Cards play through rain, beat Twins again
Hours after a federal investigation into possible computer hacking by the Cardinals became public, St. Louis extended its winning streak to five by beating the Minnesota Twins 3-2 behind Michael Wacha’s pitching and Mark Reynolds’ two-run single.
Before the game, manager Mike Matheny said he was in the weight room when he first learned of the investigation into whether the Cardinals had hacked Houston’s computer database. The Cardinals then completed a soggy homestand in which three games were delayed and another against Kansas City was postponed until July 23.
St. Louis is 43-22 overall and 26-7 at home, both tops in the major leagues, and matched a franchise best by reaching 43 wins in 64 games.
Houston 8, Colorado 5: Luis Valbuena homered twice and drove in four runs, and the Houston Astros beat the Colorado Rockies 8-5 Tuesday.
Hank Conger hit a solo homer for the Astros, who lead the major leagues with 91 home runs. Houston is 25-0 this year when it has multihomer games.
Valbuena hit a solo homer in the second off Chris Rusin (2-2) and added a three-run drive in a five-run third that increased his team-leading home run total to 16.
Will Harris (3-0) pitched 1 1-3 scoreless innings in relief of rookie Vince Velasquez, who gave up five runs and seven hits in 4 2-3 innings. Luke Gregerson threw a perfect ninth for his 17th save in 19 chances.
Rusin (2-2) wasted a 3-1 lead and gave up seven runs and nine hits in four innings.
Oakland 6, San Diego 5: Eric Sogard singled in the go-ahead in the top of the ninth off closer Craig Kimbrel, lifting the Oakland A’s to a 6-5 victory over the San Diego Padres Tuesday and spoiling the debut of interim manager Pat Murphy.
Kimbrel (1-2) issued a two-out walk to Billy Burns, who stole second and scored on Sogard’s ground ball single to center.
The game was played on the one-year anniversary of the death of longtime Padre and Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn.
San Diego’s Matt Kemp hit a solo homer in the eighth off Evan Scribner (2-1) to tie the game at 5-all. It was Kemp’s third home run of the season.
Boston 9, Atlanta 4: Brock Holt became the first Boston player to hit for the cycle since 1996 and the Red Sox slugged their way out of a seven-game losing streak with a 9-4 victory over the Atlanta Braves Tuesday.
Holt’s solo homer in the seventh put Boston up 5-2, leaving him a triple from completing the cycle. He got another at-bat in the eighth after Boston added two more runs and hit a fly ball to the triangle in center field at Fenway Park. Holt easily reached third and drove in a run.
It was the first cycle in the majors this season and the first for the Red Sox since John Valentin did it on June 6, 1996 against the White Sox in Boston.
San Francisco 6, Seattle 2: Matt Duffy homered and drove in three runs to help the San Francisco Giants snap a nine-game home losing streak by beating the Seattle Mariners 6-2 on Tuesday.
Casey McGehee added a two-run double and Angel Pagan hit an RBI single as the Giants snapped their longest home skid since an 11-gamer at New York’s Polo Grounds in 1940. Tim Lincecum (7-3) allowed two runs and five hits in 5 2/3 innings to get the win in his second start against his hometown team.
Brad Miller homered and drove in two runs for the Mariners, who split the two-game series in San Francisco and finished 4-4 on an eight-game road trip.