Wong sparks Cardinals

ST. LOUIS — St. Louis manager Mike Matheny decided at the last minute against giving slumping infielder Kolten Wong the day off on Saturday.

It proved to be a smart move.

Wong homered and had three RBIs and Justin Masterson won his St. Louis debut as the Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers 9-7 on Saturday night.

St. Louis, which had lost three of its previous four, moved two games behind first-place Milwaukee in the NL Central. The Brewers had a two-game winning streak snapped.

Wong, who entered the contest mired in a 6 for 36 skid, went 3 for 5. He slammed a bases-loaded single to trigger a five-run outburst in the second inning that put St. Louis ahead to stay 6-1. He also hit a solo homer in the first.

“That worked out fine for all of us,” Matheny said of the late pre-game move. “It was nice to see him bounce back. With a young player, when he has a couple of rough days, you wonder, ‘can he leave it behind and go back to having a nice approach.’ He jumped right in and had some big at-bats.”

Wong was 2 for 3 in his career against Brewers starter Kyle Lohse, a key factor in Matheny leaving him in the lineup.

Wong, who entered the game hitless in his previous eight at-bats, spent some extra time studying his approaches at the plate following Friday’s 7-4 loss to Milwaukee.

“I knew the reason I was striking out as soon as the game finished yesterday,” Wong said. “I was swinging way too hard trying to do way too much.”

Masterson (1-0) gave up five runs on seven hits over six innings. He was acquired from Cleveland on Wednesday for minor league outfielder James Ramsey.

“There was a little rust out there,” Masterson said. “But with that intense offense that we had, and some solid defense, that makes it fun to be out there.”

Aramis Ramirez and Scooter Gennett drove in two runs each for the Brewers. Ramirez had three hits for the second successive game.

Lohse (11-6) took the loss. Lohse, who pitched for the Cardinals from 2008-12, gave up nine runs on nine hits over four innings. He struck out two and walked three. Lohse gave up eight earned runs in a 15-5 loss at Pittsburgh on June 6.

“It was just a rough one,” Lohse said. “I just left too many balls out over the plate.”

St. Louis closer Trevor Rosenthal recorded his 33rd save in 37 opportunities. He allowed a leadoff double to Jean Segura. Rosenthal then appeared to hit Elian Herrera with a pitch, but the call was overturned by a challenge. Rosenthal then got Herrera to ground out. He struck out Carlos Gomez and Gerardo Parra to end the game.

ATHLETICS 8

ROYALS 3

OAKLAND, Calif. — Jon Lester won his Oakland debut while pitching into the seventh inning and Jonny Gomes got two hits during an eight-run burst in his return to the Athletics as they beat Kansas City.

Two days after being traded from the sagging World Series champion Boston Red Sox, Lester (11-7) and Gomes teamed up to boost the club with the best record in baseball.

Lester gave up three runs and nine hits in 6 2-3 innings.

Back with the AL West-leading A’s, Gomes delivered in an eight-run fifth inning. He singled and scored off Jason Vargas (8-5), then hit a hit a two-run single off Aaron Crow.

NATIONALS 11

PHILLIES 0

WASHINGTON — Anthony Rendon homered and drove in four runs, Jordan Zimmermann pitched seven strong innings and the Washington Nationals routed Philadelphia.

Philadelphia starter A.J. Burnett (6-11) and manager Ryne Sandberg didn’t last long. Both were ultimately ejected when Burnett motioned and yelled toward plate umpire Chris Guccione after a ball call during Washington’s four-run second inning.

Zimmermann (7-5) held the Phillies to five singles and struck eight without a walk for his 50th career win, and first since June 30th.

MARLINS 2

REDS 1 (10)

MIAMI — Christian Yelich’s RBI single in the 10th inning lifted the Miami Marlins over Cincinnati.

The Marlins snapped a three-game losing streak overall and a seven-game skid to the Reds.

Jeff Mathis hit a leadoff double in the 10th against Sam LeCure (1-3), advanced on a sacrifice by Reed Johnson and scored on Yelich’s hit.

Mike Dunn (9-5) struck out two batters in the top of the 10th after Chris Heisey delivered a pinch-hit triple.

PIRATES 8

DIAMONDBACKS 3

PHOENIX — Andrew McCutchen drove in the go-ahead run with an infield single in the eighth inning, then was hit by a pitch in the ninth as the Pittsburgh Pirates beat Arizona.

McCutchen’s single off Andy Marte’s glove keyed a four-run eighth that made it 5-1.

The next inning, McCutchen was hit squarely in the back by a pitch from reliever Randall Delgado with a 2-0 count, one out and runners on second and third.

