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Pirates Take Down Cards

Pittsburgh Pirates' Bryan Reynolds hits a home run during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals Thursday, June 24, 2021, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Joe Puetz)

ST. LOUIS — Bryan Reynolds had a three-run homer among his three hits, Chad Kuhl pitched six strong innings and the Pittsburgh Pirates snapped a nine-game losing streak against the St. Louis Cardinals with an 8-2 victory Thursday night.

Adam Frazier and Phillip Evans also homered for Pittsburgh in its first win over St. Louis since Sept. 18, 2020.

Kuhl (2-4) allowed one run and three hits with two strikeouts and three walks in six innings to improve to 2-3 in 10 career starts against the Cardinals.

St. Louis has lost four in a row and 15 of its last 20 since June 2.

Carlos Martinez (3-9) allowed five runs and five hits with seven walks, including one intentional, in five innings. He is 0-5 with a 13.73 ERA and 17 walks over 19 2/3 innings in five starts in June.

Reynolds’ 13th home run of the season gave the Pirates a 5-1 lead. Reynolds has hit safely in nine straight games, going 17 for 36 (.486) in that span.

Frazier homered off Wade LeBlanc to give the Pirates a 6-1 lead in the sixth inning.

Evans’ eighth-inning blast off LeBlanc was his fifth home run of the season and first career pinch-hit homer.

The first three Pirates reached base to start the game as Frazier walked, Ke’Bryan Hayes singled and Reynolds drove in Frazier with an RBI single.

Lars Nootbaar lined a single to center field in his first Busch Stadium at-bat to score Tyler O’Neill, cutting the St. Louis deficit to 2-1.

Nootbaar made his major league debut Tuesday night in Detroit.

ON-BASE MACHINE

Hayes has reached base in 28 straight games dating to Sept. 19, 2020, including all 20 games he has played in this season. It’s the longest active streak in the majors, and the longest for a Pirates rookie since Arky Vaughan reached base in 33 straight games in 1932.

LINEUP SHUFFLE

Cardinals 2B Tommy Edman batted sixth in the lineup after leading off in his previous 71 starts. Rookie Dylan Carlson went 2 for 4 in his third start in the leadoff spot this season.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Pirates: RHP Luis Oviedo (left quad strain) worked out on the field before the game in St. Louis.

Cardinals: OF Harrison Bader (fractured rib) is playing in games at extended spring training in Jupiter, Florida.

UP NEXT

Pirates RHP Wil Crowe (0-4, 4.62 ERA) is looking for his first career win. He is 0-6 in 13 appearances, including 12 starts, since debuting with Washington last season. LHP Kwang Hyun Kim (1-5, 3.60 ERA) will start for St. Louis and hasn’t won since April 23 against Cincinnati. He’s 0-5 in his last nine starts.

INDIANS 4, TWINS 1

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Eddie Rosario broke an eighth-inning tie with a two-run single and the Cleveland Indians defeated the Minnesota Twins.

Rosario, who spent six seasons with the Twins, was playing his first game in Minnesota since he signed with Cleveland in the offseason.

Austin Hedges and Cesar Hernandez started the eighth with singles off reliever Jorge Alcala (1-2). Amed Rosario then grounded into what was initially ruled a double play, but after a replay review umpires ruled he beat the relay to first.

With runners at the corners and one out, Twins manager Rocco Baldelli elected to intentionally walk Jose Ramirez, the Indians’ home run and RBI leader, to fill the bases.

Eddie Rosario then lined Taylor Rogers’ first pitch into center field to drive in two runs, putting Cleveland on top 3-1. Another run scored on Bobby Bradley’s RBI groundout.

Blake Parker (1-0) earned the win with one scoreless inning of relief. Brian Shaw pitched a perfect eighth and James Karinchak picked up his ninth save with a scoreless ninth inning.

Both starters pitched well and posted remarkably similar lines, with neither figuring in the decision. Cleveland’s J.C. Mejia gave up one run and four hits while walking two and striking out six over six innings.

For the Twins, Jose Berrios allowed one run on four hits with two walks and nine strikeouts over 6 1/3 innings.

Minnesota manufactured its only run in the first, thanks in part to mistakes by Mejia. Leadoff hitter Luiz Arraez capped a nine-pitch at-bat with a base hit. After Josh Donaldson struck out, Mejia walked Trevor Larnach on four pitches.

Nelson Cruz popped out, but then with Max Kepler at the plate, Mejia balked to move up the runners, then threw a wild pitch that scored Arraez.

The Indians tied it in the second on Hedges’ two-out, broken-bat single that scored Bradley, who led off the inning with a walk.

ASTROS 12, TIGERS 3

DETROIT (AP) — Carlos Correa had three hits, walked twice and drove in three runs, helping the Houston Astros beat the Detroit Tigers to extend their winning streak to 11.

Houston’s streak is one shy of the team record, set in 1999 and matched in 2004 and 2018. The Astros have outscored opponents 91-24 during the winning run.

The Astros scored loaded the bases in six innings, including each from the second through the sixth. They scored twice in each inning from the second through the fifth, and finished with 18 hits, six walks and 28 baserunners.

Luis Garciaa (6-4) won his fourth straight start, allowing two runs and seven hits in six innings.

RAYS 3, RED SOX 0

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Kevin Kiermaier broke up a combined no-hit bid by the Boston Red Sox with a one-out double in the eighth inning and Manuel Margot scored on a wild pitch in the ninth to give the Tampa Bay Rays a win.

