ST. LOUIS (AP) — Tyler O’Neill homered, Steven Matz pitched six strong innings and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Colorado Rockies 6-2 Saturday night.
Matz (3-7) allowed one run and five hits while striking out six to improve to 3-0 with a 2.06 ERA in six starts since rejoining the Cardinals' rotation on July 9.
Rockies starter Ty Blach (1-1) allowed four runs and eight hits in 4 2/3 innings in his third start of the season.
Ryan McMahon hit his 100th career home run and 19th of the season to right field off St. Louis reliever Andre Pallante in the eighth inning.
O’Neill lined his fifth home run of the season into the left field bullpen to give St. Louis a 1-0 lead in the second.
The Cardinals loaded the bases with no outs against Blach in the fourth inning but only managed to score one run on Dylan Carlson’s sacrifice fly that right fielder Nolan Jones caught in foul territory.
Brenton Doyle scored on Ezequiel Tovar’s sacrifice fly to center field in the fifth inning to snap Matz’s 18-inning scoreless streak dating back to July 20.
Willson Contreras hit a two-run double to right field in the fifth inning and Tommy Edman lined a two-run triple down the right field line in the seventh to push the Cardinals’ lead to 6-1.
MILESTONE VICTORY
St. Louis won its 10,000th game since the franchise adopted the Cardinals moniker in 1900.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Rockies: RHP Ryan Feltner (skull fracture and concussion) threw off a mound for the first time since being struck by a line drive off the bat of Nick Castellanos on May 13. Feltner was recently cleared to resume baseball activities and manager Bud Black said he has a chance of returning to game action this season.
Cardinals: RHP Ryan Helsley (right forearm) is scheduled to throw one inning Sunday for double-A Springfield as he begins a rehabilitation assignment. Helsley is eligible to be activated off the 60-day injured list on Wednesday.
UP NEXT:
LHP Austin Gomber (8-8, 5.68 ERA) will start Sunday’s series finale for Colorado. St. Louis plans on having a bullpen game and has not announced an opener.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
