Cardinals finish April on high note

The St. Louis Cardinals closed the first month of the season with thrilling back-to-back late-inning comebacks.

Gerald Laird's ninth-inning triple capped a late rally to give the Cardinals a 3-2 win over the Atlanta Braves yesterday.

Backed by rookie Brandon Beachy's seven scoreless innings to start the game, the Braves led 2-0 before St. Louis began its comeback. David Freese tied it with a two-run single in the eighth before Laird's go-ahead triple drove in Matt Holliday.

The Cardinals also rallied late in Friday night's 5-3 win, tying the game in the ninth before winning in 11 innings.

Giants 2, Nationals 1: Aubrey Huff drew a bases-loaded walk as a pinch hitter to force home the go-ahead run in the ninth for visiting San Francisco.

Reds 4, Marlins 3: Pinch hitter Edgar Renteria singled home the winning run with two outs in the 10th inning to lift Cincinnati.

Cubs 5, Diamondbacks 3: In Phoenix, Matt Garza allowed three runs and six hits with 10 strikeouts and two walks in a season-best eight innings for his first win with the Cubs.

Mariners 2, Red Sox 0: Doug Fister worked out of trouble three times in 52/3 scoreless innings and visiting Seattle's bullpen was solid again in the team's fifth straight win.

Orioles 6, White Sox 2: Robert Andino homered and reliever Mike Gonzalez doused a no-out, bases-loaded situation as visiting Baltimore sent Chicago to its 14th loss in 17 games.

Indians 3, Tigers 2: Orlando Cabrera lined an RBI single in the 13th inning that gave Cleveland its 12th straight home win.

Rangers 11, Athletics 2: Michael Young hit his first homer of the season as visiting Texas tagged Oakland starter Brett Anderson for seven runs in five innings.

Royals 11, Twins 2: Alex Gordon hit a three-run homer in an eight-run eighth for host Kansas City.

-- AP