>>Cardinals Pound Brewers

(St. Louis, MO)  —  Dexter Fowler went 4-for-5 with a home run and four RBI as the Cardinals pounded the Brewers 13-5 at Busch Stadium.  Paul Goldschmidt had a two-run shot and an RBI single and Lane Thomas plated two for St. Louis, which have won three straight.  Jack Flaherty earned the victory after striking out ten and allowing four runs in six innings of work.  Game 2 of the series is tonight with Daniel Ponce de Leon opposing Milwaukee’s Zach Davies.

>>Royals Lose Fourth Straight, Have Worst AL Record

(St. Petersburg, FL)  —  Mike Zunino hit a two-run homer in a three-run seventh as the Rays rallied to beat the Royals 6-3 at Tropicana Field.   Alex Gordon, Jorge Soler and Hunter Dozier hit solo shots for the Kansas City runs.  Dozier went 2-for-2 with a walk and tops the team with seven homers, but left in the eighth inning with lower back spasms.   Brad Keller took the loss, yielding five runs on seven hits, five for extra-bases, in six-and-a-third innings.  KC has lost four straight and at 7-and-16 owns the worst record in the AL.

>>Pirates Waste Musgrove’s Solid Start, Lose To DBacks

(Pittsburgh, PA)  —  Pirates starter Joe Musgrove allowed three runs over six innings and left with a three-run lead, but the bullpen could not hold it in a 12-4 loss to the Diamondbacks in Pittsburgh.  Arizona scored seven runs in the seventh, four off Kyle Crick, who took the loss.  Colin Moran had two hits and drove in a pair of the Bucs runs.

>>Twins Hammer Astros

(Houston, TX)  —  Jorge Polanco notched four hits and four RBI as the Twins hammered the Astros 9-5 in Houston.  Jason Castro launched a homer and C.J. Cron drove in a pair of runs.  Jake Odorizzi pitched into the sixth inning and got the win.  Michael Pineda takes the mound today in Houston as the series continues.