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Ozuna sparks St. Louis to victory over Cleveland

John Gant pitched one-hit ball over a career-high seven innings, Marcell Ozuna hit a two-run double and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Cleveland Indians 4-0 on Monday night.
 
It was the third consecutive win for the Cardinals and the 10,000th regular season victory for the franchise. St. Louis joined the Braves, Cubs, Giants, Pirates and Dodgers among NL teams to reach the milestone. It was the Cardinals' fifth win by shutout this season.
 
Cleveland had won seven straight. Mike Clevinger (6-3) allowed two runs over five innings, and the Indians had just four hits.
 
Gant (2-2) started in place of Michael Wacha, who went on the disabled list last week with an oblique strain.
 
Gant allowed only an infield single to Yan Gomes that hit third base in the third inning. He walked a career-high five and struck out four. It was his first win in three starts this season.
 
St. Louis closer Bud Norris relieved Austin Gomber with two on and no outs in the ninth. He got a strikeout and a double play to record his 15th save.
 
Cardinals reliever Jordan Hicks put two runners on in the eighth with two outs but got Edwin Encarnacion to ground out.
 
It was the second shortest outing of the season for Clevinger, who allowed six hits and walked two. Clevinger had pitched at least six innings in five straight starts before facing St. Louis.
 
Francona said Clevinger began to cramp up in the fourth inning, and the team pushed him for one more before calling it a day.
 
St. Louis took a 2-0 lead in the third. Matt Carpenter singled for one of his three hits, and Greg Garcia walked. With one out, Ozuna hit a one-out double to score both runners.
 
Kolten Wong added an RBI double in the sixth, and Harrison Bader singled in a run in the eighth. It was Wong's first extra-base hit with runners in scoring position this season.
 
This was Cleveland's first visit to St. Louis since 2012, and the Indians fell to 15-9 all-time against the Cardinals.
 
Corey Kluber (11-3, 2.10) will be making his second career start against the Cardinals as he'll face Cardinals RHP Carlos Martinez (3-4, 3.24).
 

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