ST. LOUIS (AP) — Scott Kazmir ended a string of three straight losses with his best outing of the season and the Los Angeles Angels backed him with 13 hits in a 10-7 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday.
Kendry Morales had a pair of RBI doubles for a three-hit game and Mike Napoli had a two-run homer. The Angels have won three of four and became the first team to score in double figures against the Cardinals. Kevin Frandsen also had three hits.
Kazmir (3-4) gave up Matt Holliday's fifth homer, ending a 107 at-bat homer drought, and then walked David Freese and Colby Rasmus in the second. The left-hander retired the next 17 in a row and left with a 10-3 lead, allowing three hits in seven innings to match his season high.
Kazmir allowed 14 earned runs in 16 1-3 innings the previous three starts although his last outing showed improvement, when he gave up four runs in seven innings in a 4-3 loss the Rangers.
Holliday homered for the first time since April 19 and added an RBI double after returning to the cleanup slot, although Albert Pujols was 0 for 4 batting third. The Cardinals went 4-1 with their new-look lineup but both stars had been mostly quiet, Holliday going 4 for 18 with two RBIs and Pujols 6 for 16 with a double and no RBIs.
Torii Hunter and Hideki Matsui had two RBIs apiece in a five-run third against Kyle Lohse (1-4), who contributed to the damage with a throwing error and two walks. Napoli's two-run homer off Trever Miller in the fifth made it 8-2.
The Cardinals needed 5 2-3 innings from the bullpen for a two-day total of 11 2-3 innings after Lohse was knocked around for six runs in 3 1-3 innings. Lohse lasted one more out than Brad Penny had on Friday night before leaving with an upper back strain that landed him on the 15-day disabled list.
Rookie P.J. Walters, recalled from Triple-A Memphis to replace Penny, worked the last four innings and gave up two runs and three hits. Howie Kendrick and Bobby Abreu each had an RBI in the eighth for a 10-4 lead. Skip Schumaker and Felipe Lopez had RBIs in a three-run ninth for St. Louis.
NOTES: Angels leadoff hitter Erick Aybar lost control of his bat in consecutive plate appearances, flinging it well past 1B in the fourth and just to the right of Pujols at 1B in the sixth. ... Miller has allowed only one of 14 inherited runners to score after working out of a two-on, one-out jam in the fourth. ... The first two games of the three-game interleague series have attracted sellout crowds, giving the Cardinals five on the year. ... The Angels were the last team in the majors to score five runs in an inning but now have done it twice in five days, also scoring five May 18 at Texas.
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