McCutchen stayed in the game and eventually scored. The NL MVP was plunked a day after Pirates reliever Ernesto Frieri hit Diamondbacks star Paul Goldschmidt in the left hand, causing a fracture that put him on the disabled list.

Jared Hughes (6-2) got the win with a scoreless seventh. inning. Brad Ziegler (4-2) took the loss.

TIGERS 11

ROCKIES 5

DETROIT — Miguel Cabrera, Victor Martinez and J.D. Martinez homered and the Detroit Tigers beat Colorado.

The Tigers in all eight innings in which they batted. Alex Avila and Ian Kinsler each added three hits.

Rick Porcello (13-5) struck out 10 and tied teammate Max Scherzer for the AL lead in wins.

Tyler Matzek (2-6) allowed eight runs and 10 hits in 4-plus innings.

MARINERS 6

ORIOLES 3

BALTIMORE — Robinson Cano hit a three-run homer, Dustin Ackley had a solo shot and the Seattle Mariners got an effective outing from their bullpen to beat Baltimore.

Cano was 2 for 23 lifetime against Miguel Gonzalez (5-6) before connecting in the fifth inning to put the Mariners up 4-1. It was his eighth home run of the year.

Caleb Joseph homered and Manny Machado had three hits for the Orioles, whose previous seven games were decided by one run.

Relievers Dominic Leone (4-2), Brandon Maurer, Yoervis Medina, Charlie Furbush and Fernando Rodney combined for 4 2-3 innings of four-hit ball.

TWINS 8

WHITE SOX 6

CHICAGO — Trevor Plouffe got four hits and the Minnesota Twins stopped Jose Abreu, rallying past the Chicago White Sox to end a three-game skid.

Abreu’s hitting streak ended at 21 games, longest in the AL this season. He went 0 for 3 with two walks, one of them intentional.

The Cuban rookie, who leads the majors with 31 home runs, had reached base in 10 straight plate appearances before he popped up in the first inning.

Plouffe doubled twice and drove in two runs. Adam Eaton hit three doubles and a single for Chicago.

Ryan Pressly (1-0) won and Glen Perkins pitched the ninth for his 27th save in 30 chances.

Ronald Belisario (4-8) took the loss.

YANKEES 6

RED SOX 4

BOSTON — Derek Jeter had a two-run double, Mark Teixeira hit a solo homer and New York’s bullpen worked 4 1-3 solid innings, leading the Yankees over Boston.

Stephen Drew, acquired from the Red Sox on Thursday, added an RBI double as the Yankees won for just the second time in six games.

Mike Napoli had a two-run homer for the Red Sox, who won the series opener but have dropped nine of 11.

Yoenis Cespedes, acquired from Oakland before Thursday’s non-waiver trade deadline for left-hander Jon Lester and outfielder Jonny Gomes, made his Red Sox debut and went 1 for 4 with a single.

Shawn Kelley (2-3) pitched 1 1-3 innings of hitless relief and David Robertson got his 28th save.

Allen Webster (1-1) walked five in the third inning.

RAYS 10, ANGELS 3

ST.PETERSBURG, Fla. — Evan Longoria hit a two-run homer, Ben Zobrist got four hits and the Tampa Bay Rays roughed up C.J. Wilson and the Los Angeles Angels.

Longoria put the Rays up 2-0 with his 13th homer of the season, connecting in the first off Wilson (8-7). Longoria became the first Tampa Bay player to reach 600 career RBIs.

Wilson gave up six runs in 1 1-3 innings. He made his first start since July 9 because of a sprained right ankle.

Chris Archer (7-6) struck out nine over six innings.

ASTROS 8, BLUE JAYS 2

HOUSTON — Jon Singleton wound up with an inside-the-park home run after a call was reversed on video replay, Chris Carter and Jason Castro also homered, and the Houston Astros beat Toronto.

Brett Oberholtzer (4-7) pitched seven strong innings and Jose Altuve scored the go-ahead run on back-to-back throwing errors by Toronto.

Singleton drove in L.J. Hoes in the eighth before getting called out on the tag at home plate. The Astros appealed the call and had it reversed upon review.

The Astros have homered in nine consecutive games. They led the American League in home runs in July with 32.

R.A. Dickey (9-11) was tagged for five runs on nine hits over seven-plus innings.

INDIANS 2

RANGERS 0

CLEVELAND — Lonnie Chisenhall and Nick Swisher delivered run-scoring singles in the sixth inning, and five pitchers combined on a five-hitter, leading the Cleveland Indians past Texas.

Scott Atchison (4-0) pitched 1 2-3 innings and worked out of a two-on, no-out jam in the sixth.

Cody Allen pitched a shaky ninth for his 14th save.

Texas starter Miles Mikolas (1-4) allowed two runs in seven innings.