Masterson flops in second start for Cards

BALTIMORE -- Justin Masterson may well end up contributing heavily to the St. Louis Cardinals in their bid to reach the postseason.

At this point, however, the right-hander is not offering the kind of production the Cardinals envisioned when they got him from Cleveland the day before the nonwaiver trade deadline.

Masterson (1-1) gave up two of Baltimore's six home runs and didn't get out of the third inning in the Cardinals' 12-2 loss Friday night.

Masterson allowed five runs on seven hits. He also issued three walks, hit two batters and threw a wild pitch while getting only six outs.

"This is not the best thing you want to do when you come to a new team," Masterson said. "It's really just a lot of minor things. It just needs to click that little bit. A lack of location and the sinker flattening out."

The sinker never sunk, and the Orioles were all over it.

"When he elevated the ball, they elevated it as well," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "That's not the kind of outing Justin wants. You're not going to see this coming from him too often."

Masterson won his first start with St. Louis despite allowing five runs in six innings. Now he's got an 11.25 ERA.

"He couldn't find the plate tonight and when he did, his pitches were more elevated than they were last time out," Matheny said.

On a night in which the team wore 1954 throwback uniforms to mark the 60th anniversary of its arrival in Baltimore, the Orioles administered an old-fashioned whipping on the Cardinals, a franchise they shared a stadium with decades ago.

J.J. Hardy hit a solo shot and a three-run drive for his 11th multihomer game. Manny Machado, Adam Jones, Chris Davis and Ryan Flaherty also connected as Baltimore (66-49) reached double figures in runs for the first time since April 24.

"This is baseball. This happens," Matheny said. "Sometimes it doesn't matter what you do. One of those nights."

Chris Tillman (9-5) gave up two runs and four hits over 6 2/3 innings. He was pulled after a two-run drive to A.J. Pierzynski made it 12-2.

It was Baltimore's first win over the Cardinals in 11 years. The Orioles -- the St. Louis Browns before relocating -- went 1-2 in St. Louis in 2003 and were swept in three games at Camden Yards in 2011.

A three-run drive by Machado and Hardy's first home run helped Baltimore go up 5-0 against Justin Masterson (1-1) in the third. That was enough to propel the AL East leaders to their ninth win in 12 games.

Hardy connected with two on in the fourth off Nick Greenwood for an 8-0 lead. At that point, every Orioles starter either had a hit or scored a run.

Baltimore leads the majors with 144 home runs and has at least one in seven straight games. The Orioles are 55-25 when they homer.

Noteworthy

* St. Louis fell to 7-11 in interleague play, and has struggled against the AL East. The Cardinals took two of three from Boston before coming to Baltimore, but they dropped three of four to Tampa Bay and two of three to the Yankees. They did, however, win two of three from Toronto.

* Baltimore improved to 8-4 against NL foes.