Margot got Tampa Bay’s second hit, a two-out single in the ninth off Matt Barnes (3-2). He stole second and went to third on a throwing error by catcher Christian Vazquez.

Joey Wendle was intentionally walked, and Margot dashed home on Barnes’ wild pitch with Francisco Mejia batting.

“We really didn’t have an offense going,” Margot said through a translator. “I was just trying to be aggressive.”

Margot came off the bench to pinch-hit in the seventh and was intentionally walked.

J.P. Feyereisen (4-1), the fifth Tampa Bay pitcher, worked the ninth inning of a four-hitter.

Kiermaier lined his opposite-field double to left off Darwinzon Hernandez, the third Red Sox pitcher. The Gold Glove center fielder also threw out a runner at the plate in the seventh.

“It was a tied ballgame,” Kiermaier said. “We were just trying to stay the course and try and get something going.”

Boston starter Nick Pivetta was pulled with a runner on second and two outs in the seventh after throwing 100 pitches. His career high is 116.

Josh Taylor, who had his 22nd consecutive scoreless appearance, got the final out in the seventh before giving way to Hernandez.

“To be honest with you, it was the right call. It made the most sense,” said Pivetta, who wanted to stay in the game. “We’re all about winning.”

Pivetta finished with eight strikeouts, two walks and one hit batter. He joined Babe Ruth, on May 20, 1916, against the St. Louis Browns, as the only Red Sox pitchers to be removed with a no-hitter after six or more innings.

BLUE JAYS 9, ORIOLES 0

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Lourdes Gurriel Jr. hit his first grand slam in a six-run first inning, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. took over sole possession of the home run lead with his 24th, and the Toronto Blue Jays extended Baltimore’s road losing streak to 20 games by routing the Orioles.

Baltimore tied the 1916 Philadelphia Athletics for the second-longest road skid in AL history, trailing only the 22 losses in a row by the 1943 A’s. The Orioles are an AL-worst 23-52, including 11-26 away from home.

The Orioles have lost 14 of their last 15 overall. Combined with Wednesday’s 13-0 defeat to Houston, the franchise has been shut out in consecutive losses of at least nine runs since the St. Louis Browns were swept in a doubleheader 12-0 and 14-0 at Detroit on Sept. 22, 1936.

“I’m seeing that we’re down a touchdown early on back-to-back nights,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said. “It’s not easy when you’re battling from so far behind so early in the game.”

Toronto has won a season-high five straight, following a five-game losing streak. The Blue Jays improved to 4-5 at Sahlen Field, the home of their Triple-A team, after going 10-11 at TD Ballpark, their spring training ballpark. They are 24-19 on the road.

NATIONALS 7, MARLINS 3

MIAMI (AP) — Kyle Schwarber homered twice, raising his season total to 21 by hitting 12 in his past 13 games, and the Washington Nationals beat the Miami Marlins for their 10th win in 11 games.

Schwarber led off the first pulling a hanging curveball from Cody Poteet (2-3) to right for his fifth leadoff home run this season.

Josh Harrison singled with one out in the second, Victor Robles walked, and with two outs Schwarber sent a 0-2 fastball over the wall in center for a 4-0 lead.

Schwarber became the first player in major league history to homer 11 times in a 13-game span from the No. 1 slot in the batting order, according to STATS. He became the fourth player with eight home runs and 15 RBIs in a five-game span, joining Shawn Green, Manny Ramirez and Frank Howard.

Juan Soto added the first of his two RBI doubles later in the inning.

REDS 5, BRAVES 3

CINCINNATI (AP) — Tony Santillan allowed one run in six innings to earn his first major league victory and Nick Castellanos hit a two-run homer, lifting the Cincinnati Reds to a win.

Santillan (1-1) gave up three hits, struck out eight and walked three in his third big league start. He also doubled in the third inning for his first career hit.

The Braves, who score nearly half their runs via home runs, went ahead 1-0 on Freddie Freeman’s 17th homer in the first. But that was the only run Atlanta could manage against Santillan.

Brad Brach, the Reds’ fourth pitcher of the night, got three outs for his first save of the season.

It was a bullpen day for the Braves, who summoned 37-year-old Jesse Chavez (0-1) from Triple-A Gwinnett to make his 482nd major league appearance and first start since 2019. He allowed two runs in 2 1/3 innings to take the loss.

The Braves used six pitchers on the night.

The Reds were clinging to a 2-1 lead when Castellanos delivered the big blow, his two-run blast off Luke Jackson in the seventh. Castellanos drove in four runs.

Ozzie Albies hit a solo home run off Tejay Antone in the eighth.

YANKEES 8, ROYALS 1

NEW YORK (AP) — Aaron Judge homered for the first of his three hits, Gary Sanchez connected for the second straight game and the New York Yankees beat the Kansas City Royals for their first blowout victory in a month.

Judge hit a solo shot in the first, Luke Voit had another in the third off Brad Keller (6-8) and Sanchez blew open the game with a three-run drive in the sixth.

Jameson Taillon (2-4) ended an eight-start winless streak, allowing a run, five hits and two walks in 6 1/3 innings.

New York has won seven of nine.

ATHLETICS 5, RANGERS 1

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Chris Bassitt (8-2) won his eighth consecutive decision, allowing five singles in seven innings for a series split.

Jed Lowrie drove in runs with a single and a no-doubt home run.

Lowrie’s RBI single in the first was already the fourth hit for the A’s, and put them up 3-0 against left-hander Kolby Allard (2-3). Ramon Laureano had an RBI double and another run scored on a groundout.

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