Alvarez homers twice for Bucs; Tribe blanked

Associated Press

PITTSBURGH

Pedro Alvarez homered twice and drove in four runs, James McDonald scattered two hits over seven innings and the Pittsburgh Pirates beats the St. Louis Cardinals, 9-0, on Tuesday night.

Alvarez hit a two-run homer in the third to give the Pirates a comfortable lead, added an RBI double in the fourth then hit a 469-foot blast to center in the sixth. He went 4 for 5 as Pittsburgh drew within two games of the Cardinals in the race for the NL’s second wild-card spot.

McDonald (12-6) gave up two hits, walked one and struck out six to beat the Cardinals and Jake Westbrook (13-10) for the second time in the last two weeks.

The Cardinals played most of the game without catcher Yadier Molina, who suffered neck, back and shoulder injuries following a violent collision at home plate with Pittsburgh second baseman Josh Harrison.

Harrison was attempting to score on a single to right field by Jose Tabata with two outs in the bottom of the second when he lowered his left shoulder and drilled Molina in the head as the catcher blocked the plate. The four-time All Star tumbled backward but held onto the ball, ending the inning.

It also ended his night.

Molina slowly got to his feet and made his way to the dugout before being diagnosed with a strained neck among other bumps and bruises. Tony Cruz replaced Molina when St. Louis returned to the field in the bottom of the third. Molina was listed as day-to-day.

Athletics 7, Indians 0

CLEVELAND

Tommy Milone and three Oakland relievers extended Cleveland’s scoreless streak to 22 innings and the Athletics beat the Indians on Tuesday night.

Brandon Moss and Chris Carter homered off Zach McAllister (5-5) as Oakland won its fourth straight to remain tied with Baltimore atop the AL wild-card race. Oakland is 5-0 against Cleveland and has won 10 of 12 since dropping eight of 13.