Lance Berkman hit two homers, the 29th time he has had multi-homer games in his career, and Jon Jay hit a three-run shot and the Cardinals beat the Baltimore Orioles 9-6 on Thursday night to complete a three-game sweep.
It was the fourth time that Berkman has hit two in a game this season. Both of them were moon shots, traveling 422 and 444 feet. The Cardinals built an 8-0 lead heading into the bottom of the fourth inning.
Orioles starter Brian Matusz fell to 1-4, and was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk after the game. Matusz gave up a career-high eight runs and nine hits in 3 1/3 innings, and lost his fourth straight start and has an 8.77 ERA.
The 8-run cushion after 3.5 innings was more than enough for Jaime Garcia. He gave up five runs, 10 hits and a walk in 5.1 innings and it was only the second time in 17 starts where he’s given up more than three earned runs this season.