Willson Contreras homered and finished a triple shy of hitting for the cycle, Michael McGreevy pitched seven strong innings, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Colorado Rockies 6-2 in Denver on Monday night.
Masyn Winn also had three hits and Nolan Arenado, Brendan Donovan and Jordan Walker contributed two hits each for St. Louis, which ended a three-game losing streak.
Adael Amador, Brenton Doyle and Mickey Moniak had two hits for Colorado, which fell to 24-76. The Rockies are the first team since the 1916 Philadelphia Athletics to lose more than 75 of their first 100 games.
Both teams missed early scoring chances. The Cardinals began the first with two singles but didn’t score, and the Rockies were denied when Ryan McMahon was thrown out at home in the second.
Colorado broke through in the third. Amador led off with a single and scored from first when Moniak’s single was misplayed by center fielder Victor Scott II. Moniak advanced to second on the play and scored on Hunter Goodman’s one-out single.
McGreevy (2-1) settled down from there. He retired the next 11 before Doyle’s one-out single in the seventh but he got the next two batters to end his night.
McGreevy, who was recalled from Triple-A Memphis before the game, allowed two runs on seven hits and no walks while striking out one. The seven-inning outing was his longest of the season.
St. Louis rallied against Colorado starter Austin Gomber. Contreras hit the first pitch of the fourth inning into the seats in left-center, his 13th, and Arenado and Winn hit consecutive doubles later in the frame to tie the game.
The Cardinals added a run in the fifth on an RBI double by Contreras and stretched the lead in the sixth. Arenado and Walker singled, Pedro Pages drove in Arenado with a single and Walker scored on Donovan’s sacrifice fly to make it 5-2.
That was all for Gomber (0-4), who gave up five runs on 11 hits in 5 2/3 innings. He struck out a season-high six and didn’t issue a walk.
Walker’s RBI single in the seventh inning gave St. Louis a four-run lead.
Cards send Rockies to worst 100-game mark since 1916
