KANSAS CITY Alex Bregman Jersey , Mo. (AP) — At this point, it’s almost as if the St. Louis Cardinals expect Matt Carpenter to hit a home run every day.Carpenter connected for the sixth time in seven games, Austin Gomber pitched five scoreless innings and the Cardinals defeated the Kansas City Royals 7-0 Friday night.Carpenter tops the National League with 32 home runs, a .600 slugging percentage and 65 extra-base hits. He has reached base in a career-high 28 straight games with 16 homers and 27 RBIs in that span.“It’s fun to watch, that’s for sure,” Cardinals interim manager Mike Shildt said. “Clearly, he’s a special player, a special guy. I’m just happy for him. He’s always looking to grow from the previous version of Matt Carpenter.”Carpenter sent a fastball from Burch Smith into the right-field fountains for a two-out drive with Harrison Bader aboard. He extended his career high for homers as the Cardinals scored five times in the second.“Just having Harrison on base in front of me, just his speed alone you’ve got to figure bought me maybe an extra fastball or so,” Carpenter said. “It’s a big part of it.”Paul DeJong led off the inning with his 11th home run. Bader and Jose Martinez, who had three hits, contributed RBI singles to set up Carpenter.Bader homered in the sixth and Martinez had an RBI double in the seventh.Gomber (2-0) allowed four hits, walked one, hit a batter and struck out three in his third major league start.“It makes my job a lot easier Carlos Beltran Jersey , especially when my game plan is attack and throw strikes,” Gomber said of the big lead.Daniel Poncedeleon allowed two hits over three innings to notch his first big league save.Gomber worked out of a bases-loaded jam in third, which Adalberto Mondesi led off with a triple. After retiring the next two batters, Gomber walked Rosell Herrera and hit Salvador Perez with a pitch. Hunter Dozier flied out to end the inning.“We couldn’t capitalize on it,” Royals manager Ned Yost said.Smith (1-4) gave up five runs on six hits, a walk and a hit batter in 1 2/3 innings. In six starts, Smith has a 9.67 ERA, allowing 24 earned runs in 22 1/3 innings.“I wasn’t commanding any pitches,” Smith said. “I just didn’t have anything working and they were capitalizing on mistakes. They’re good hitters. I just didn’t have it.”The Royals stranded 11 runners and went 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position. Kansas City has lost seven of eight.NO GORDONRoyals LF Alex Gordon, who hit .366 with six multihit games in the past 11 games he had started, was not in the lineup. Yost said he wanted to give Gordon two straight days off with the club idle Thursday.TRAINER’S ROOMCardinals: RF Yairo Munoz left in the sixth inning with a sprained right wrist after swinging at a pitch. Adolis Garcia replaced Munoz and singled in the eighth for his first big league hit. … OF Tyler O’Neill (right groin inflammation) began a rehab assignment with Triple-A Memphis. He went 2-for-4 with a two-run double and struck out twice at Oklahoma City. … RHP John Brebbia (right forearm tightness) was placed on the disabled list retroactive to Monday. … RHP Adam Wainwright (right elbow inflammation) threw batting practice at the club’s complex in Jupiter, Florida. “All reports of that were favorable,” Shildt said. “We’ll see how he recovers.” He said the team is evaluating whether Wainwright throws another batting practice or begins a minor league rehab assignment.Royals: OF Brian Gordon (left groin strain) ran the bases as his final hurdle before coming off the disabled list. He said he is at about 80 percent.UP NEXTCardinals: Rookie RHP Jack Flaherty is 5-6 with a 3.27 ERA in 18 starts.Royals: LHP Danny Duffy will be facing the Cardinals for the first time since June 27, 2016. HOUSTON (AP) — Nolan Arenado hated his first career appearance at designated hitter Tuesday night.However http://www.astrosfanproshop.com/authentic-brian-mccann-jersey , the Colorado slugger couldn’t be mad at his results at the plate.Arenado and Trevor Story each went deep, German Marquez pitched well in a clash with Justin Verlander, and the Rockies beat the slumping Houston Astros 5-1.Colorado trailed by 1 and Verlander (11-8) had retired 13 of 14 when DJ LeMahieu singled with two outs in the sixth inning. Arenado then smacked a 96 mph fastball into the third row in right field for his 30th homer to put Colorado up 2-1.Arenado, who has spent his entire six-year career playing in the National League with Colorado, had made each his 825 career appearances at third base entering Tuesday’s game.