>>Cardinals Blank Dodgers
Marcel Ozuna misplayed Kike Hernandez's drive in the eighth inning, but Yadier Molina drove in three runs and Paul Goldschmidt homered to lead St. Louis to a 4-0 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday night.
The Cardinals already had a 4-0 lead when Hernandez led off with a drive to left . Ozuna went back and climbed up the wall, but he misjudged the ball and tumbled onto the warning track as he tried to make the play.
Hernandez's drive bounced over for a ground-rule double, but Mike Mayers and Andrew Miller managed to escape the threat.
Six St. Louis pitchers combined for a seven-hitter. The Dodgers stranded 13 runners and struck out 10 times.
John Brebbia (1-0) pitched 1 1/3 innings for the win.
Molina, who began the day with a .175 batting average, put St. Louis in front with an RBI double against Ross Stripling (0-1) in the first. Paul DeJong hit a two-out double, extending his hitting streak to a career-best 10 games, and Ozuna walked before Molina doubled to left.
Ozuna also scored, but he was sent back to third after the Dodgers challenged the play and it was ruled a ground-rule double.
Molina added a two-run double with two out in the third, and Goldschmidt made it 4-0 when he drove a 0-2 pitch into the stands in left in the fifth. It was his sixth homer of the season.
Dakota Hudson gave way to Brebbia with the bases loaded and two outs in the fifth. Brebbia fanned Hernandez on four pitches to end the inning.
Jack Flaherty (0-0, 3.86 ERA) is looking for his first win in his third start of the year. The 2014 first-round draft pick threw five scoreless innings against San Diego on Friday. Kenta Maeda (2-0, 3.09 ERA) makes his third start of the season. He pitched five innings of one-run ball in a 10-6 victory at Colorado on Friday.
>>Rays Pound Sox
Austin Meadows homered and set a career high with four hits, Avisail Garcia connected against his former team and the Rays beat the Chicago White Sox 10-5.
The Rays pounded Ervin Santana (0-1) and improved to 9-3, their best start in nine years. They also extended a club record by clinching their fourth straight series victory to start a season.
Meadows drove in a personal-best four runs and helped break open a game that lasted 3 hours, 56 minutes. He singled and scored in the first, hit a two-run drive in the second and added an RBI single during a two-run fourth in which Tampa Bay chased Santana. He also walked with the bases loaded in the ninth.
Garcia smacked a solo homer in the second and finished with three hits, giving him five in the past two games. The White Sox opted not to offer him a contract in the offseason, parting ways after 5 1/2 years, and he signed with Tampa Bay.
Brandon Lowe chipped in with a sacrifice fly in the first and a solo homer in the third. Charlie Morton (2-0) went five innings, allowing two runs and three hits.
Yoan Moncada knocked a two-run homer in the third for Chicago. Tim Anderson had two hits, including an RBI single in a three-run eighth. But with the White Sox trailing by three, pinch-hitter Adam Engel struck out swinging at a 3-2 pitch with the bases loaded to end that rally.
Tampa Bay's Tommy Pham extended his club-record on-base streak to 44 games with a single and two walks.
Reynaldo Lopez (0-1, 10.00) tries to get on track after two shaky outings. He has allowed a combined 10 runs on 12 hits over nine innings against Kansas City and Seattle. Tyler Glasnow (2-0, 0.82 ERA) looks to continue his dominant start. He tossed three-hit ball over six scoreless innings at San Francisco last week after holding Houston to one run over five innings.
