Matt Carpenter Kicks Off Cardinals’ 8-1 Rout Of Angels With Home Run

Matt Carpenter homered twice, including his drive on the fifth pitch of the night, to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a thundering 8-1 victory over the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on Tuesday night.

Matt Carpenter Kicks Off Cardinals’ 8-1 Rout Of Angels With Home Run

Randal Grichuk and Matt Holliday also homered for the Cardinals, who had nine extra-base hits during the game, just one short of their season high.

“The momentum shifts at times when that happens and I think today was a little bit of that,” Carpenter said of his leadoff homer, the 10th of his career. “We’re just having good at-bats and games like this tend to happen when collectively you go out and have good ABs.”

Right-hander Mike Leake (1-3) took a shutout into the eighth inning for his very first win with St. Louis since signing an $80 million, five-year contract in the offseason after spending a brief time with the San Francisco Giants. He allowed six hits and one run in eight innings overall.

“It feels pretty good to get that first win,” Leake said. “Six or seven games in a row of not producing will weigh on you, but you’ve just got to keep moving forward.”

The Angels have now lost four consecutive games and eight of their last 10. Left-hander Hector Santiago lasted merely 4 1/3 innings for the Angels, and allowed seven hits– five for extra bases– and four runs in his shortest outing of the season.

The Cardinals led 6-0 going into the fifth inning. Every starter reached base, and all but one had a hit.

“It starts with the guy on the mound,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. “Unfortunately, the ball wasn’t coming out very well for Hector. It’s frustrating when you get behind right away and it lets the other pitcher open up their game.”

Aledmys Diaz made it 2-0 in the second with an RBI double, and Stephen Piscotty and Holliday hit back-to-back doubles in the fifth to make it 3-0.

Javy Guerra then came in to relieve Santiago, and Grichuk immediately hit a two-run homer thanks to a high fly to center field to bring the score to 5-0. Grichuk’s hit carried just over the glove of the Cardinals’ Mike Trout.

Carpenter and Holliday then hit solo homers off reliever A.J. Achter in the sixth.

Kole Calhoun drove in Cliff Pennington with a sacrifice fly in the eighth for the Angels’ lone run.

Holliday finished 3 for 5 with two doubles, a homer, two runs and two RBIs. “His at-bats tonight were beautiful,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. “He fought off some tough pitches, got the bat head out early, killed a few balls down the line. It was nice to see it.”

Meanwhile, Brendan Ryan made his debut with the Angels on Tuesday when he entered in the ninth inning as a defensive replacement at shortstop. The veteran infielder was acquired from the Washington Nationals earlier in the day for cash considerations.

PHOTO: ANAHEIM, CA – MAY 10: Tyler Lyons #70 of the St. Louis Cardinals pitches in relief during the ninth inning of a baseball game between the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and the St. Louis Cardinals at Angel Stadium of Anaheim on May 10, 2016 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)