Cards pound reeling Angels
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Matt Carpenter hit two home runs, and Matt Holliday and Randall Grichuk each hit one as the St. Louis Cardinals pounded the already reeling Los Angeles Angels, 8-1, Tuesday night at Angel Stadium.
Angels starting shortstop Andrelton Simmons had surgery to repair a torn ligament in his left thumb earlier in the day, just the latest in a string of injuries to cripple the club.
But a healthy Simmons could not have done much of anything to stop the Cardinals' offensive onslaught on Tuesday. The Cardinals totaled 14 hits, eight of which went for extra bases. Holliday had two doubles to go with his home run.
Angels starter Hector Santiago (2-2), an All-Star last season, struggled early and didn't make it out of the fifth inning, giving up four runs on seven hits and two walks in 4 1/3 innings.
Cardinals starter Mike Leake, on the other hand, found a groove early and completed eight innings, giving up one run on six hits and one walk to earn his first victory of the season. He retired 14 Angels hitters in a row between a leadoff single by C.J. Cron in the second inning and a two-out walk by Mike Trout in the sixth.
It was the Angels' fourth loss in a row, their sixth in seven games and their eighth in 10 games following a three-game sweep of the defending champion Kansas City Royals that seems like an eternity ago.
For the Cardinals, the win moved them above .500 (17-16), where they've hovered all season. They were a season-best three games over .500 (12-9) on April 27.
The Cardinals jumped to an early lead when Matt Carpenter led off the game with a home run off Santiago, his fifth homer of the season. Santiago also issued a couple of walks in the inning but managed to escape further damage.
St. Louis increased the lead to 2-0 in the second inning after a single by Jedd Gyorko and an RBI double by Aledmys Diaz.
The Cardinals broke the game open and knocked out Santiago in the fifth inning with four runs. Santiago was removed after giving up consecutive doubles by Stephen Piscotty and Matt Holliday to make it 3-0. Javy Guerra came in, and his first pitch was hit for a two-run homer by Randal Grichuk.
Gyorko added an RBI single to put St. Louis up 6-0.
Meanwhile, Leake worked out of jams in both the first and second innings, keeping the Angels off the scoreboard even though they had runners in scoring position in both innings.
After C.J. Cron's leadoff single in the second inning, Leake retired 12 Angels hitters in a row through the end of the fifth.
NOTES: Angels SS Andrelton Simmons had surgery to repair a thickness tear of the ulnar collateral ligament of his left thumb and is expected to miss two months. ... The Angels acquired SS Brendan Ryan from the Nationals for cash and a player to be named later, or cash considerations. Ryan was playing for Triple-A Syracuse, hitting .263 with one homer and eight RBIs. ... The Cardinals went into the game leading the major leagues in runs scored and home runs in the seventh inning or later. ... Cardinals SS Aledmys Diaz began the night ranked first in the majors in OPS (1.119), third in hitting (.396), tied for second in slugging percentage (.688) and seventh in on-base percentage (.431). ... Cardinals RHP Carlos Martinez will get a couple of extra days rest between starts because of flu-like symptoms and a respiratory illness. Martinez will pitch Saturday against the Dodgers instead of Thursday against the Angels. RHP Adam Wainwright will pitch Thursday on normal rest.