ST. LOUIS (AP) — Luis Rengifo homered, drove in four runs and finished a triple shy of the cycle, as the Los Angeles Angels beat the St. Louis Cardinals 11-7 on Thursday to complete a three-game sweep.
The Angels won for the fourth straight time to improve to four games above .500. The Cardinals lost their sixth in a row and have dropped nine of their last 10.
Griffin Canning (2-0) gave up five runs in five innings to earn his second-straight decision for the Angels. Canning allowed six hits, struck out three and walked three.
Rengifo’s three-run homer capped a four-run second inning and gave the Angels a 4-2 lead. He drove in another with a sacrifice fly in the fourth and scored twice.
The Angels blew the game open by sending 11 batters to the plate in a six-run third that featured seven hits — all of which were singles. Zach Neto, who left Wednesday’s game in the fifth inning with a right finger contusion, capped the inning with a two-run single to make it 10-2.
Matt Thaiss had a pair of RBI singles in the second and third and scored a pair of runs for Los Angeles. Anthony Rendon reached safely four times and also scored twice.
Cardinals starter Jack Flaherty (2-4) gave up a career-high 10 runs in just 2 1/3 innings. The Angels went 7 for 10 with two strikes against Flaherty, who left the game after getting hit by a Rengifo comebacker.
The Cardinals took a short-lived lead in the bottom of the first on Willson Contreras’ two-run double. Tommy Edman hit a three-run homer in the fourth and Paul Goldschmidt added a two-run double in the sixth for St. Louis, which at 10-22 is off to its worst start since the 1973 squad opened the season 8-23.
Cardinals outfielder Lars Nootbaar recorded his first career four-hit game.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Angels: LHP José Quijada (left elbow) will undergo Tommy John surgery.
Cardinals: RHP Adam Wainwright (groin) will make his first start of the season on Saturday against Detroit. The 41-year-old made three rehab starts and allowed nine runs on 18 hits over 13 innings.
UP NEXT
Angels: LHP Tyler Anderson (1-0, 5.74 ERA) gets the start Friday night as Los Angeles returns home to face the Rangers, who have not officially named a starter. Anderson is 1-0 with a 2.45 ERA in five career appearances (four starts) against Texas.
Cardinals: LHP Jordan Montgomery (2-4, 3.34 ERA) kicks off a three-game set Friday night as St. Louis hosts the Detroit Tigers and LHP Matthew Boyd (1-2, 5.47 ERA). The Cardinals are 0-10 in series openers, setting a franchise record to begin a season.
