DENVER (AP) —His swing was a keeper.Mikolas and Tyler O’Neill each homered and the St. Louis Cardinals leaned on their bullpen to withstand a Colorado rally and beat the Rockies 7-5 Friday night for their fourth straight win.O’Neill also had an RBI double and Kolten Wong added three hits and a sacrifice fly for the Cardinals in a game between teams in the thick of their respective division races and running 1-2 in the NL wild-card race. It was also St. Louis’ ninth win in a row on the road.“(Mikolas) hit one earlier in the year and we knew he was going to probably run into another one at some point Gregor Blanco Jersey ,” said Bud Norris, who got three outs for his 27th save, capping 4 1/3 innings of scoreless relief by the Cardinals’ bullpen. “Obviously, that swing helped us win a ball game and definitely was doing your part on the offensive side, too.”The Rockies pulled within two runs with a five-run fifth that featured a two-run drive by Charlie Blackmon and a solo shot by Nolan Arenado, both off Mikolas, who helped St. Louis take a 7-0 lead by hitting a two-run homer as part of a four-run second.Mikolas had stranded five base runners over the first four innings but could not get out of the fifth.He was relieved by Chasen Shreve after Carlos Gonzalez scored from third on Ian Desmond’s fielder’s choice and Ryan McMahon hit a two-out RBI single that drove in Desmond, who had reached third on second baseman Wong’s throwing error.“They got hold of two bad breaking balls, but other than that, I thought all the other contact that inning was pretty soft, a couple bloopers, seeing-eye singles stuff, like that,” Mikolas said. “I’ll beat myself up over those breaking balls but other than that they got a couple of hits that weren’t so good.”Besides, he can take some solace in the difference his home run made in the game.“I’ve got the juice right now for our pitching staff http://www.giantsfanproshop.com/authentic-pablo-sandoval-jersey , so that’s nice. That’s something that will help me go to bed tonight,” said Mikolas, also tipping his cap to the bullpen for picking him up.Carlos Martinez (7-6) picked up the victory with 1 2/3 innings of hitless relief.Norris gave up a two-out double to Ryan McMahon and walked pinch-hitter Chris Iannetta before retiring D.J. LeMahieu on a fielder’s choice for the final out.“The game got ugly earlier, but we didn’t give up,” Gonzalez said. “We put some runs (up). We scored five that inning to put us back in the game. But they also pitched well. Their bullpen came in and shut us down.”Leading off the second, O’Neill drove a 1-2 offering from Antonio Senzatela (4-4) deep into the left-field bleachers for his fifth home run of the season, marking the 16th straight game in which the Cardinals homered. The streak is the longest since St. Louis connected in a club-record 25 straight games in 2016.Jedd Gyorko worked a one-out walk and Wong singled before Senzatela struck out Harrison Bader. But after Gyorko scored from third on a passed ball, Mikolas homered over the wall in straightaway center for his second of the season. The right-hander also homered for his first big league hit April 2 at Milwaukee.“He got the ball up and they made him pay,” Rockies manager Bud Black said of Senzatela. “He didn’t really have any consistent secondary pitches tonight. Probably too many mistakes and just really couldn’t string any pitches together all night.”The Cardinals added three runs in the fifth, moving out to a 7-0 lead on run-scoring doubles by Gyorko and O’Neill and a sacrifice fly by Wong.TRAINER’S ROOMCardinals: RHP Michael Wacha threw 3 2/3 scoreless innings Thursday night in his second rehab start for Class A Palm Beach against Fort Myers. He’s expected to throw a bullpen session Sunday before making a third rehab start on Tuesday, most likely at Class AA Springfield. Wacha went on the 10-day disabled list June 21 with a left oblique strain. “He’s in the conversation to come back and pitch in early September but what day that looks like — he’s not there yet,” interim manager Mike Shildt said.UP