MILWAUKEE — St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright knew how tough it was for the Milwaukee Brewers to play Saturday after finding out that shortstop Jean Segura’s 9-month-old son had died.
MILWAUKEE — St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright knew how tough it was for the Milwaukee Brewers to play Saturday after finding out that shortstop Jean Segura’s 9-month-old son had died.
But Wainwright had to push those thoughts aside as he pitched seven strong innings to lead the Cardinals to a 10-2 win over Milwaukee for a tie atop the NL Central.
The Brewers lost their seventh in a row.
Segura left the team and traveled home to the Dominican Republic, a day after his 9-month-old son died. The Brewers observed a moment of silence for Janniel Segura, and the clubhouse was closed before the game.
The 24-year-old shortstop was put on the bereavement list when he learned after the Brewers’ 7-6 loss to St. Louis on Friday night that his son had died. Manager Ron Roenicke said the boy had been ill.
“When something like that happens, you become a family,” Wainwright said. “Baseball as a whole becomes a family. There’s bigger things than baseball. I understand that he’s going through something that I hope I never, never have to go through. So our hearts and prayers go out to him.”
Cardinals manager Mike Matheny was catcher for the Cardinals when St. Louis pitcher Darryl Kile died of a heart problem on June 22, 2002.
“The extended family in (Milwaukee’s) clubhouse is hurting right along with him,” he said. “You can’t help but take a step back and just prioritize life. Prioritize just how fragile it is. It gives us perspective.”
“When that happened (Kile’s death), we had a lot of guys having a bunch of conversations you typically wouldn’t have inside a clubhouse,” Matheny said.
Wainwright (12-4) gave up two runs and five hits. He has allowed just four earned runs in his last six starts.
Wainwright helped himself with an RBI single and tied Cincinnati’s Alfredo Simon and the Yankees’ Masahiro Tanaka for the most wins in the majors.
St. Louis trailed Milwaukee by 6 1/2 games on July 1, but Wainwright knows how quickly a team’s fortune can change in a week. In fact, he said that a week ago.
“My quote was ‘In a week from now, we could be doing a completely different kind of interview,’” he said. “It could be what has turned the season around for. And, that’s what’s happened. This game is a funny game of ups and downs. The teams that have the most ups and the least amount of downs end up winning the whole thing.”
Tony Cruz drove in a career-high three runs and Kolten Wong homered for the Cardinals.
“It’s nice to be able to make a little ground,” Matheny said. “It just comes back to playing each game the right way.”
For the Brewers, it was a most difficult day.
“I think everybody in the clubhouse was affected quite a bit,” manager Ron Roenicke said. “I don’t want to make excuses. We knew that we still have a game to play and a job to do, but we did not play well today.”
The Brewers have lost 11 of 12. They had held sole possession of first place since April 9.
Frustrated Brewers star Carlos Gomez struck out swinging in the fifth inning and tried three times without success to break the bat over his leg. He slammed his helmet and tore up his batting gloves.
Jimmy Nelson (1-1) went 4 1/3 innings, giving up eight runs and eight hits. He was recalled from Triple-A Nashville on Thursday to make his first start since replacing ineffective Marco Estrada in the rotation.
St. Louis took a 3-0 lead in the first inning. A two-out error by second baseman Scooter Gennett on a grounder set up Cruz’s two-run single.
Wong hit a two-run homer in the second. It was his fifth home run in the last six games since coming back from the disabled list.
Cruz doubled home a run in the third.
WHITE SOX 6
INDIANS 2
CLEVELAND — Jose Abreu hit his major league-leading 29th homer, a two-run shot that sent the Chicago White Sox over the Cleveland Indians and ended a three-game losing streak.
Abreu, picked for the AL All-Star team in his rookie season, broke a scoreless tie in the fourth inning with his drive off Zach McAllister (3-5). The homer cleared the fence in right field and landed in the White Sox’s bullpen for Chicago’s first hit.
Scott Carroll (4-5) held Cleveland to two hits in five shutout innings before being pulled with a stiff lower back. The rookie right-hander has won two straight starts, in which he hasn’t allowed a run over 11 2-3 innings.
YANKEES 3
ORIOLES 0
BALTIMORE — Rookie Shane Greene pitched four-hit ball into the eighth inning of his second major league start, Derek Jeter had two hits and an RBI and the New York Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles.
Greene (2-0) struck out nine and walked two in his third big league appearance. The right-hander didn’t give up a hit until the fifth inning and allowed only two runners past second base in 7 1-3 innings. David Robertson, the third New York reliever, worked a perfect ninth for his 23rd save.
