Paul Blackburn threw seven scoreless innings as the visiting Oakland Athletics blanked the St. Louis Cardinals 8-0 on Wednesday.
Blackburn (3-3) held the Cardinals to six hits and a walk while striking out eight batters. Austin Pruitt pitched the last two innings to complete the shutout.
Zack Gelof and Jordan Diaz each drove in two runs for the A’s, who snapped a five-game losing streak. Gelof went 4-for-5 with a stolen base and Diaz reached base three times.
Cardinals starting pitcher Matthew Liberatore (2-5) allowed six runs (five earned) on 10 hits and three walks in 4 1/3 innings. He fanned five.
St. Louis outfielder Lars Nootbaar exited in the sixth inning with a lower abdomen contusion. Nootbaar was injured after fouling a ball off himself in the fifth.
Cardinals infielder/outfielder Tommy Edman departed in the eighth inning with a right calf contusion. He was also injured by a foul ball during a fifth-inning at-bat.
The A’s jumped out to a 4-0 lead as Liberatore needed 35 pitches to get through the first inning.
Gelof hit a double, stole third base and scored on Carlos Perez’s single. Diaz added a two-run double and Shea Langeliers capped the rally with an RBI single.
Blackburn dodged trouble in the second inning. Alec Burleson hit a double and moved to third on Jordan Walker’s single. Andrew Knizner drew a one-out walk to load the bases.
But Blackburn struck out Taylor Motter and got Edman to ground out.
The Athletics pushed their lead to 5-0 in the fourth inning. Nick Allen hit a single and was thrown out trying to score on Esteury Ruiz’s double, but Gelof followed with an RBI single.
Brent Rooker reached on Walker’s three-base error to open the fifth inning. Diaz drew a one-out walk, ending Liberatore’s night. Seth Brown greeted reliever Casey Lawrence with a sacrifice fly to make it 6-0.
The A’s made it 7-0 in the sixth inning. Ruiz drew a walk, stole second and scored on Gelof’s RBI double.
Tyler Soderstrom’s homer in the ninth pushed Oakland’s lead to 8-0.
–Field Level Media