NEXTCardinals: RHP John Gant (5-5, 3.76 ERA) has posted a 2.30 ERA over his last three starts spanning 15 2/3 innings. He is making his first career appearance against the Rockies.Rockies: RHP German Marquez (11-9, 4.42 ERA) is set to make his third career start against the Cardinals but first in more than a year. He won his previous outings against St. Louis, both at Coors Field Duane Kuiper Jersey , going 2-0 with a 2.53 ERA over a combined 10 2/3 innings. BOSTON (AP) — Jalen Beeks made his major league debut at Fenway Park earlier this season, and it didn’t go well. Neither did his next appearance on that mound.Traded away by Boston last month, Beeks returned Sunday with the Tampa Bay Rays and fared a lot better.Beeks pitched four strong innings and the Rays limited Boston to two hits, blanking the AL East leaders 2-0.“I didn’t pitch well here the first two times I pitched here, so it felt good here to get the team a win,” Beeks said. “It was satisfying.”The 25-year-old lefty was tagged for five runs in the first inning by Detroit on June 7. More than a month later, he allowed three runs in just 2 1/3 innings against Texas, leaving him with a 12.79 ERA for Boston.That was the end of his career with the Red Sox, who dealt Beeks before the trade deadline for pitcher Nathan Eovaldi.Facing the team with the best record in the majors, Beeks (2-1) gave up one hit in relief, striking out three and walking two.“He was throwing harder. I saw 94 (mph),” Boston manager Alex Cora said. “I didn’t see that here. Besides that, same cutter, fastball, breaking ball. He did a good job.”Joey Wendle and C.J. Cron homered as the Rays topped Boston for just the fifth time in 16 games this season. Six of those Tampa Bay losses have been by one run.The Red Sox has lost only four of their last 21 games. They were shut out for the fifth time this season.Sergio Romo worked the ninth for his 16th save and 100th of his career. Reliever Diego Castillo started for the Rays http://www.diamondbacksfanproshop.com/authentic-nick-ahmed-jersey , getting five outs. It was the club’s 34th time to have a reliever start, and was Castillo’s first major league start.“It’s just a different philosophy,” Boston’s Mookie Betts said. “We have to adjust. We just didn’t swing it well. They pitched it well and we didn’t swing it well.”Hector Velazquez (7-1) gave up a run and three hits in four innings. He took Chris Sale’s turn in the rotation a day after the ace lefty was put on the 10-day disabled list for the second time in nearly three weeks with mild shoulder inflammation.Wendle hit his homer into Boston’s bullpen in the second. Cron hit his 24th off a billboard above the Green Monster seats in the ninth.Boston’s best chance came with two on and no outs in the fourth, but MLB RBIs leader J.D. Martinez bounced into a double play.STREAK HALTEDMartinez went 0 for 3, snapping his streak of reaching base successfully in home games at 51 straight, the third-longest string in club history. Ted Williams owns the record with 69 in 1941 and Joe Foy is next with 54 in 1966.NICE PLAYSRF Betts made a charging, diving catch of Cron’s liner in the fourth and 3B Eduardo Nunez made a sliding stop to his left on Tommy Pham’s grounder before throwing him out.TRAINER’S ROOMRays: C Jesus Sucre returned to the lineup after missing the previous four games with a sore right wrist. He went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts and bounced into a DP.Red Sox: LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (10-day DL, sprained right ankle) is slated to have a rehab start for Double-A Portland on Monday. … Knuckleballer Steven Wright (DL, left knee inflammation since late June) is expected to pitch a live batting practice this week.UP NEXTRays: RHP Ryne Stanek (1-3, 2.74 ERA) is slated to start the opener of a four-game series Monday at home against Kansas City RHP Jorge Lopez (0-2, 4.44).Red Sox: RHP Rick Porcello (15-5, 4.04) is set to face Cleveland ace Corey Kluber (15-6, 2.68) when the AL Central leaders come to Fenway on Monday for the opener of a four-game series.