ST. LOUIS (AP) – Matt Carpenter homered twice, matched a career best with five hits and helped chase Corey Kluber in the shortest start of the right-hander’s career in the St. Louis Cardinals’ 11-2 victory over the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday night.
Carpenter scored a career-best five runs and also drove in three.
Kluber (11-4) allowed six runs in 1 2/3 innings and has lost two of his past three decisions. He gave up six hits, including homers to Carpenter and Jose Martinez, and walked one on 48 pitches.
Prior to Tuesday, Kluber’s shortest start had been two innings against the Tampa Bay Rays in 2013. His previous low this year was a five-inning game on June 15 against Minnesota when he took his third loss of the season.
Carlos Martinez (4-4) settled down after a rough first inning for his first victory since May 2. He had lost three straight decisions over his previous five starts. He went six innings, allowing two runs, six hits and a walk while striking out eight.
St. Louis has won four straight after struggling through a 2-8 stretch. Cleveland entered the series on a seven-game winning streak before dropping the first two of a three-game set.
The Indians used three singles and a walk to take a 2-0 lead in the first but had only three more singles against Martinez and none after the starter was pulled.
Carpenter answered the Indians’ fast start with his 14th home run. It marked Carpenter’s third leadoff homer of the year and 18th in his career. He also led off the eighth with his 15th homer, a solo shot, and finished a triple shy of the cycle on a 5-for-5 night. The five hits matched a mark he set June 14, 2014 at Kansas City.
Jose Martinez’s 12th home run, a three-run blast to left field, chased Kluber. Kolten Wong added a two-run shot in the third, his sixth of the season.
Yairo Munoz was pulled after the third inning with a left ankle contusion. He fouled a ball off his leg during his last at-bat before grounding out to short and was replaced by Greg Garcia to start the fourth.
