ST. LOUIS (AP) Luke Weaver didn’t have any big plans to celebrate his first major league win.
Jedd Gyorko homered and Weaver pitched six strong innings as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Oakland Athletics 3-1 on Friday night.
“It’s a little late,” the 23-year-old Weaver said. “Maybe just bed.”
Gyorko’s 423-foot shot in the first extended the Cardinals’ home run streak to 15 games, the longest active streak in the majors, and made it 2-0 after just two batters.
“I got a pitch that I was kind of looking for, a change-up, and put a good swing on that,” Gyorko said.
Weaver (1-1) gave up one run and four hits in a career-high six innings in his home debut for the Cardinals. Five of his seven strikeouts were looking.
“Luke was great tonight,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. “Nice to see him get out of the first without all kinds of traffic and having to be under stress right from the beginning. He had a good clean first and I thought he’s just continuing to get better with every start.”
Weaver lowered his ERA from 5.00 to 3.60.
“I think I made a couple of mechanical things that made me stay through the pitches better,” Weaver said. “But just believing that I can be aggressive in the zone and trusting the stuff and I think it paid off tonight.”
Cardinals center fielder Randal Grichuk made a diving catch on a sinking drive by Stephen Vogt to end the fifth, andJhonny Peralta made a sprawling stop at third base and threw out Khris Davis to start the sixth.
“That was a great catch by Grich out there,” Weaver said. “It minimized some stress on me and saved the game run-wise.”
Yonder Alonso‘s solo homer in the second inning was the A’s only run.
Seung Hwan Oh got the last three outs for his 13th save helping the Cardinals get their first interleague win at home in eight tries this season.
Ross Detwiler (1-3) gave up three runs and six hits while striking out six in 5 1/3 innings.
“I think he mixed the pitches a little better,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “I think his breaking balls were a little better and he was getting ahead more so.”
The Cardinals capped the scoring in the sixth thanks to alert base running. Brandon Moss read a soft fly perfectly off the bat of Yadier Molina and advanced from first to third as the ball fell beyond the reach of A’s second baseman Max Muncyin short center field. Molina then intentionally got into a run-down on a shallow fly ball by Peralta, allowing Moss to score.
“A couple base running plays from guys that aren’t necessarily known as base stealers,” Matheny said. “Moss taking the blooper and reading off the bat to challenge to get to third, but Yadi very heads up trying to get that run across realizing that it was worth the out to make sure we get that run.”
Oakland’s Ryon Healy singled in the fourth to extend his hitting streak to 12 games, the longest active stretch in the majors.
HOMECOMING
Detwiler went to Holt Senior High in Wentzville, Missouri, 40 miles west of Busch Stadium. He fell to 0-3 with a 4.67 ERA against his hometown team.
“It’s nice to be at home when we’re away from the field, but it’s another game once you’re here,” Detwiler said. “Whatever city it doesn’t make much of a difference. It’s all who you’re playing.”
ROSTER MOVE
The Cardinals recalled RHP Miguel Socolovich and optioned RHP Sam Tuivailala to Triple-A Memphis.
TRAINERS ROOM
Athletics: INF Billy Butler (concussion) made the road trip and might be cleared to play early next week.
Cardinals: RHP Mike Leake (shingles) will not make his scheduled start Saturday, the club announced after the game. He will be replaced by RHP Alex Reyes.
UP NEXT
Athletics: RHP Zach Neal (2-3, 5.49 ERA) will make his first career appearance against St. Louis. He has walked two in 39 1/3 innings and his .046 walks per nine inning average is the lowest in the majors among pitchers with at least 25 innings.
Cardinals: Reyes, a highly-touted prospect, (1-0, 0.00 ERA) will make his first big league start. He has one save and 13 strikeouts in 9 1/3 career innings.
Photo – Jeff Roberson / AP (St. Louis, MO)