It was only the third loss in 12 games for the Orioles, who finished with five hits. Chris Tillman (7-5) gave up three runs, seven hits and three walks in 6 2-3 innings.
BRAVES 11, CUBS 6
CHICAGO — Chris Johnson homered twice and pitcher Mike Minor hit his second career home run, leading the Atlanta Braves over the Chicago Cubs.
Johnson and Justin Upton each drove in four runs for the Braves. Johnson and Minor homered and Upton hit a three-run double as Atlanta scored six times in the fourth inning for a 9-3 lead.
Minor (3-5) allowed six runs and 11 hits in six innings. He improved to 6-0 in his career against the Cubs as the Braves won for the second time in seven games.
Chris Coghlan hit two doubles and drove in three runs for the Cubs, who have lost seven of nine. Edwin Jackson (5-10) lasted just 3 2-3 innings after giving nine runs, seven hits and three home runs.
DIAMONDBACKS 2
GIANTS 0
SAN FRANCISCO — Aaron Hill homered, doubled and scored twice, Wade Miley pitched seven shutout innings and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the San Francisco Giants.
David Peralta and Gerardo Parra each added two hits for the Diamondbacks, who won their fourth in six games.
Marco Scutaro went hitless in two at-bats with a walk in his season debut for the Giants, who were shut out for the fifth time in 13 games.
Miley (5-6) allowed four hits and won his second straight start for the first time since early April. Brad Ziegler worked the eighth and Addison Reed pitched the ninth for his 21st save.
Ryan Vogelsong (5-7) gave up two runs and six hits in 6 1/3 innings.
METS 5
MARLINS 4
NEW YORK — Chris Young and rookie Eric Campbell delivered big hits off the bench in the late innings to rally the surging New York Mets past the Miami Marlins.
Young’s pinch-hit, two-run homer off Bryan Morris tied it at 4 in the seventh, and Campbell came through with a pinch-hit single in the eighth to put the Mets ahead. Daisuke Matsuzaka struck out 10 in six innings and New York executed a perfect suicide squeeze, improving to 7-2 on a 10-game homestand that leads into the All-Star break.
Vic Black (2-2) worked a scoreless inning for the win, and Jenrry Mejia got three quick outs for his 10th save.
Christian Yelich homered for the Marlins, who have lost four of five. Mike Dunn (7-5) took the loss.
TWINS 9, ROCKIES 3
DENVER — Kevin Correia pitched six innings of one-run ball, Eduardo Escobar homered, and the Minnesota Twins pulled away late to beat the Colorado Rockies.
Correia (5-11) scattered seven hits and cooled off the power-hitting Rockies, who stranded 10 baserunners and were kept in the yard after slugging eight home runs in their previous two games. He walked one and struck out one in snapping a hard-luck three-game losing streak during which he had received no run support.
The Twins were shut out in the last two losses for Correia, who helped the Twins offense with a run-scoring double for his first hit of the season and first RBI in three years.
Tyler Matzek (1-4) allowed four runs and seven hits in six innings in the loss.
ASTROS 3, RED SOX 2
HOUSTON — Jason Castro hit a two-run homer and Chris Carter had a tiebreaking infield single in the eighth inning, lifting the Houston Astros over the Boston Red Sox.
Jose Altuve doubled to open the eighth and chase Red Sox starter Jake Peavy (1-8). Altuve advanced to third on a groundout before George Springer was intentionally walked and Jon Singleton struck out.
Carter then hit a grounder off Junichi Tazawa to shortstop Brock Holt. Springer just beat Holt’s throw to second in a force attempt, allowing Altuve to score.
Josh Fields (2-4) pitched 1 2-3 scoreless innings for the win and Chad Qualls got two outs for his 10th save. The Astros turned a double play to end the game and Boston challenged the play at first, but it was upheld.
RAYS 10
BLUE JAYS 3
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Rookie Jake Odorizzi pitched into the seventh inning and Kevin Kiermaier, Matt Joyce and Ben Zobrist delivered key hits during a six-run outburst that helped the Tampa Bay Rays top the Toronto Blue Jays.
Pitching a day earlier than scheduled because All-Star David Price was ill, Odorizzi (5-8) allowed three runs and six hits over 6 2-3 innings. The 24-year-old right-hander walked two and struck out seven to improve to 3-1 over his last five starts.
Drew Hutchison (6-8) took the loss, the seventh in nine games for the second-place Blue Jays, who remained three games behind division-leading Baltimore in the AL East.