“It was awful,” he said of not playing defense. “I didn’t like it. I hope I never have to DH.”His work at the plate made him the fourth player in franchise history to hit at least 30 homers in four straight years. Arenado didn’t think it was gone when he hit it and had to wait for the crowd’s reaction to know for sure.“It got caught in the lights and then I heard the crowd go: ‘oh’ and that’s when I knew it was still going,” he said. “I just tried to stay on top of the ball.”Houston has matched a season high with five straight losses and extended its home skid to nine games, its longest of the season.Oakland beat Seattle later Tuesday to move within a game of Houston in the AL West. The Astros have been in first place since June 14 and led the division by six games in late July.“You feel like nothing’s going your way and you’re a little snake-bitten,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “We’re going to have to do more, obviously, and it’s a challenge for me and our coaching staff to get more out of these guys to have a little bit more fun, a little bit more life. This is a very, very tough game and we’re getting beat up, mentally and physically.”The Rockies have won four in a row after losing the previous three and improved to 12-5 against the AL this season to set a franchise record for interleague victories.Collin McHugh took over from Verlander for the seventh and hit Ryan McMahon with a pitch. Tony Wolters lined a double to right field with one out to score McMahon and push the lead to 3-1.Story Josh Reddick Jersey , who had two hits, made it 4-1 when he connected off Brad Peacock on his 25th home run with two outs in the eighth inning.Ian Desmond tripled and scored on a single by Charlie Blackmon to extend the lead in the ninth.Marquez (10-9) allowed just three hits and a run while fanning seven in seven innings.Verlander was denied his 200th win again as he dropped his second straight despite striking out 11 in six innings, allowing six hits and two runs.After being swept in a four-game series against the Mariners this weekend, Houston’s woes continued against the Rockies after a day off Monday. The top three batters in the order went 0 for 11 on a night the Astros managed just three hits as they look for a way to jumpstart their once-powerful offense with reigning AL MVP Jose Altuve out indefinitely with a sore knee.Marquez walked two Astros and plunked Yuli Gurriel in the first four innings, but Houston didn’t get a hit until Gurriel tripled on a ball to right-center field to start the fifth. Josh Reddick followed with a liner to right to put the Astros up 1-0.The Astros had a chance to add on in the eighth when Marwin Gonzalez doubled with no outs. Reddick reached on catcher’s interference with one out, but Marquez retired the next two batters to end the threat and his night.TRAINER’S ROOMAstros: OF George Springer (sprained left thumb) went through a full workout Tuesday and should be able to come of the disabled list when he’s eligible on Friday. … Altuve, who has been out since July 25, has been running on the treadmill and is expected to begin hitting soon. Manager A.J. Hinch said there still isn’t a timetable for his return. … RHP Lance McCullers (right elbow discomfort) began playing catch Tuesday in the first step toward his return. … C Brian McCann, who has been out since June 30 with a knee injury which required surgery, will begin an extended rehabilitation assignment with Triple-A Fresno on Thursday.MILESTONE VICTORYThe win was the 800th in manager Bud Black’s career.UP NEXTHouston’s Gerrit Cole (10-5, 2.75 ERA) opposes Colorado left-hander Tyler Anderson (6-4, 3.94) when this series wraps Wednesday night. Cole looks to bounce back after losing his third straight start by giving up six hits and four runs in 7 1/3 innings of a 5-2 loss to Seattle on Friday.
