Willson Contreras drove in four runs as the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the visiting Athletics 5-1 Wednesday night.
Contreras went 3-for-4 with a triple and Nolan Gorman went 3-for-3 with a homer for the Cardinals (70-71), who won for the fifth time in seven games.
St. Louis starter Matthew Liberatore (7-11) blanked the Athletics on four hits in 5 1/3 innings. He struck out seven and walked one.
JoJo Romero got the last five outs for his seventh save.
Nick Kurtz hit a homer for the Athletics (64-77), who lost for the fifth time in six games.
Athletics starter Jeffrey Springs (10-10) allowed two runs on five hits in six innings. He struck out four and walked one.
Liberatore was tested early. Brent Rooker hit a leadoff double in the second inning, then Darell Hernaiz walked with two outs before Liberatore struck out Lawrence Butler to strand them.
The Cardinals threatened in the bottom of the inning after Contreras and Gorman hit singles, but Springs retired the next two batters.
St. Louis took a 2-0 lead in the third inning. After Masyn Winn hit a single and Ivan Herrera walked, Contreras dropped a two-run single into right field.
The Athletics had another scoring opportunity in the seventh inning after Hernaiz walked with one out and Butler hit a single. Kyle Leahy got the next two batters to ground into forceouts.
Gorman’s homer increased the Cardinals’ lead to 3-0 in the bottom of the inning.
The Athletics cut their deficit to 3-1 in the eighth inning on Kurtz’s homer, Rooker hit a double and went to third on Tyler Soderstrom’s single, but Romero retired the next two batters to protect the lead.
St. Louis made it 5-1 in the eighth inning on walks to Winn and Lars Nootbaar followed by Contreras’ two-run triple.
–Field Level Media
