ST. LOUIS: San Diego’s Will Venable hit a two-run homer in the top of the 11th inning to give the Padres a 5-3 win at St. Louis on Thursday, further eroding the Cardinals lead in the National League.
The Cardinals once imperious lead in the NL standings has been sliced to a still handy six games ahead of nearest rival Pittsburgh, which kept up the pressure by completing a three-game sweep at Detroit.
In the American League, Minnesota produced a shutout victory at Kansas City to close within 3-1/2 games of the Royals in the Central Division, while Texas beat Baltimore to drop the Orioles into a tie for the East division lead.
San Diego’s Venable had been 1 for 17 at the plate this season when coming off the bench, but came up with the key hit in the 11th on the first pitch from Cardinals reliever Carlos Villanueva (3-3).
The run came after the Padres successfully challenged a ruling after Clint Barmes shot to right field just touched the foul line as Jason Heyward made an unsuccessful attempt at a sliding catch. The reversal resulted in a ground-rule double, and Venable then followed with his homer.
Pittsburgh’s Francisco Liriano pitched seven scoreless innings in a rare victory over Detroit as the Pirates beat the Tigers 8-4.
Liriano (5-6) came into the game with a 1-9 record in his previous 14 games against Detroit, including 11 starts.
Neil Walker had his second straight four-hit game for Pittsburgh and drove in three runs.
Tigers manager Brad Ausmus was ejected in the fifth inning for arguing a called third strike.