LDN - Sports

Cardinals rough up Orioles in 11-2 win

[June 17, 2017] BALTIMORE -- After playing in just 246 minor league games, infielder Paul DeJong could be in the Major Leagues to stay.

At least that would be the case based on his performance in his 14th major league game on Friday.

DeJong went 3-for-4 with three RBIs and his second MLB homer as the St. Louis Cardinals whipped the Baltimore Orioles 11-2.

He became just the third St. Louis player to collects three hits, score three runs, drive in three runs and hit a homer out of the No. 9 spot in the batting order, joining All-Star pitchers Dizzy Dean (1937) and Bob Gibson (1965).

"It was a fun night to be a Cardinal," DeJong said. "Sometimes I over-swing and don't make contact. Hitting is contagious sometimes and tonight was one of those."

The Florida native made his MLB debut on May 28 and hit a homer in his first Major League at-bat. DeJong is now hitting .286 with a .469 slugging mark.

On Friday, he started at second base and was one of five St. Louis players to homer off a beleaguered Baltimore pitching staff. Other homers came from Matt Carpenter, Dexter Fowler, Tommy Pham and Jedd Gyorko, playing in front of family from Morgantown, West Virginia.

"A lot of hitter's counts. He got behind a lot of hitters," Carpenter said of Baltimore starter Kevin Gausman.

The Orioles have given up at least 10 runs in four of their last seven games.

"Every mistake is kind of magnified," Baltimore manager Buck Showalter said of Gausman. "He's having trouble getting the count back in his favor. They're able to box out some pitches on him unless he can get a breaking ball over behind in the count. The one quality that pitchers when they're pitching well, they can locate a fastball down and away to get back in the count. It's been a little bit of a challenge for him."

The Orioles were stymied by starter Carlos Martinez, who has a 2.86 ERA after giving up just one run in six innings.

"He has a plus fastball. He goes to different (eye) levels when he needs to," Showalter said. "He's a good pitcher. We are not scoring a lot of runs."

Martinez (6-5) allowed four hits and had eight strikeouts before Brett Cecil took over in the bottom of the seventh inning. Martinez has allowed just six runs in his last four starts, giving up just four hits each time.

The Cardinals (31-35) snapped a three-game losing streak and are 3-6 against American League teams. The Orioles (32-34) have lost eight of nine and have been outscored 82-31 during that stretch.

DeJong, who homered in the fourth inning off Gausman (3-6), had an RBI single in the sixth as the first batter to face reliever Gabriel Ynoa. Carpenter followed with a two-run homer just over the fence in right-center field to give St. Louis a 7-1 lead.

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Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez (18) throws a pitch in the second inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports

The next batter, Fowler, hit his 11th homer of the year to extend the margin to 8-1. It was the second time this season the Cardinals hit back-to-back homers.

Pham had a two-run homer in the seventh off Ynoa to give the Cardinals a 10-1 lead and Gyorko homered in the ninth to make it 11-1. Pham, Carpenter and Fowler each had two hits and two RBIs.

Gausman went 5 2/3 innings and gave up nine hits and five earned runs while tying a season-high with 116 pitches. He now has a 6.60 ERA this season.

Trey Mancini (two hits) homered in the ninth for Baltimore.

The Cardinals loaded the bases with three singles in a row by Jose Martinez, DeJong and Carpenter to begin the third inning. Fowler then walked to force in a run and Stephen Piscotty followed with a sacrifice fly to center to make it 2-0.

Manny Machado had a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the third to trim the margin to 2-1.

DeJong hit his second career homer as he lofted a ball down the left field line for a two-run shot to make it 4-1 against in the fourth.

"You could see some things trending as we kept taking good at-bats in that last series against Milwaukee. But everybody really contributed today, and Carlos set the tone by going about his business," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said.

NOTES: The Orioles sent RHP Jimmy Yacabonis to Triple-A Norfolk and placed RHP Michael Wright (right shoulder bursitis) on the 10-day disabled list. Baltimore called up LHP Vidal Nuno and RHP Gabriel Ynoa, who gave up three homers. Nuno also pitched and gave up a solo homer. ... St. Louis RHP Adam Wainwright (7-4, 4.73 ERA) will face Orioles LHP Wade Miley (2-4, 3.97)?on Saturday. ... Baltimore LHP and closer Zach Britton (left forearm strain) will make a minor league rehab appearance Monday for short-season Aberdeen. ... INF Matt Carpenter extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a single in the third inning.

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