Roundup: Cardinals swept by Astros, losing skid at five
CBSSports.com wire reports
HOUSTON -- Hunter Pence hit a three-run homer and the Houston Astros completed a sweep of St. Louis with a 5-2 victory Wednesday, handing the slumping Cardinals their fifth straight defeat.
The fading Cardinals, who have lost 13 of 16, began the day seven games behind first-place Cincinnati in the NL Central.
Nelson Figueroa (4-2) pitched out of two bases-loaded jams and lasted five innings for the win. Brandon Lyon worked a perfect ninth for his 11 save in 12 chances.
Shut out 3-0 the previous two nights, St. Louis snapped an 18-inning scoreless streak on Matt Holliday's 24th homer in the first inning for a 2-0 lead.
Jeff Suppan (1-7) was activated from the disabled list before the game and allowed only one hit until the Astros rallied in the fifth.
Brett Wallace drew a leadoff walk and went to third on Jason Castro's double. Pinch-hitter Brian Bogusevic hit a grounder to first baseman Albert Pujols, who threw out Wallace at the plate. Michael Bourn hit a sacrifice fly and Jeff Keppinger walked before Pence's go-ahead homer.
Bourn singled in the seventh to extend his hitting streak to 11 games. He scored on Carlos Lee's sac fly. Story
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Rookie Mitch Moreland homered again and the Texas Rangers kept pulling away in the AL West, beating the Kansas City Royals.
The Rangers increased their division lead to 9 1/2 games over Oakland, which lost in New York.
Moreland homered for the second straight game, leading off the sixth inning with a shot that made it 4-2. He has five home runs in his first 25 big league games.
Tommy Hunter (12-2) allowed two runs on seven hits and four walks in 5 2/3 innings.
BALTIMORE -- Marco Scutaro and Adrian Beltre homered in a six-run seventh inning, and the Boston Red Sox beat Baltimore to provide Jon Lester with another win over the Orioles.
J.D. Drew also homered for the Red Sox, who trailed 5-2 before rallying to end a three-game skid. Despite the victory, Boston remained eight games behind AL East-leader New York and seven games behind second-place Tampa Bay.
Lester improved to 13-0 lifetime against Baltimore, but this one wasn't easy. The left-hander yielded more runs (five) in the first two innings than in any of his previous 15 outings against the Orioles, but settled down in time to give Boston a chance to make up the deficit.
Lester (15-8) allowed five runs and eight hits in six innings. He struck out 10, walked two, hit a batter and threw a wild pitch.
CHICAGO -- Kosuke Fukudome had three hits, including a go-ahead double, during a perfect day at the plate and the Chicago Cubs beat the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Carlos Marmol escaped a bases-loaded jam in the eighth inning and finished for his 25th save in 30 chances.
Chicago starter Tom Gorzelanny was knocked out in the third when Jose Tabata lined a shot off his right hand. The left-hander departed for X-rays, but five Cubs relievers combined to allow four hits the rest of the way.
Thomas Diamond (1-3), who replaced Gorzelanny, gave up two runs and two hits in 1 2/3 innings for the win. Marmol walked in a run with two outs in the eighth but struck out Tabata to preserve a 5-3 lead.
Angels 4, Mariners 2
SEATTLE -- Hideki Matsui hit a two-out, two-run homer in the seventh inning, barely eluding the glove of Seattle's Ichiro Suzuki, and Los Angeles rallied for a win over Seattle.
Held to just two hits entering the seventh by Seattle starter Jason Vargas, the Angels got started with Mike Napoli's leadoff double. Two outs later, Matsui jumped on an 0-1 fastball and got just enough for his 18th homer of the season. Suzuki climbed the right field fence, but couldn't pull back Matsui's drive.
It was Matsui's third career hit off Vargas, all homers.
Trevor Bell (2-4) picked up his first win of 2010 as a starter, throwing six innings and giving up nine hits but just two runs against the Mariners punchless offense.
