, Pham had a trio of personal firsts in his second career start.

"This is a special [day]. I will always remember it," he said. "It means a whole lot, just to be up here and contributing."

Carlos Martinez threw 6 2/3 solid innings, and Seth Maness (3-0) got the victory. Trevor Rosenthal closed for his 24th save in 25 opportunities, getting Matt Kemp to ground out with a runner on to end it.

Rosenthal had a 23-game scoreless string halted on Friday.

San Diego won the first two games of the series, including a 2-1 victory Friday. All four losses during St. Louis' skid came at home.

Pham reached on an error by shortstop Alexi Amarista to start the eighth. He stole second on the first pitch and went to third on a sacrifice by Matt Carpenter.

Peralta then hit a two-strike fly to right to bring in the tiebreaking run. Pham barely beat the throw from Will Venable with a headfirst slide, hooking his hand on the plate.

"We were waiting for somebody to do something and he did it," Peralta said. "I felt it was deep enough when I hit the ball. He's a pretty good runner."

St. Louis Manager Mike Matheny inserted Pham into the leadoff spot hoping he could kick-start a slumping offense that had managed just six runs in its previous four games. Pham scored both runs.

"We put him in a tough spot to see how he was going to respond," Matheny said. "It was nice to see that first hit. In the eighth, he comes out of the box hard and that put pressure on the defense.

"He was good. He was just what we needed today."

Brandon Maurer (5-1) took the loss.

The Cardinals improved to 52-28 overall and 30-11 at home, both marks the best in the majors. They have won seven times this season by a score of 2-1.

NATIONALS 9, GIANTS 3 Bryce Harper hit a home run, Tyler Moore drove in four runs and host Washington defeated San Francisco despite Stephen Strasburg exiting in the fourth inning with an apparent injury. Strasburg allowed one hit over 3 2/3 scoreless innings in his third start since coming off the disabled list. He missed nearly four weeks due to neck tightness. Harper and Moore each had three hits.

INTERLEAGUE

PIRATES 1, INDIANS 0 Jeff Locke pitched eight innings of two-hit ball, retiring his last 19 batters, and Neil Walker had an RBI single to lift host Pittsburgh over Cleveland. Locke (5-4) allowed only second-inning singles by Yan Gomes and Giovanny Urshela as the Pirates ended Cleveland's five-game winning streak.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

YANKEES 3, RAYS 2 A ninth-inning throwing error by pitcher Brad Boxberger gave New York its second consecutive walk-off victory against visiting Tampa Bay. Mark Teixeira doubled past James Loney, who was guarding the first-base line, and into the right-field corner against Boxberger (4-4) leading off the bottom half. Chris Young walked and rookie Ramos Flores sacrificed. Boxberger threw wildly to first, and pinch-runner Jose Pirela scored all the way from second.

TIGERS 8, BLUE JAYS 3 J.D. Martinez hit a home run and David Price pitched seven strong innings as host Detroit beat Toronto. Alex Avila, making his first career start at first base in place of Miguel Cabrera, who is on the disabled list, made the day's most spectacular defensive play, diving into the crowd far down the right-field line to retire Russell Martin in the fourth inning.

RED SOX 6, ASTROS 1 Clay Buchholz pitched a six-hitter to win his fourth consecutive start, coming within one out of a shutout as Boston rebounded from a tough loss with a victory over visiting Houston. Mookie Betts drove in three runs and made a leaping catch in center field to help the Red Sox snap Houston's five-game winning streak.

WHITE SOX 3, ORIOLES 2 Avisail Garcia robbed Chris Davis of a tying home run with a leaping catch in the ninth inning, and host Chicago held off Baltimore. David Robertson earned his 18th save in 22 opportunities -- with a huge assist from Garcia. The right fielder jumped and reached behind him over the wall to take a home run away from Davis with one out in the ninth.

ATHLETICS 2, MARINERS 0 Rookie Kendall Graveman pitched seven innings to help hand visiting Seattle ace Felix Hernandez his first loss in Oakland in nearly seven years, as the Athletics beat the Mariners. The A's scored twice off Hernandez (10-5) but peppered him for 10 hits -- the most he has allowed this season.

Sports on 07/05/2015

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