TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Willson Contreras homered, Alec Burleson’s two-run single highlighted a five-run second inning and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Tampa Bay Rays 7-4 on Thursday night.
Sonny Gray (12-6) allowed three runs on six hits in five innings, with six strikeouts and a walk for the win. Kyle Leahy, Matt Svanson and JoJo Romero (fourth save) combined to limit Tampa Bay to one run and five hits the rest of the way.
Trailing 1-0 going into the second, the Cardinals got run-scoring hits from Nathan Church and Lars Nootbaar before another run scored on a wild pitch and Burleson drove in two runs with a single to right field. Ivan Herrera added an RBI single in the fourth and Contreras hit his 18th homer of the season in the seventh off Bryan Baker.
Tampa Bay’s Yardy Diaz hit a two