>>Cardinals Down Struggling Twins

Mark Reynolds and Yadier Molina hit back- to-back solo homers in the fourth inning to power the St. Louis Cardinals past the Minnesota Twins 3-2 in the opener of four straight interleague games between the teams.

The home runs complemented a bounce-back outing for John Lackey (5-4), who was torched his last time out but went eight strong innings in the club's fourth straight win.

Kurt Suzuki and Brian Dozier both knocked in a run for the Twins, who have lost six of their last seven. Trevor May (4-5) allowed all three runs over his five-inning start.

The game was delayed 20 minutes by rain, and the offense from both sides stayed in the clubhouse early on as the first 15 hitters were all retired.

Randal Grichuk ended the string with a triple to open the third as Byron Buxton made a valiant effort only to crash into the center-field wall trying to make the catch.

Jon Jay followed with a run-scoring bloop single, and Reynolds and Molina took May into the bullpen beyond the left-field wall in the fourth.

Trevor Plouffe, who turned 29 on Monday, doubled in the seventh and scored Minnesota's first run when Suzuki singled through the middle.

The Twins scratched out another run in the eighth when Buxton, the club's top prospect, legged out a stand-up triple for his first big-league hit.

Buxton scored without a play at the plate on Dozier's sacrifice fly, but the Twins did not make much noise in the ninth.

After Kevin Siegrist plunked Torii Hunter, Matt Carpenter made a diving stop at third for the final out to secure Siegrist's second save.

>>Rain Cancels Cubs, Indians Game

Monday's game between the Cleveland Indians and Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field has been postponed due to a forecast of rain throughout the evening.

The game will be made on Monday, August 24 at a time to be determined.

>>Pirates Blister Rookie Rodon, Sox

Josh Harrison and Starling Marte set the tone at the top of the lineup as the Pittsburgh Pirates crushed the Chicago White Sox 11-0 in the first of four interleague games between the teams.

The Pirates' offense finally caught up with a pitching staff that has posted four shutouts during a five-game winning streak.

Francisco Liriano (4-5) threw the latest gem and was nearly as impressive as when he no-hit the White Sox on May 3, 2011. The left-hander faced one over the minimum in his eight innings, struck out 12 and allowed just two hits and one walk.

The offense was more than enough, as Harrison and Marte both accounted for four of Pittsburgh's 18 hits and combined for five runs scored and three RBI.

Francisco Cervelli and Jung-Ho Kang each went 2-for-4 and knocked in a pair, while Andrew McCutchen finished with two hits, two runs scored and an RBI.

Most of the damage was done against rookie Carlos Rodon (2-1), who had given up just three earned runs over his previous four starts but did not make it out of the fourth inning in this one.

The first six hitters he faced all reached base, with McCutchen and Kang hitting similar RBI singles through the left side, Cervelli tripling to right to plate a pair, and Jose Tabata capping the five-run inning with a run- scoring base hit.

Interleague Scoreboard
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Baltimore 4, Philadelphia 0
Detroit 6, Cincinnati 0
NY Mets 4, Toronto 3 (11 innings)
Miami 2, NY Yankees 1
Tampa Bay 6, Washington 1
Atlanta 4, Boston 2
Texas 4, LA Dodgers 1
Houston 6, Colorado 3
Kansas City 8, Milwaukee 5
Arizona 7, LA Angels of Anaheim 3
Oakland 9, San Diego 1
Seattle 5, San Francisco 1