ST. LOUIS (AP) Jack Flaherty pitched six scoreless innings, Marcell Ozuna homered and drove in three runs, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Colorado Rockies 8-3 on Friday night.
The Cardinals moved back into first place in the NL Central, one-half game ahead of the Chicago Cubs, who lost to Washington earlier Friday. The Cardinals have won five of six and 11 of 14.
The Rockies lost for the fourth time in five games and fell to 18-37 since June 21.
Flaherty (8-6) allowed three hits, struck out nine and walked one. He has allowed one earned run in his past 34 innings and has won four straight decisions. He hasn’t lost since July 7, when he allowed just two hits at San Francisco but St. Louis fell 1-0.
Peter Lambert (2-4) lasted 4 1/3 and gave up six hits and four runs (two earned).
Ozuna’s 24th homer of the season over the Colorado bullpen in left field gave St. Louis a 2-0 lead in the first. He also doubled in Paul Goldschmidt in the sixth and later scored on a single from Paul DeJong.
The four-game series continues Saturday as Dakota Hudson gets the start for the Cardinals, and the Rockies will go with Chi Chi Gonzalez. The first pitch at Busch Stadium is scheduled for 6:15. Saturday’s game can be heard on KTLO-AM. The broadcast begins at 5:20 with Ameren Total Access.
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