stone. LOUIS (AP) — Nolan Arenado and Paul De Jong completed a three-game sweep in Sunday’s 12-9 victory over the New York Yankees, both hitting home runs Four games in a row.
St. Louis won a season-high seven-game winning streak in four hours and 25 minutes, the longest nine innings in a major this season.
DJ LeMahieu hits a home run for the Yankees, who have lost five straight. It was their worst landslide since seven landslides last September.
St. Louis (60-48) swept the Yankees for the first time in a regular-season series, finishing a season-best 12 games with a .500-plus mark. The soaring Cardinals are two games ahead of second-place Milwaukee in the NL Central.
New York still has the best record in the American League, but its lead in the AL East has dropped to 9 1/2 games in Toronto for the first time since June 15 in single digits.
St. Louis became the first team to sweep the Yankees in at least three games this year. So far, Atlanta and the New York Mets are the only clubs in the major leagues to avoid that fate.
Arenado hit a three-run homer in the second inning, hitting three hits in the league this season and leading the majors with 18 RBIs.
De Jong broke the 6-all tie with a fifth-inning double, adding a 3-pointer in the eighth — his 100th career homer.
Aaron Judge played four games for the Yankees, bringing his AL lead total to 97 points.
Frankie Montas struggled in his Yankees debut. Acquired from Oakland on Monday, the right-hander had six runs and five hits in three innings. He hit two and walked three.
New York head coach Aaron Boone was ejected by cricket referee Ed Hickox in the fifth inning for apparently scrimmages and strikes. It was Boone’s 23rd ejection and his sixth of the season. Pitching coach Matt Black was also dumped.
Judge put his team up 4-1 with a two-point single in the second quarter. St. Louis responded with five points in the second half. Arenado’s 22nd homer gave St. Louis a 6-4 lead.
The Cardinals scored a 3-pointer in the fifth quarter to break a 6-a-side tie. Tommy Edman followed DeJong’s double to score a hit. DeJong was originally called on the show’s plate, but after a replay review, the call was reversed.
St. Louis starter Adam Wainwright gave up four-pointers and eight hits in four-plus games. He hit five times and walked four times.
Aaron Hicks had three hits and four runs for the Yankees.
St. Louis finished with a 6-0 home run, its first home sweep of six or more games since September 2013.
Chris Stratton (6-4) won, allowing two runs over 1 2/3 innings to save. He struck out four with no hitters.
Ryan Helsley made his 11th save on 14 chances.
Albert Abreu (2-1) lost the game.
good man
Wainwright and C Yadier Molina made their 318th start together, second only to the 1963-1975 Detroit duo of Mickey Lolich and Bill Freehan (324).
King Busch III
Molina hit his 1,000th career at-bat at Busch Third Stadium, where he hit one in the third. He is the professional leader of the stadium, which opened in 2006.
coach room
Yankees: 1B Anthony Rizzo missed his third straight game with a back injury. He missed four games last month with a back problem.
Cardinals: OF Juan Yepez will begin a rehab assignment in the Memphis Triple-A on Tuesday. He has been sidelined since July 15 with a strained right forearm.
Previous
Yankees: RHP Jameson Taillon (10-2, 3.96 ERA) will face RHP Logan Gilbert (10-4, 3.09) in the opener of a three-game series Monday in Seattle. Taillon allowed six runs in 4 2/3 innings in Tuesday’s 8-6 loss to the Mariners.
Cardinals: RHP Miles Mikolas (8-8, 2.92 ERA) takes on Colorado RHP Ryan Feltner (1-3, 5.75) in Game 1 of a three-game series on Tuesday in Denver. Mikolas hit five home runs in three career starts at Coors Field.
___
More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
