ST. LOUIS (AP) — Jurickson Profar hit a two-run, bases-loaded pinch-hit single in the eighth, lifting the Texas Rangers to a 5-4 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday.
It was Profar’s first pinch-hit at-bat this season.
Texas swept the three-game series and has won six in a row and eight of its last nine games. The Rangers are 14-4 this month and they improved to an MLB best 16-4 in one-run games this season.
St. Louis has lost five in a row — all at home. It was the first winless homestand of at least two series for St. Louis since 1983.
With two outs in the eighth, Rougned Odor doubled off reliever Matt Bowman (1-2). An intentional walk and a fielder’s choice loaded the bases. Profar hit for reliever Tony Barnette. Batting left-handed, Profar lined a 2-2 pitch into left to drive in the winning runs.
Barnette (4-2) pitched 1 2/3 innings in scoreless relief for the win. Sam Dyson pitched the ninth for his 13th save in 14 chances.
St. Louis scored two runs in the sixth to chase starter Martin Perez and take a 4-3 lead. Matt Holliday hit a one-out homer that hit the top the fence in the right-field corner and caromed over. Barnette later entered with the bases loaded. He struck out pinch-hitter Matt Adams but walked Eric Fryer to force in a run.
Normar Mazara led off the sixth with a solo homer for the Rangers for a short-lived lead.
Moreland’s two-out homer in the fourth off St. Louis starter Mike Leake tied the game at 2-2. His 456-foot home run tied him with Jay Bruce and Paul Goldschmidt for longest homer at Busch by an opposing player.
St. Louis took a 2-1 lead in the third on a one-out, bases loaded sacrifice fly by Holliday.
Texas scored in the first inning on a sacrifice fly by Mazara to drive in Ian Desmond. Desmond reached base on a fielder’s choice, stole second and then went to third on an error by rookie shortstop Aledmys Diaz, who mishandled the throw from home. It was the 14th error this season for Diaz.
The Cardinals tied it in the second on a leadoff home run by Stephen Piscotty.
LOOKING FOR A HIT
Texas starter Perez struck out in the fifth. He has eight strikeouts in nine at-bats in the major leagues.
DAY OFF
St. Louis catcher Yadier Molina got the day off. Fryer made his seventh start of the season at catcher. Molina is eight hits shy of 1,500 for his career.
HONORING FATHER’S DAY
The birds on the bat were blue for the Cardinals, who also sported light blue numbers on their uniforms and blue caps in honor of Father’s Day. The uniforms of all MLB teams incorporated light blue into each team’s logo, much like the special pink caps and jersey trim used for Mother’s Day games.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Cardinals: St. Louis activated right-handed pitcher Seth Maness from the 15-day disabled list (right elbow inflammation) and optioned left-handed pitcher Dean Kiekhefer to Triple-A Memphis before Sunday’s game. Maness went on the disabled list May 13 after going 0-1 with a 6.39 ERA in 13 games. Kiekhefer, a rookie, was 0-0 with a 5.73 ERA in 11 games with St. Louis.
Rangers: Catcher Robinson Chirinos, who was hit on the right hand by Trevor Rosenthal in the ninth inning Saturday and came out of the game in a double switch, was in the starting lineup, hitting eighth.
UP NEXT
Cardinals: St. Louis heads to Chicago for a series of the top two teams in the Central Division. Jaimie Garcia (4-6, 3.93 ERA) will face Chicago’s John Lackey (7-2, 2.66). Garcia’s last win over the Cubs came June 3, 2011, when he threw eight innings in a 6-1 victory.
Rangers: Texas goes home to face Baltimore in a makeup game for the game postponed April 17. Derek Holland (5-5, 5.14) will square off against Kevin Gausman (0-4, 4.14). In his last six starts against Baltimore since 2011, Holland is 5-1 with a 1.90 ERA.