ST. LOUIS — Jake Westbrook pitched a five-hitter and the St. Louis Cardinals backed him with four home runs Wednesday in routing the Cincinnati Reds 10-0. ST. LOUIS — Jake Westbrook pitched a five-hitter and the St. Louis Cardinals backed
ST. LOUIS — Jake Westbrook pitched a five-hitter and the St. Louis Cardinals backed him with four home runs Wednesday in routing the Cincinnati Reds 10-0.
Jon Jay, Carlos Beltran and Matt Adams homered in a span of seven at-bats off Homer Bailey as the Cardinals took two of three from the NL Central champions.
Matt Carpenter added a two-run homer on a four-hit day. Adams homered for the second straight game and added an RBI double and a walk.
The Cardinals have dominated the Reds at home the last decade, losing just three of 28 series with two splits.
Westbrook (1-1) threw his fourth career shutout, walking four and striking out three. It was his first shutout since Aug. 9, 2006, against the Angels with Cleveland, and his 15th career complete game. He even contributed an RBI single for St. Louis’ final run.
Bailey (1-1) had gone 23 straight shutout innings — including his no-hitter against Pittsburgh last season — before the Cardinals broke open a scoreless game with four runs with two outs in the fifth.
BRAVES 8, MARLINS 0
MIAMI — Evan Gattis hit a three-run homer, and Atlanta completed its second consecutive three-game sweep when it beat the reeling Miami Marlins.
Mike Minor (2-0) pitched 5 2/3 innings for the Braves, whose 8-1 record leads the majors. They’re off to their best start since 1994, when they began the season 13-1.
GIANTS 10, ROCKIES 0
SAN FRANCISCO — Buster Posey drove in three runs while NBA star Kevin Durant cheered him from the stands, Barry Zito pitched another gem, and San Francisco completed a three-game sweep of Colorado.
Staked to a quick lead, Zito (2-0) won his 11th straight decision, dating to last year’s postseason. San Francisco earned its 16th consecutive victory in games he has started, the longest such run by a Giants pitcher since 16 in a row by Carl Hubbell for New York in 1936, STATS said.
PHILLIES 7, METS 3
PHILADELPHIA — Domonic Brown and Chase Utley homered in a five-run first, Kyle Kendrick threw six effective innings, and Philadelphia beat New York.
John Buck homered for the third straight game and Lucas Duda had two solo shots for New York. The Mets set a club record by hitting at least one homer in their first nine games.
DODGERS 4, PADRES 3
SAN DIEGO — Carl Crawford led off with an opposite-field homer and A.J. Ellis added a two-run shot to back Chad Billingsley’s strong season debut and lead Los Angeles over San Diego.
D’BACKS 10, PIRATES 2
PHOENIX — A.J. Pollock homered twice, doubled and drove in four runs as Arizona salvaged the finale of its three-game series against Pittsburgh.
Interleague
NATIONALS 5, WHITE SOX 2
WASHINGTON — Bryce Harper homered, Ian Desmond had three extra-base hits and Washington beat Chicago to stay unbeaten at home.
In a game that began 16 minutes late because, the Nationals explained, the umpires got stuck in traffic, Washington starter Jordan Zimmermann (2-0) limited the White Sox to two runs and seven hits in seven innings. Both runs scored on groundouts.
