Nolan Arenado, Cardinals stop Orioles’ nascent momentum

Nolan Arenado broke a tie with an eighth-inning home run and Lars Nootbaar also homered as the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the host Baltimore Orioles 7-4 on Tuesday night.
Masyn Winn drove in two runs and Jordan Walker tripled in a three-run eighth inning as the Cardinals racked up 14 hits, including three by Nootbaar. St. Louis has won four of its last five games.
The Orioles had a season-best three-game winning streak snapped despite Ryan O’Hearn’s three-run home run. Ryan Mountcastle notched three hits, including a pair of doubles, and Ramon Urias had two hits, but Baltimore went 1-for-14 with runners in scoring position.
Steven Matz (3-1) was the winning pitcher with 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief. Ryan Helsley worked the ninth for his 11th save.
Arenado, Winn, Alec Burleson and Walker all had two hits for St. Louis, which managed only four hits in Monday’s series opener.
After the Cardinals built a 3-0 lead through two innings on Willson Contreras’ RBI single and Nootbaar’s two-run blast, the Orioles got on the board on Heston Kjerstad’s RBI groundout in the fourth.
The hot-hitting O’Hearn sent Baltimore into a 4-3 lead in the fifth with his ninth homer of the year, and suddenly it looked like the Orioles might be regaining some of the magic that has been missing for most of the season.
But the Cardinals drew even in the seventh on Winn’s run-scoring single. Arenado’s one-out, solo blast put St. Louis ahead against reliever Bryan Baker (3-1). Arenado has six home runs this year.
Then the Cardinals tacked on two more runs, as Nolan Gorman and Walker hit back-to-back triples and Winn singled home Walker. Baker was charged with three runs while recording just two outs.
St. Louis starter Andre Pallante worked 5 2/3 innings, allowing four runs (three earned) while walking three and striking out seven.
The Orioles got a solid outing from starter Tomoyuki Sugano, who gave up three runs while logging 5 1/3 innings. Baltimore used six pitchers.