Cardinals outlast Pirates in 12 innings

^{St. Louis Cardinals’ Matt Holliday watches his game-winning single go into the outfield against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday. (UPI)}

Reuters/St. Louis

Matt Holliday’s one-out single in the bottom of the 12th inning scored Matt Carpenter with the winning run as the St. Louis Cardinals edged Pittsburgh Pirates 6-5 to pull within two games of the first place Pirates in the National League Central.

Carpenter drew a walk from Bryan Morris (5-6), the fifth time he reached base in the game. He then moved to third on Jon Jay’s single to right before Holliday delivered the hit that ended the 4-hour, 12-minute marathon.

Kevin Siegrist (1-1) worked a 1-2-3 12th for his first Major League win as St Louis (69-51) finished its homestand at 4-6.  Pittsburgh (71-49) ended its road trip at 1-5 and lost a series to the Cardinals for the first time this year.

In New York, Chris Nelson highlighted his first career multi-home run game with an eighth-inning grand slam and the Los Angeles Angels salvaged the finale of the four-game series with an 8-4 victory over the New York Yankees.

Nelson, who had 36 at-bats in 10 games for the Yankees in May, also hit a solo home run in the fourth inning against New York starter Phil Hughes (4-12). 

The earlier blast was Nelson’s first home run since Sept 14 and it capped a 10-pitch at-bat after he fouled off the previous four pitches.

In the eighth against left-handed reliever Boone Logan, he did not wait long to put the game out of reach, taking a slider for strike one, Nelson drove the next slider into the left field seats.

Josh Hamilton, Hank Conger and rookie Grant Green also drove in runs as the Angels stopped a four-game losing streak and won for the sixth time in 20 games. 

Oakland A’s rookie right-hander Sonny Gray put on a dazzling show for the home fans, pitching eight shutout innings and recording his first major-league victory, a 5-0 win over the Houston Astros.

The 23-year-old Gray (1-1) allowed just four hits. He struck out nine, dominating the Astros with mid-90s heat and a sharp-breaking curve. 

He walked only one and lowered his ERA to 1.00. Gray threw 118 pitches before giving way to Dan Otero, who worked a scoreless ninth.

A’s first baseman Nate Freiman, a fellow rookie, gave Gray more than enough offensive support with a career-high four hits, going 4-for-4 with a double, a home run and four RBIs.

Pinch-hitter Hector Sanchez hit a two-strike, two-out home run in the top of the ninth inning to lead the San Francisco Giants to a stunning 4-3 victory over the Washington Nationals.

After Buster Posey singled to lead off the ninth against Washington closer Rafael Soriano (2-3), Roger Kieschnick drew a two-out walk. 

Sanchez worked the count full against Soriano and then hammered a pitch into the second deck just inside the right field foul pole for his first homer of the season.

The comeback halted Washington’s five-game winning streak and spoiled a fine effort from Nationals starter Dan Haren, who pitched six innings of three-hit ball.

Prince Fielder belted a two-run home run in the first inning, and the Detroit Tigers earned a 4-1 win over the Kansas City Royals.

Kansas City lost its third in a row. Detroit won its second consecutive game after losing four out of five.

Tigers starter Anibal Sanchez gave up a run on three hits in the first, then pitched four-hit shutout ball over the next 6 1/3 innings. Sanchez (11-7) walked one and struck out five.

Left-hander Mark Buehrle pitched seven innings and pinch hitter Mark DeRosa hit the go-ahead sacrifice fly in the seventh inning as the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Boston Red Sox 2-1.

The victory before a crowd of 40,477 at Rogers Centre was the second in a row for the Blue Jays as they took the three-game series 2-1 while the Red Sox completed a 10-game road trip at 4-6.

Alex Cobb made a successful return from the disabled list exactly two months after being struck in the head with a line drive, and Wil Myers knocked in four runs as the Tampa Bay Rays downed the Seattle Mariners 7-1.

Cobb (7-2), who suffered a concussion after being struck behind the ear by a liner hit by Kansas City’s Eric Hosmer on June 15, was sharp in allowing just one run on three hits in five innings. 

He struck out six, fanning Nick Franklin to escape bases-loaded peril in his final inning with the scored tied 1-1.

In winning their second in a row and their 16th home game in their past 20, the Rays (68-51) pulled within two games of the Boston Red Sox in the American League East. Tampa Bay leads the American League wild-card race.

Pinch hitter Chris Herrmann’s ninth-inning single scored pinch runner Doug Bernier, and the Minnesota Twins walked off with a 4-3 win over the Chicago White Sox.

The White Sox jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the early innings, and the Twins pecked away until finally tying the game in the eighth and winning it in the ninth.

Joey Votto homered and Tony Cingrani struck out nine as the Cincinnati Reds beat the Milwaukee Brewers 2-1.

Cingrani (6-2) beat Milwaukee for the second time this season, holding the Brewers to four hits and a walk over 6 1/3 innings.

The only blemish on his line was a solo home run by Khris Davis in the second. After that, Cingrani retired 12 of his next 14 batters.

Marlon Byrd’s two-run double with two outs in the eighth inning lifted the New York Mets to 4-1 victory over the San Diego Padres.

The win allowed the Mets (55-64) to snap a three-game losing streak and handed the Padres (54-67) their fifth setback in seven games.